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Last Thursday April 21st, J.Pepe Fanjul and his wife Emilia hosted an elegant cocktail and dinner party at the La Romana Country Club which served as a welcome for the participants of this year’s Casa de Campo Sugar Shooting tournament.
At the entrance, we were able to see the shining trophies that were awarded yesterday at the dinner in Casa Grande, a must-stop for everyone coming into the clubhouse. Among the guests we spotted were Gary Salmon, Director of Casa de Campo who having taken up his post towards the end of 2014 is now running his second Casa de Campo Sugar Shooting tournament, and his wife, Judith Salmon, James Horne, the Chairman of Purdey & GunsOnPegs gunmakers, as well as Jimmy Gubelmann, who donated the “Gubelmann Cup.”
Guests were received with tall glasses of bubbly, while waiters presented various entrées of beef empanadas, vegetable spring rolls, and bacon wrapped appetizers. Yum! There was an undeniable cheerful and friendly atmosphere present where everyone talked about their day and how they had performed earlier in the shooting tournament. Later on everyone enjoyed a delicious buffet style dinner.
Although the tournament had already started earlier in the week on Tuesday, the annual welcome cocktail and dinner is traditionally celebrated on the Thursday evening of the 6-day event. Why? Because when J.Pepe Fanjul first founded the Casa de Campo Sugar Shooting Tournament twenty-seven years ago, Casa de Campo’s shooting facilities were not as expansive as they are today. Back in 1987, although still impressive, the Casa de Campo shooting facilities had “just” the Sporting Clays circuit, two pigeon rings, and a skeet and trap facility, meaning the Sugar Shooting tournament was shot over 4 days. 15 years later, the new shooting facility at Rancho Peligro for European Style Driven Bird Shooting was opened, and allowed the tournament to grow from a 4-day event to the 6-day event it is today.
The Casa de Campo Sugar Shooting tournament continued at the Casa de Campo Shooting Center and at Rancho Peligro on Friday and Saturday, and closed with the prize-giving ceremony and dinner on Saturday evening at Casa Grande. Stay tuned for our coverage article on that spectacular night!
The following photos were taken by Alejandro Heredia during the celebration at La Romana Country Club, Casa de Campo:
