Ron Deckard is Three Times Horseshoe Pitching World Champion
Ron Deckard, of the Clearwater Horseshoe Club, traveled to Springfield, Illinois, to compete in the One Hundredth National Horseshoe Pitching Association World Tournament. Ron has now won three consecutive Senior Men's World Titles. There were over 90 entries in this class, and over 1300 entries in various other classes including Juniors, Elders, Men, and Women during a two-week period. After the first two days of pitching, Ron was slightly down and knew that he had to pitch better the third day to get in the next level. He succeeded and advanced to the finals. After three more days of pitching against other former world champions such as Elbert Shifflett and Tom Westbrook, Ron went on to regain his title with only two losses. Since 1970 Ron is the only pitcher to win the Tournament three consecutive times. There were others who previously had back-to-back World Titles. The Senior Men's League was started in 1960. During this period, until 1970, only one other player was dominate for five years; that was John Paxton 1966-1970. The best men's pitcher in the world is Allen Francis of Defiance, Ohio. Allen won his Fourteenth World Title in Springfield.
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