4th in the English Open and first 1st place

Minigolf Tournaments Reports

BMGA English Open & BMGA British Club Championships

BMGA English Open

Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried competed in two BMGA Minigolf tournaments last weekend at the Recreation Ground Minigolf course in Stratford-upon-Avon.

On Saturday 7th Richard competed in the BMGA English Open tournament where he finished 4th of 36 players after rounds of 34, 33 and 36 for a three rounds total of 103 (-5).

In a very close competition that saw a number of players chasing a top three finish going into the third round, it was Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies from Hastings who lifted the English Open title with a scores of 32, 32, 35 for a three round total of 99 strokes (-9). In second place was John Moore from Newcastle who beat Birmingham’s Chris Harding in a play-off for second place after both were tied on 100 strokes (-8).

Richard was in second place after two-rounds but his third round score of Par was not enough to keep him there as both Harding and Moore moved up the field after achieving excellent third-round scores; with Moore equalling the course record at 31 strokes and then Harding shooting a 30 to break his own course record.

Richard said “I feel I put in a great performance and it was only down to two exceptional rounds from Chris and John that meant that my last round was not enough to keep me in second place.”

He added “I have no complaints though as I played my best and was only four shots off the winner. In last years English Open I came 23rd and fourth from bottom so I am showing a lot of improvement in my game, and the ranking points from the tournament will come in very handy in rising up the BMGA Order of Merit.”

BMGA British Club Championships
Following the BMGA English Open on Saturday was Sunday’s BMGA British Club Championships, which saw seven teams battling to become the champions.

Following Richard’s 3rd place finish in April’s Midland Invitational Tournament he was selected to be a member of the Midland Minigolf Club’s ‘A’ team.

Each four-player team competed in six 12-hole Matchplay matches to decide the winner, with the Midlands Minigolf Club’s ‘A’ team emerging victorious for an undisputed victory notching up 6 straight wins against the best Minigolf combinations in Great Britain including the four-time, and 2007, champions the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club.

The winning team consisted of Chris Harding (Captain), Jam Trubridge, Richard Gottfried and John Moore.

Club Captain Harding said of the win “The Midlands Minigolf Club were really pleased to be crowned British Champions on Sunday. We started the tournament as strong favourites and managed to come through by winning all of our games. As team captain it is only right that I should be congratulating my team: John, Jam and Richard for their massive contributions to an excellent team performance. I'm especially pleased for Richard who wins his first trophy after an excellent 4th place finish in The English Open on Saturday. With two other Midlands teams playing so well in the competition, both containing very promising juniors, the future looks bright for the Midlands Minigolf scene.”

Commenting on his debut BMGA Tour victory Richard said, “Our team played so well together and we made very few mistakes along the way. There were no easy teams to play against and we had to face some very tough opposition on the way to the win but we all just stayed focussed on winning the Championship. To be undefeated throughout the tournament just showed the strength in our team.”

On his overall performance over the weekend Richard said “I am so happy to have achieved my first BMGA tour win, and combined with my best finish in a major Open I am pleased that my commitment to the sport of Minigolf is paying off with good finishes and a haul of ranking points.”

Emily Gottfried was also in competition in the British Club Championships where she was a member of the Midlands ‘C’ team which finished 7th of 7 in the tournament, losing all but one match but very close to winning or drawing a number of matches throughout the competition.

Richard next competes in the BMGA Brighton Open in June and then Richard and Emily head to Hastings for the BMGA British Championships in July.