A while back, pistol-training.com reported that IDPA was considering a long awaited (and much needed) class to cover those shooters who dramatically outpace the “typical” IDPA Master class shooter. I even repeated my years-old suggestion that the class be one that is earned only at major matches. Well, this past weekend at the S&W Indoor Nationals, Joyce Wilson — who sits on the IDPA Board of Directors — announced their new Distinguised Master class:
Joyce Wilson announced that the International Defensive Pistol Association was adding a new classification. The Distinguished Master class is made up of the division winners from the IDPA Nationals and Smith & Wesson Indoor Nationals for the last five years. The only way to make it into this new class is to win a division at one of these two matches, or come within 3% of the winner.
(from The Shooting Wire 2-Mar-2011)
Sounds like a good approach to me! It’s very interesting to see IDPA borrowing the percentage system that is the mainstay of USPSA/IPSC scoring, as well.
Congrats to all the newly appointed Distinguished Masters and to IDPA for addressing this issue.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
So it is really a class for those with the requisite abilities and the financial means to travel to Massachusetts or wherever Nationals is, and be lucky enough to get in the first come first serve registration process, rather than a class for those with the requisite ability??
There is no classifier for this class? I’m not necessarily opposed to the class being created but this seems a little strange.
Right. It’s a class for people who actually win Nationals or come close, not just people who can shoot the Classifier really well. The Classifier doesn’t measure half of what’s involved in winning a major championship.
No matter how well you can throw a football in your backyard, you’re never winning NFL Most Valuable Player.
As an SO I was fortunate to see triple Master Class award winner Robert Vogel as part of the last squad of the match on my stage. Superhuman. He was not the only star but on that stage he was 2 seconds faster than any of the other 200 plus shooters to that point. Before the supersquad only 3 shooters came in under 11 seconds. He was in the 8’s
But I thought IDPA wasn’t a competition that it was geared towards real life training, and that gaming was discouraged? :p
Is the list of DMs available yet?
Vogel is the first 3-Division DM, Miculek and Sevigny has also been added. Not aware of any others and the “Official” announcement from IDPA HQ is still pending, per our AC.
I would hope Ernest is in there too.
Robbie — I think IDPA stopped playing the “training” card a decade ago. There are still some folks (usually at the local level) who pound their chests and get all superior about it, but IDPA is a game and everyone knows it.
Ernest has won IDPA Nationals (and S&W) in both SSP and CDP.
Ernest is a DM!!
I could be wrong, but I don’t think Ernest is within 3% of Vogel and Sevigny. He’ll have had to have won in the last 5 years, or shooting in a category that Bob and Dave aren’t shooting.
I totally spaced on the “last five years” part. That seems ridiculously arbitrary to me.
I was looking through the results to see who would be list…what happened to Donnie Burton? Burned out and stopped competing? Anyone know?
Donnie left the shooting sports a while back for very good reasons (nothing ominous or nefarious, I promise). He’s sorely missed. He was one of the classiest, friendliest, and talented shooters you could ever meet.
Up here the IDPA guys still play the “realism” card, a lot. Not all of them, but enough to make me smile.
So is Ernest in or not? Would seem ridiculous that a pioneer like him (ha, don’t tell him that, it makes him sound old) would be excluded. But I guess they have to have some sort of time frame in place.
I couldn’t find results for Winter/Indoor for 2006. If he won a division or finished within 3% of the winner, then he would be GM, er, I mean DM. But if Dave or Bob compete at the Winter Nationals that year in the same division, then I bet Ernest didn’t win or come close to matching them
I did check results for both matches going back to the 2006 Nationals, which I suppose would be the first year (retroactively, that is) to earn DM, and he didn’t finish within even 20% of Dave. Some years since then he didn’t compete.
No offense to him, but it’s not a Hall of Fame, but rather a shooting classification. Since Sevigny and Vogel (and USPSA shooters slumming in IDPA once a year) came on the scene, Ernest isn’t a a top dog. Doesn’t matter how many he won in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s as far as the DM classification is concerned.
Ernest is a DM
Here is the current published list at this time
Custom Defensive Pistol: Bob Vogel, Dave Sevigny, David Olhasso, Eric Fusion, Glenn Shelby, Greg Martin, Matt Mink, Tom Yost
Enhanced Service Pistol: Bob Vogel, Donnie Burton, Matt Mink, Rob Leatham, Taran Butler, Todd Jarrett
Stock Service Pistol: Bob Vogel, Dan Burwell, Dave Sevigny, Ernest Langdon, Gordon Carrell, Phil Strader
Enhanced Service Revolver: Jerry Miculek
Stock Service Revolver: Craig Buckland, Curt Nichols, Josh Lentz
“The only way to make it into this new class is to win a division at one of these two matches, or come within 3% of the winner.”
Anybody up for a pool on how long until there’s more than one DM in ESR?
Boat3 — Actually, Ernest has beat Sevigny at Nationals before; he also beat Rob Leatham at Nationals, and a number of other guys who are DMs. The fact that Ernest’s career has taken precedence over his practice schedule doesn’t diminish what he’s accomplished or the ability he’s displayed.
Some day, the greats of today will be the greats of yesterday and new guys will be shooting better, faster, stronger than anyone we see at matches now. That doesn’t mean the top dogs of today are somehow less deserving of the title.
there are a couple international shooters who regularly fall within the required percentage of Jerry at IPSC matches, so it shouldn’t be too long before one of them earns DM in IDPA.
Spent way more time than I should have on this, but I found some results from 2006 Winter Nationalls/championship (on a USPSA site.)
http://www.uspsa7.org/els/swidpa2006.htm
Ernie beat Dave, but finished 2nd to Phil Strader. (Strader 100%, Ernie 98.79%)
Unless I missed a match between 2006 and 2010, that must be when Ernie qualified for DM.
I’m not making any judgement about Ernie, or about why he’s no longer a top dog in IDPA. No doubt, if he focused on competing rather than his teaching and industry work, he might be more competitive (I even mentioned that it looked like he didn’t even compete some years.)
He’s deserving of the title if he earns it (which he did) and not because he was a pioneer (which I’m not even sure I would define him as)
I do think going back five years is arbitrary. Perhaps IDPA though going back any further was unnecessary, if the point is to give a rank to folks that are currently competing. (Why bestow DM on somebody based on what they did 12 or more years ago, if they are not shooting at that level now. Think back to the early days of IDPA, where the winners wouldn’t be anywhere near the top anymore –either because they’ve not kept their skills or the competition has improved.)
I think the whole category is silly, if reports that it was created to give rank and file Masters (that were never going to beat the professional shooters) a chance to win a division. The folks that will win the Masters division are going to be so good that they are actually gunning for Sevigny and Vogel, rather than be happy they beat the regular Masters.
above should read “if reports that it was created…are to be believed”
(Some say it was created for folks that wanted to win a division but couldn’t beat the top rung. I think whoever does win the regular “master” division at the big matches will be at such a high level that he’ll actually only be satisfied with beat the Sevigny’s and Vogel’s and couldn’t care less about being first regular “master.” (just wanted to make what I was saying clear.)