25 Aug 2026
Photo Credits: Robyn Geddes Photography
One of the premier events on the national target archery calendar, the 2026 Scottish National Archery Outdoor Championships, successfully concluded this past weekend. Held from 22 to 23 August 2026, the event brought together the country's archers across the community at Balbardie Archers - Xcite Bathgate in West Lothian.
A Unique Consolidated Format
Unlike previous years where competitions were spread out, the 2026 edition featured a historic, consolidated format. Due to the lack of appetite to host separate standalone weekends, the Scottish Archery events team combined the Senior & Novice Outdoor Championships and the Junior & 50+ Outdoor Championships into a singular action-packed weekend. Organisers expressed hope that the tournament would return to separate weekend slots from 2027 onward, encouraging local clubs to utilise hosting as a prime fundraising opportunity.
Saturday: Junior & 50+ Championships
The tournament commenced on Saturday, 22 August, focusing on the future stars and seasoned veterans of the sport. Archers competed under World Archery (WA) 1440 and Archery GB (AGB) Metric round formats, testing their endurance and precision over 144 arrows. Despite the variable West Lothian breeze, youth and 50+ master athletes across Recurve, Compound, and Barebow divisions put on a phenomenal display of marksmanship.
Check out full results, click here.
Sunday: Senior & Novice Championships
On Sunday, 23 August, the shooting line shifted to the Senior and Novice divisions. The field saw intense action across multiple categories, including the highly competitive Recurve Open, Recurve Female, Compound Open, and Longbow classifications. The Novice categories offered an inclusive yet competitive gateway for archers newly entering the sport's formal tournament pathway. Check out full results, click here.
Handicap Improvement Award Sword
The sword is the Handicap Improvement Award. Archers who wanted to win it had to submit 4 scores beforehand from the previous year which were given a handicap. An average was taken from one of those scores. Then the winner was the person who improved their handicap the most from those 4 to the one they shot on Sunday. Congratulations to St Andrews University Archery Club's Rohan Dyce on receiving this award!
Fiona hirst, Events Manager shared her thoughts from the weekend:
‘‘We were delighted to have international archer Sarah Preels shooting this weekend. On Saturday Sarah shot 1400, which was not only just five points off her PB, but we think it is the first 1400 shot in Scotland! A thank you to all the competitors for their effort and providing a great atmosphere and also well done to all the medallists.
Thanks as always go out to the volunteers who helped set up and take down each day. Without these volunteers events would be difficult to run and many hands make light work’’
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Looking Ahead
With the outdoor national champions crowned, elite Scottish archers will turn their attention towards Stage 3 of the Scottish Tour in Moray. Moreover, this is followed by the highly anticipated Scottish Tour Finals, scheduled to take place on 19 September 2026 on the historic, picturesque grounds of Glamis Castle.
For photos from the event, click here. (Photo Credits: Robyn Geddes - thank you Robyn, these are fantastic)