Local family world-class competitive archers
If you are looking to meet world-class champion archers in Northwest Florida, you don’t have to go far out of Walton County to find them. Great sportsmanship hits the target with the Marlow family in Ebro.
Mike Marlow, wife Linda and their two sons Tyler and Jacob have taken their favorite pastime to the ultimate level. Competing in archery tournaments across the country, the family has won four state titles, one sectional National Field Archery Association (NFAA) title, eight national championships, two International Field Archery Association (IFAA) International Championships, one North American Field Archery championship, State Shooter of the Year and two Archery Shooters Association (ASA) World Championships.
Mike started shooting in 1995, competing nationally in 1998. Jacob, 16, and Tyler, 18 started shooting in 2006. The Marlows compete in three types of tournaments: 3D, field, and target.
“I got into hunting bow and the guys got competitive … it went from there,” said Mike.
The family runs a successful full service shop named Ultimate Archery adjacent to their homestead. Opened in 2006, the shop specializes in selling and servicing bows to both hunters and competitors. The full line shop is a dealer for Hoyt, Ben Pearson and New Breed and the Panhandle rep for ASA. They specialize in professional bow tuning, custom arrows, fitting bow to the shooter, coaching services and a 3D practice range.
“I’m into it for the passion of archery, not to make money,” Mike said with a smile.
The family stays so busy running the shop and competing, Mike stopped hunting several years ago.
“I prefer to shoot animals with my camera” Mike said.
Ultimate Archery is located at 5382 Strickland Rd, Ebro, FL. 32437. Phone: (850) 535-9885. Hours: Mon. – Fri. 3 – 8 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. For more information, go to www.ultimatearcheryllc.com
david brogdon
August 2, 2011I actually bought my first real quality bow from mike, it was one of his old high country bows. I saw then that the old walmart bought bow just didn’t cut it. I have the privilegde of being the first customer of ulitimate archery. The shop was not quite ready to open and still mike being the type of person he is told me to stop by and he would help me with what i needed. That was the egining of what has been one of the most educational times of my life. I shot for mikes shop til i had shoulder surgery and had to stop shooting. Since i have lived in both florida and montana and never found a shop with the knowlegde, experience that you get from mike, tyler, and jacob. When my shoulders finally got to the point that i could shoot again the first place i went was to see mike and the boys, it was like i hadn’t missed a day, they all razzed me and joked like always. If you want to get into any type of archey, no matter what you skill level, you can learn something from mike. And believe me or not you can learn from his two boys, don’t let thier ages fool you, they know more than alot of adults when your talking archery. So wheather you have your favorite pro shop or not give ultimate archery a chance they will earn your business with the first trip. No matter how far you have to drive believe me its worth the drive, the level of service is head and shoulders above ALL of the shops that i have ever been in.