Flint flips horseshoes straight to the peg

Staff

Published Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Suffolk News-Herald

"One flip, and right to the peg." That's the only thought on Bob Flint's mind as he heads to the horseshoe pit for every competition.

"It's a game of concentration," says the former employee of the VITEX printing and packaging company. "No one's talking or carrying on while you're there, and you don't talk while they're throwing. It's a very respectful time."

Flint's time in the pit has become something of an era; he's been throwing horseshoes since his teenage years. "It was just a game, something to do back in Lexington," he remembers. "My brother Gene and my nephew Mickey were throwing, and I just started too." A few decades later, the three men are all former marines - and horseshoe champions.

"I give them about 90 percent of the credit, because they got all these tournaments started," Flint says, indicating the dozens of trophies that line the shelves of his Southside Trailer Court home. His late cousin Rodney Rogers, whom Flint calls "A one hundred percent go-getter, all the time," was also an integral part of the family's collective throwing careers.

Flint's first tournament was on July 4, 1991, at Davis Lakes. "Back when I first started, the winners got a trophy that was about this big," he says, holding his hands a few inches apart. But the winning objects have grown a bit since then; last weekend, Bob and his son Dennis teamed up to take home a four foot tall prize after finishing second in the Mount Atlas Horseshoe Tournament in Lexington. His next conquest will be on Aug. 2 in Virginia Beach.

"Horseshoe throwing is like any other sport," he explains. "You have to play it three or four times to really get into it. There's a lot of work and time involved. I think I've got at least five more years of throwing in me."

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