By By GREG KATSKI
Community Editor
OLD FORD — He’s not Billy “The Kid,” but Brad Kidd Jr. is certainly a sharp shooter, as evidenced by his showing at the National Sporting Clay Association’s 2010 East Coast Championship on Saturday at Hunter’s Pointe.
Kidd, a Washington native and former NSCA world champion, hit 91 out of 100 clays for second place on the first day of the two-day event. He will try to overcome Bill McGuire, who took first in the event for the day, hitting 94 clays.
Making up three shots on McGuire today and winning the 2010 East Coast Championship would add another trophy to Kidd’s already crowded case.
Kidd, who won the NSCA’s all-around world championship last year, is a 12-time NSCA all-American honoree, a four-time NSCA national champion and four-time NSCA junior national champion. He is a seven-time member of Team USA, representing the team in the NSCA’s world championship, and won the junior world championship in 1998.
Kidd, 28, was born in Dallas, but raised in Washington. He went to Washington High School and North Carolina State University, before moving to Lafayette, La., to further pursue his sporting clay career aspirations.
He shot his first-ever round of sporting clays at Hunter’s Pointe, host to the 2010 East Coast Championship, when he was 9 years old. Kidd’s father, Brad Sr., brought him to the shooting range to warm-up for quail-hunting season.
Father and son continued to hunt often, but the younger Kidd also caught on to shooting sporting clays, thanks to his newfound mentor, Scott Downs, whose parents, David and Rita, started Hunter’s Pointe. The younger Downs was a natural, winning NSCA’s national championship in 1992.
“That’s what really drove me,” Kidd said.
The two sharp shooters traveled the country, competing in various events. Kidd credits Downs with teaching him all the “basic shooting techniques” used in sporting clays.
“But the thing I learned most was that competitive edge,” Kidd said. “I took in a lot of that.”
Downs passed away in 1998, but Kidd said he’s seen a few more friends since arriving in town Thursday.
“It’s neat to be back in town,” he said.
Kidd said being at Hunter’s Pointe “brings back memories.”
“I grew up out here,” he said with a wide smile.
Taking the NSCA’s 2010 East Coast Championship would cap off a great homecoming weekend, Kidd said. To do so, he will have to conquer Hunter’s Pointe’s 15 station course, each with a “different presentation of birds,” according to Kidd.
“People call it golf with a shotgun,” he said. “Every station is different — different techniques, different size targets, different (shooting) angles.”
Professional shooters, like Kidd, also tour across the country and globe like professional golfers. Kidd said he’s already competed in five “majors” this year, and has traveled to places like Belgium, England, Italy, Russia, South Africa, France, Czech Republic and New Zealand throughout his career.
When he’s not on tour, Kidd gives shooting lessons throughout the Gulf Coast region.
“I love teaching,” he said.