Clearly the way the Scoring System for the GP is setup is bonkers.
Playing along is even more bonkers.
I agree and I have fought to correct it, but eventually had to let it go. I didn't play along last year and the western US area missed out on some GP points. I'm not in it for GP scores so for me it doesn't matter (I didn't even shoot the NV match last year), other folks are, so I have to take that into account.
Apart from shooting a lower score (which everyone who attends will do) you are at not advantage/disadvantage with this course at 36T as opposed to a 28T since all scores are now figured by Class/Division. Last year you would have been shooting your piston against the PCP scores and setting a 36T course would be brutal for the piston shooters in that case (one of many reasons why I did not change the course last year). Plus I have a few tricks at my disposal to help out on the longer into the wind shots.
I think your mention of regional GP's is a good idea, we had a Western GP for a while (two years maybe). Or you could have qualifying GP matches spread out across the US and now you have a springboard to a higher level of competition (other shooting sports have these), one where competitors can choose to shoot a full 36T course in whatever conditions the locale will offer if they want national standing. The other GP's become enjoyable events for experienced and unexperienced shooters alike. That turns the GP into something else then, but i'm not sure anyone knows what the GP is supposed to be currently.
PRS (Precision Rifle Series with powder burners) is a sport offering tens of thousands in prize purses plus multipliers of that in prize table items (said another way, a lot of reasons $$ for people to complain about the rules) has NO course set up rules other than:
"The majority of PRS stages should be challenging to even the most seasoned competitors. As a general guideline, the top score for most stages (and therefore the match) should be between 80-90% of the total available points. Matches in which the winner attains less than 85% of the points possible are not providing the shooters, especially newer ones, an opportunity to enjoy themselves." This is the proper approach to keep and grow a sport. The sport is exploding in popularity and the cost of equipment makes the highest end airguns look cheap. We have charts and planners and...a big giant mess.
At Nevada the top scores for nearly the exact same 28T course, year after year have been:
2024 78.5%
2023 85.7%
2022 70.5%
2021 75.9%
Using the PRS metric even at a 28T the course is too difficult for new shooters to enjoy and overly challenging for seasoned competitors. Overlooking this issue will be problematic for this sport in the future.
I can only work within the current rules and the rules make more sense this year to set a 36T than they did last year so I need to give it a shot, in some way I feel like it is owed to the people who have said they are attending. Plus now we can claim unequivocally that we have the most difficult FT match in the universe!! LOL
In reality the thing that is currently hurting our attendance most is RMAC moving their event from Father's Day weekend to the one after. Shooters were using our match as a layover stop when headed to/from RMAC. To realign our event properly would mean moving it into May or July risking uncertain weather in either direction (thunderstorms in May, excessive heat in July). We may move the event for 2026, i'd really like to pick up the folks we had before and I know they would like to shoot the Nevada match.
Hector, if you want to come to Nevada i'll pay your registration fee out of my own pocket. You can camp on site, we will have a portable toilet and a hot shower and a full cooking set up for anyone who wants it. This is a once in a lifetime location to shoot, you have so many of those on your list, we would love to put our event on there with the others.
