On a remote sod farm 40 minutes northwest of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, competitors gathered for the Carolina Surf Casters Association’s fourth competition of 2023. It was a new venue for the club… an opportunity to bring competitive surf casting to an area that hadn’t seen a contest in many years. Two new local entrants were Conner Brown and his brother-in-law Darren Squires Jr. Tournament regular Bob Babington, who now resides in southeastern North Carolina, also got the chance to partake in his first tournament of the year.
Though the possible casting court directions were limited at this new location, a NW wind accommodated the configuration. Scores were better than expected as wind gusts occasionally reached around 5 mph above the forecast.
Newcomer Conner Brown incredibly reached out over the 700’ mark at this first ever competition for him. It was obvious that Brown had spent some time practicing prior to the event, and that private coaching from Tommy Farmer several weeks prior had paid off in a big way. US record holder Ryan Lambert was pleased to have several casts land in 800’ territory, and veteran caster Tommy Farmer made an appearance Saturday to show he could still belt lead out to the mid-700s. All participants, old and new, landed casts over 535’ (163 meters), showing a high level of average skill and strength was present. The average best cast of the tournament between all the casters was 660’… over 200 meters.
A big “thank you” goes out to all the usual CSCA supporting businesses, especially Kevin Clemmons, owner of Grassy Bay Turf Farms, who graciously allowed the use of his property for this and some other upcoming events (stay tuned).
Final Standings
| Name | Class | 100 gram | 125 gram | 150 gram | 175 gram |
| Bob Babington | A | 536′ 11″ | |||
| Darren Squires Jr. | AA | 466′ 4″ | 551′ 4″ | ||
| Matt Tuers | AA | 561′ 4″ | 591′ 9″ | 517′ 11″ | 463′ 8″ |
| Conner Brown | AAA | 592′ 9″ | 708′ 3″ | ||
| Tommy Farmer | Senior | 754′ 5″ | |||
| Ryan Lambert | Elite | 763′ 5″ | 821′ 8″ | 801′ 10″ |