Honestly, when it comes to fun at comps, course design is everything. I think that one of the problems this hobby has had is that people have continued to build harder and harder courses and it has become less fun for the masses.
Yes, the Pro drivers want a challenge, but it shouldn't come at the cost of making the courses impossible. It's my thought that a well designed course should have an out for every extremely difficult gate...a way to eat it and go. The top guys will run a cleaner course and their scores will show it, but the middle of pack and lower drivers can still cover a good part of the course or even finish.
It sucks when half the field has 38's on most of the courses. It's just not that much fun and we lose participants.
You'll build the courses how you want, but it's just my feeling that effective course design will ensure the longevity of the hobby by making the event more fun.