2010 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review

2010 has been a fun year for both me and Emily, with eleven top ten finishes on the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour between us, stacks of crazy golf courses visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, plenty of competition on the Irregular Mini Golf Tour, and a few other wierd and wacky events played in too!

Below is a month by month run down of the highs (and lows) of 2010 as documented here on the Ham & Egger Files.

January
- Teed-off in the first minigolf competition of the season on the 1st of January with the 'Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament' at Woodside Animal Farm, Slip End Village near Luton
- Got to use my Sledge for the first time in 2010
- Tried (and failed) to play Crazy Golf in the snow at Tea Green
- Went to 'an Ireland'
- Lost the Scrap Iron Cup in a minigolf contest to Dudley's Owen 'Jackpot' Johnson
- 8th place finish in the BMGA National Open at Star City, Birmingham
- Set a new course record, and personal best on an 18-hole minigolf course, with my score of 28(-8) on the Lost Hut Trail course at the BMGA National Open
- Played the 159th course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, at Sandwell Valley Park in West Bromwich

February
- Played the new 'seaside' Shooting Shack in Luton
- Helped out Tim 'Ace Man' Davies with the http://www.miniaturegolfer.com/ '2009 UK Crazy Golf Price Survey'
- 160th course played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The UK's first full-size Swedish Felt course in Hither Green, Lewisham
- The Irregular Mini Golf Tour announces The Race to Play Near Rye (East Sussex) parody minigolf tournament
- The Ham & Egger Files wins 'Best Blog' Award at the Miniature Golfer Awards for 2009
- 24th place finish in the BMGA English Open at the Jungle Rumble courses in Bristol

March- Runner-up in the Spring Classic minigolf competition at Hither Green
- Played a Swedish Felt Minigolf Course in Vienna, Austria
- Emily and I move up in the WMF World Ranking Lists

April
- We take a minigolfing tour around East (& West) Anglia
- Play 14 rounds of Minigolf at Tea Green Golf in Luton
- Runner-up in the St George's Day Classic minigolf competition
- 4th place finish in the Midland Open minigolf tournament in Stratford-upon-Avon
- Won the Aces Championship at the Midland Open
- 3rd place finish (with Kevin Moseley) at the BMGA British Doubles Championships, Emily (and Welsh Ladies Number One, Cindy Kuielka) finish 4th

May
- Run some Minigolf Coaching Sessions at the Tea Green Golf Fun Day
- A milestone of 220 Minigolf course visits on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour is hit
- Runner-up (with Leo Kukielka) in the Codonas Classic in Aberdeen
- 8th place finish in my 50th BMGA Tour Appearance at the BMGA Scottish Open in Aberdeen. Emily finishes in 21st place
- Three years and eight months update on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

June
- Win the SB Classic Minigolf Doubles Contest (with Christopher Gottfried) at Tea Green Golf, Luton
- Emily is third (with Doubles Partner Brad Shepherd) in the Lost World Classic in Hemsby. Richard and partner Owen Johnson finish in tied 8th place
- Tied for 11th place in the BMGA British Championships at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk
- Visit and play four minigolf courses while in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

July
- 9th place finish in the Splash Point Strokeplay Competition at the new Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing
- Runner-up in the BMGA British Championships in Worthing
- Tim 'Ace Man' Davies and I launch the Virtual Crazy Golf Museum
- Runner-up in the Midlands Invitational Minigolf Tournament in Dorridge
- Play the 183rd course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, this one was in Ipswich
- Went to New England!?
- Move up to a new minigolf career best position of 7th in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings

August
- The World Finger Jousting Federation celebrates its fifth Anniversary
- Emily and I visit Northern Ireland to face off against the Bangor MGC in the first-ever "Northern Ireland Belfast Bangor Antrim & Larne Invitational Tournament (NIBBAL-IT)". We lose to Mark Swain and Craig McCallister
- The trip to Northern Ireland means we have now played minigolf in each of the Home Nations
- I win the first-ever GMGC Club Tournament at Hither Green
- Emily and I help UrbanCrazy launch a brand new minigolf course in a garden in East Finchley, London
- We play a unique minigolf course in Hyde Park, London
- I finish 3rd and Emily is 6th in the 2010 Cwmbran Darts Classic
- I finish 5th and Emily is 6th in the 2010 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament)
- We spend 45 minutes on Barry Island, Wales
- We visit Huntingdon Races. Emily has a flutter and wins, we play a Crazy Golf course, and attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest Conga!

September
- We embark on an almost fruitless minigolfing roadtrip
- 12th place finish in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open
- 9th place finish in the GMGC Club Tournament in Hither Green
- We visit and play the landmark 199th and 200th courses on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, at Castleford's Xscape Centre
- 3rd place finish for me, and 6th spot for Emily in the Newcastle Open minigolf competition
- The north-east minigolf tour proves more fruitful than the tour to the south-east earlier in the month
- Tied for 11th place in the BMGA Players Championships in Hastings
- Finished 28th in the BMGA British Open
- Emily and I compete in the first-ever "Undisputed International Worlds Crazy Air Squash Championships"
- The "Minigolf Welly Boot Swamp Ball Incident in Hastings" occurs
- I tie for 6th place in the GMGC Club Tournament in Hither Green
- The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour turns four years old!

October
- We re-visit Poole Park in Dorset and play the new 12-hole Crazy Golf course (#203)
- I finish 7th in the Weymouth Open minigolf tournament at Lodmoor Country Park, Weymouth
- I finish 4th in the London Invitational Minigolf Tournament in East Finchley, London
- Emily and I are invited to compete in the “www.miniaturegolfer.com ‘Ten Best' Crazy Golf Championship” in Hastings. I finish in tied 4th place, Emily is tied for 10th
- I finish in 17th place in the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships - for the third year running!
- I am now ranked 26th of 260 players in the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Rankings for 2003-2010, Emily is 55th

November
- Blogged 68 Times in November 2010!
- Emily and I compete in the 4th UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships in Fulham. Emily gets to Round 3, while I crash out in Round 2
- 8th place finish in the Kent Open minigolf tournament in Sidcup
- I win the Kent Open Team Competition alongside Michael Smith and James Davies, at World of Golf Sidcup
- WMF World Minigolf Rankings Update (Nov 10):
-- Richard - 413th of 413 places / 431 players
-- Emily - 138th of 138 places / 158 players

December
- Played in the 'World Series of Pong' Ping Pong Tournament in Tooting, London alongside Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd
- Played in the Minigolfers BIG Sim Golf Challenge Christmas 'Do' event at Urban Golf in London. Me and Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd are runners-up in the Doubles Event
- Finish in tied 5th place in the Christmas Minigolf 9-Hole Putting Green Sudden Death Challenge
- Completed my fourth year on the BMGA Tour, with a 12th place finish in the inaugural Green Open at Hither Green, Lewisham
- End of Season BMGA Tour Rankings:
-- Richard - 11th of 98 players in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings for 2009-2010 - a new career high end-of-season ranking
-- Emily - 41st of 98 players in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings for 2009-2010
--- Richard - 7th of 160 players in the BMGA Season Only Rankings for 2010 - a new career high end-of-season ranking
--- Emily - 100th/101st (tied) of 160 players in the BMGA Season Only Rankings for 2010
- Visited Eastrop Park in Basingstoke, the Crazy Golf course there has been removed and replaced by and Adventure Playground
- Visited an unplayable Swedish Felt B-Run Minigolf course on a Pier in Southsea
- Re-visited the first course played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Portsmouth's Treasure Island Adventure Golf - it was closed
- Played the 210th minigolf course on our tour at the O2 in London on the 30th December 2010 - Emily and I contest the Irregular Mini Golf Tour Millennium Classic - it's a draw!
- End of Year Green Mini Golf Club Rankings:
-- Richard - 16th of 37 players having played four of the 18 weekly club tournaments

In 2010 we played a total of 52 courses on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We also visited a further 44 courses that we couldn't play for a variety of reasons, and re-visited and played many previously played courses!

A peek ahead at 2011?
Who knows what will happen, or where we'll be going on our various minigolf, crazy golf and other strange sporting adventures in 2011 - what is known is that a lot of fun will be had on the way!

2009 - A Year in Review

Final Irregular Mini Golf Tour Rankings for the 2009/10 Season

The Irregular Mini Golf Tour's 2009/10 Season ended in London at The O2's temporary Q-Golf Minigolf course on the 30th December 2010 with the final IMGT event - The Millennium Classic.


Key
NM Non-Mover
NE New Entry
NL Not Listed yet this Season

Irregular Mini Golf Tour Ranking Points Calculations 2009/2010:
1st place = 100 points
2nd place = 75 points
3rd place = 50 points
Other place = 10 points

The new Irregular Mini Golf Tour Season for 2011 begins at the Luton Invitational Tournament at Woodside Animal Farm, Slip End Village, near Luton, Beds on the 1st January 2011.

Irregular Mini Golf Tour Rankings 2006-2009
Irregular Mini Golf Tour 08-09 Season:
http://hamandeggerfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/irregular-minigolf-tour-img-rankings.html

Irregular Mini Golf Tour 07-08 Season:
http://hamandeggerfiles.blogspot.com/2008/10/img-tour-end-of-season-0708-rankings.html

Irregular Mini Golf Tour 06-07 Season:
http://hamandeggerfiles.blogspot.com/2007/10/img-tour-end-of-season-results-rankings.html

Gluten Free Meal at Abarbistro in Portsmouth

After all the wandering around closed Crazy Golf courses and playing the arcades in Portsmouth and Southsea we headed to Abarbistro for dinner as we'd heard they could cater for Coeliacs with Gluten Free options.


The menu and service was very good. With plenty of Gluten Free options. There were at least four or five options for 'Nibbles', 'Starters' and 'Mains', and two 'Dessert' choices.

The Mezze was fantastic and the Gluten Free bread served was great. I followed with the Christmas Salad (Goats Cheese and Cranberry Dressing) and the Salmon and Watercress.

Well worth a visit, whether you're a Coeliac or on a 'normal' diet.

Abarbistro
58 White Hart Road, Old Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 2JA

Shooting Shacks in Southsea

I found two new Seaside Shooting Shacks while we were in Southsea on Wednesday.

This one was very old-style.



This one was a new-style, but had a 'Zeke' character!



Other Shooting Shacks played on our many Roadtrips!

Southsea Pirate Masters 2010 - Irregular Mini Golf Tour Competition and Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Re-visit

On the 29th December 2010 we were planning on contesting the Southsea Pirate Masters at the Victory and Warrior Trail Courses at the Clarence Pier Treasure Island Adventure Golf as part of the Irregular Mini Golf Tour season.

However, the course was closed.



The Irregular Mini Golf Tour Doubles Tournament between the Portsmouth & Southsea Crazy Golf (Gold) Club and the Luton Wanderers Minigolf Club was decided by a coin-toss instead!



A singles Irregular Mini Golf Tour event still took place, with the four players heading into the Clarence Pier Amusement Arcade for a game of X-Putt!

Emily 'Coach' Gottfried won, with Christopher 'One BMGA Tour Appearance' Gottfried runner-up, and Dave 'Ronchen Hockey' Ronchetti third. 'Squire' Richard Gottfried was 4th!


The Treasure Island course was the first we played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, back on the 30th September 2006.

Photos of the course (December 2010)



























Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Q-Golf at The O2 - Minigolf course played #210 on The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

On the 30th December 2010 we visited and played the final minigolf course of 2010 with a trip to The O2 for a play of the Q-Golf Minigolf Course.

The course is a temporary attraction and has been in place since the 7th December 2010 and will be playable until the 30th January 2011.

When we played the 'Q-Golf' we played with standard Golf Putters and Balls, although according to the website the concept is a mix of Minigolf and Pool!?

The 9-hole set-up was fun to play and the theming of the obstacles was very good.

































In the final Irregular Mini Golf Tour event of the 2009/10 Season Emily and I faced-off in the Irregular Mini Golf Tour Millennium Classic Minigolf Competition. The result was a draw - 31 shots apiece!







The cost to play for Adults is £4.00 for a 9-hole round.

In October and December 2009 we played the London mini-golf course(s) at Devonshire Square in London:
155 London (Devonshire Square) - Minigolf
155b London (Devonshire Square) - Temporarily Christmas-Themed Minigolf

In 2010 we've played a total of 52 Minigolf, Crazy Golf, Adventure Golf and Putting courses as part of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've also played a number of courses on 're-visits', and visited a further 44 courses that we couldn't play for a variety of reasons!

View other courses visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Link to a blog post about other Mini Golf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses in and around London.