Laura McEwen from Barossa is the first ever female winner of the South Australian Pruning Championships, held in Clare Valley on Friday. Laura took home the winner’s “Wolf Blass Shield” for the overall highest points of the day.
Laura was placed 3rd in the Individual Rod & Spur event, only three points behind 1st placed Leigh Victor from Clare Valley. She then scored 93 out of a possible 100 points to finish 4th in the Individual Spur event, only one point behind the winner Jim Boehm of Barossa. Her total points for the two events won the day.
Barossa’s Amanda Mader was placed 2nd in the Individual Spur event with 93.9 points, just behind the winner Jim Boehm with 94 points. Cheree Boehm also pruned well, finishing 2nd in the Women’s Spur event, just ahead of Nini Cahaya also representing Barossa. Laura McEwen was 1st.
In the Team Spur event “Ted Dendril & the 2 Bud Spurs” took out the win, with team members Jim Boehm, Mick Boehm and Ryan Schiller taking home the cash. The “Sizzling Secateurs” Amanda Mader, Cheree Boehm and Nini Cahaya came 2nd, followed by Killakanoon’s “Killer Crew” in 3rd place.
The South Australian Pruning Championships was resurrected by the Barossa Grape & Wine Association in 2014 after a hiatus of 30 years, and now runs very alternate year in Barossa and Clare Valley.
Previously run by the Ag Bureaus from the 1920s until 1983, the competition now offers over $16,000 worth of prizes donated by leading suppliers including Pellenc, Bahco, Electrocoup and Felco.
The win for Barossa in 2022 follows local grower Steve Schiller taking home the Wolf Blass Shield for the third time in 2021, after scoring a perfect 100 to place 1st in the Individual Spur.
2022 South Australian Pruning Championships: Results
Wolf Blass Shield (overall winner)
Laura McEwen (Barossa)
Individual Spur
1st place – Jim Boehm (Barossa)
2nd place – Amanda Mader (Barossa)
3rd place – Ghulam Mohammadi (Clare Valley)
Individual Rod & Spur
1st place – Leigh Victor (Clare Valley)
2nd place – Brett Smith (Clare Valley)
3rd place – Laura McEwen (Barossa)
Team Spur
1st place – ““Ted Dendril & the 2 Bud Spurs” – Jim Boehm, Mick Boehm, Ryan Schiller (Barossa)
2nd place – “Sizzling Secateurs” – Mandy Mader, Cheree Boehm, Nini Cahaya (Barossa)
3rd place – “Killer Crew” – Leigh Victor, Mercedes Paynter, Paweena Juakud Khamin (Clare Valley)
