British open sporting scores

[maddmatt]

Whilst I agree the majors should be on the tough side you still have to cater for the lower abilities and not completely demoralise them,  otherwise instead of having a shoot over a number of days with a full entry each day you will have it held over one day with 30 ‘top’ shooters.

If that happens then watch the entry fee rise and the prize fund drop, we are a minority participation sport and need to keep every ability happy if we are going to survive as a sport.

It is hard for a course setter to get the balance to suit everybody in sporting, if you shoot the other non sporting disciplines then a local shoot is no easier or harder target wise than a major or an Olympic shoot only the ability of the competitors change and I guess that is sportings beauty and problem.

I haven’t shot the sporting yet so cannot comment on that,  but I have shot the sportrap, it wasn’t stupidly hard but I thought it was a tough shoot even for a major and my opinion was backed up by some very good well known shots shooting lowish (for them)scores. There are going to be some bruised egos that’s for sure, I enjoyed the shoot so I am not going to complain but I did see some shooters that clearly didn’t.   

Next year it will be held somewhere else with a different target setter so it's not a problem if it was too hard or too easy because in any event it will be different next year with a different set of people singing its praises or condemning it.

Actually what would happen is this, sponsors would be more inclined to get involved because all the top shots would be competing on the same day and not on random days as is the case now. The British Open is the oldest shooting trophy in the UK and it should be the blue ribbon event of the year. It should never cater for lower class shooters, want to shoot well then learn to shoot at the numerous sunday registered shoots.

Harsh but true, as mentioned here, you should have to qualify to even get an entry to the British Open, that would definitely make it aspirational and would add to the kudos of the event.

 

[chippy]

Whatever class you are in, if you hit all the ones you know you can hit and a few of the hard ones you will end up with a decent score.its just that AAA shooters have a larger range of ones they know they can hit.

 

[timps]

Actually what would happen is this, sponsors would be more inclined to get involved because all the top shots would be competing on the same day and not on random days as is the case now. The British Open is the oldest shooting trophy in the UK and it should be the blue ribbon event of the year. It should never cater for lower class shooters, want to shoot well then learn to shoot at the numerous sunday registered shoots.

Harsh but true, as mentioned here, you should have to qualify to even get an entry to the British Open, that would definitely make it aspirational and would add to the kudos of the event.

The trouble is sporting is not a spectator sport, you will not get any paying spectators nor a big TV coverage deal or any meaningful coverage in non shooting related press. So why would a sponsor be more inclined to get involved if the shoot was held on one day with just a few top shots. I get the idea if you can draw in paying spectators or a lucrative TV deal for this event but sporting doesn't lend itself to that at all. Trap and skeet maybe stand a chance but not sporting as there would be no room to view all the stands at garlands as a spectator in any numbers and why would you want watch one stand all day anyway.
With several hundred shooters competing over several days then at least they have a target audience with a vested interest who might be interested in a sponsors product so I see it less likely to attract sponsors if you reduce the entries to just the elite.

Also with the lack of entry money the sponsor money will not go far having to subsidies the comp set up, profits for the ground to run the shoot and the prize fund.

We unfortunately are not golf, tennis or darts so we don't get the paying spectators. If I didn't qualify for the British open I wouldn't be that bothered about it, but because I am shooting it and so are people I know I am very interested in it.

Turn shooting into an elitist sport and watch the minority sport that we all participate in die some more. I shoot sporting but really couldn't be bothered watching a full day of sporting without competing because I shoot is the only reason I am interested.

 

[Hamster]

If there is mileage in having all the top shots in on the same (last ?) day why hasn't anyone done this then ? They could even charge a premium for the lesser shooters who would surely enjoy the spectacle of so many famous names around on the same day; the reality is that however you cook it the money comes from bread and butter shooters, forget that at your peril.

 

[Will Hewland]

I really agree with both madmatt and timps. Their principles are different but both right. At the moment the accepted way of getting revenue at a big shoot is to make it appeal to hundreds of paying competitors. (This then sparks huge debate about the course, cos there ain't 1000 potential winners..)

Personally, I would love to see a proper event where only the super talented were there. 100 shooters? Good luck with finding a way to fund that! It may be possible with a big promotional push and great coverage but it will take a big financial punt from somebody to see if it works.. Anybody?

 

[maddmatt]

Having spoken to corporate sponsors about shooting and its merits, what became clear was, it was not about target audiences within the competitors, it was the association of their brand with the very top shots that appealed the most. In the old days you had to qualify to come back on the Sunday to shoot another 100 targets, this included all classes, issue was only the top x percent of each class went through and sometimes this meant som very top shots not making it to the Sunday final day, so it was changed to first past the post, which is bollocks IMO, just means you need luck on your side when you shoot...

There is a general opinion in shooting that high numbers of entries equals a successful event, which is of course not always the case, sometimes a limited entry event is far more succesfull, both in terms of shooting standard and exposure for the sport, FITASC got sucked in to this way of thinking and tried to get 2,000 shooters entering the world fitasc championship, all that happened was they had to dumb down the targets to appease the 1700 shooters who couldn't shoot!

 

[Deershooter]

We all know this is just a cash cow for the CPSA where would they be without the lower class entry's you would not have a British open

What most people seem to forget is that we do this for enjoyment

Sorry but no part of the shoot was enjoyable for a disabled shooter other than the nice ride home in the sunset

Deershooter

 

[Hamster]

Personally, I would love to see a proper event where only the super talented were there. 100 shooters? Good luck with finding a way to fund that! It may be possible with a big promotional push and great coverage but it will take a big financial punt from somebody to see if it works.. Anybody?

Can't be done without bluechip money and they have the choice of throwing money at the type of sport that brings TV coverage. We have all discussed the reasons why shooting wouldn't appeal, guns, loud report, potential for negative publicity regarding the lead and plastic we chuck, our image isn't exactly snooker smart and lets be honest after five minutes it's like watching paint dry. 

The answer as with almost everything in life is somewhere in the middle, by all means stiffen up a notch but don't alienate the hand that feeds you.

 

[chippy]

Unfortunately we need someone like joey Essex to take up clay shooting.

 

[Jeremy Baker]

I seem to hear that people will be put off and disheartened?
The majors are rammed full time after time.
Shoot your average and you should be up there.
That's my opinion of a major.
Go out on your registered shoots at softer grounds if you want big scores.

 

[Macc Ladd]

Brilliant shoot, thought the targets were spot on!! I didn't score that well but enjoyed the day!

 

[philmoss]

Unfortunately we need someone like joey Essex to take up clay shooting.

Shuddd ,,,,, uppp

 

[chippy]

Shuddd ,,,,, uppp

Are you related ?

 

[Mark Jones]

With the growing cost of shooting who wants to pull the trigger on so called gimme stands? I had such a laugh at the targets on this shoot, one bird I blanked and it made me laugh, tried something different on each one but still couldn't find it! Others that I hit really made me feel good as well as they were hard for my ability. Felt I shot well but didn't straight a stand, now that's what I call value for money, recon I would have to had shot 3 weekend registers to have seen such good targets.

Well done Steve, Ali and the team.

 

[Iggy]

Unfortunately we need someone like joey Essex to take up clay shooting.

Would he get a license?

 

[Jeremy Baker]

With the growing cost of shooting who wants to pull the trigger on so called gimme stands? I had such a laugh at the targets on this shoot, one bird I blanked and it made me laugh, tried something different on each one but still couldn't find it! Others that I hit really made me feel good as well as they were hard for my ability. Felt I shot well but didn't straight a stand, now that's what I call value for money, recon I would have to had shot 3 weekend registers to have seen such good targets.
Well done Steve, Ali and the team.

Well shot btw.
The midi on 4...?
Like you say I enjoy trying to hit clays rather than trying not to miss.

 

[Deershooter]

Next the fire engines will be at Garlands with the amount of smoke blown up Steve Lovetts arse

Deershooter

 

[Clynt]

Shot this on the 9AM rotation yesterday, did this to try and avoid the delays we experienced at Southdown, was a bit better time wise to complete,

but we did meet squad over laps with 5 stds left to do ? started at 9 and finished around 12.

As for the targets, we tend to see this type of challenge at Westfields and more over Windrush regularly, and it was obvious to me a few on our squad and on squads we observed while waiting to shoot, have not been subjected to this severity !! now this leads to the question , were the targets too stiff ? Honestly I thought it was right for the label of British Open.

No doubt certain things can be massively improved around the course... timing, rotations and balancing the targets ( so no one starts on a run of 3-5 hard stds in a row). basic seating on every other std would not go amiss either, several drink and food stations would add to the feeling of being appreciated ?? if the powers that be , persist with the 2 hr rotation , which time and time again fails to work.

If THE ESSEX MASTERS works so well why have the CPSA been so slow to adopt this system ?? is this just a reluctance or a financial thing !!  

I wonder why this has become a 120 bird shoot which only adds to the chaos, maybe if it went back to a 100 shooters would have more time to take part in other things happening on the ground ? but lately I get the feeling we are becoming numbers with profit price tags attached .....

the shoot it's self was very good , it does however need shooters input to iron out the problems and give it back it's appeal as a great day out, and the feeling of being part of something special , it should be, as far as possible the same for every one  ......

 

[Finners]

Unfortunately we need someone like joey Essex to take up clay shooting.

If that's who I think it is, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!  :fie:   :fie:

 

[Deershooter]

The only reason it's 120 birds is so the ground can have more money, you cannot shoot 120 birds at DTL Skeet Ball trap or any other discipline .The CPSA rape the cash for this offering the ground less than a standard birds only price I bet the ground didn't get £26 per round out of your £55 entry fee . It should be 15 stands 100 birds with some stands 3 pair some stands 4 singles full use of the gun.

This would cut down the waiting and reduce the shooting times .

I feel the shoot in General was put on to a price rather than a standard with no seating no water stop or refreshment apart from a piece of Mellon very little thought put in .

The CPSA should be ashamed

Just let me know how the "CPSA is the future of our sport "

Deershooter