The Ham and Egger Files

2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Teaser Video Released!

2012-01-30T07:37:00.012Z

2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Teaser Video Released!

Links:
- The Putter King
- Early Details of the 2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Released!
- Richard Gottfried runner-up in the 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt
- Minigolf Trick Shot Video - Blindfolded Hole-in-One - Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt - filmed at Tea Green Golf Club
- Full Results of the 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt
- Putter King Results News Release
- Photo of Richard Gottfried with the Putter King Mascot
- My Entry for the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt 2011
- Ermington Putters Club - home of 1st Putter King Champion Allan Cox
- The Putting Penguin - home of 3rd placed Pat Sheridan

Olympic Rings at St Pancras - 180 Days to Go to the start of London 2012!

2012-01-29T11:22:00.009Z

Emily and I have managed to get tickets to watch some of the Handball at the 2012 Olympic Games!

Another new game played – Bar Billiards

2012-01-28T14:54:00.003Z

At the recent Star City Open weekend in Birmingham my fellow Crazy Golfer and BMGA Tour minigolf rival Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd pointed me in the direction of the 1970’s Yorkshire TV show ‘Indoor League’. As a fellow fan of odd and obscure sports he knew I would appreciate the games on offer on the programme, he wasn’t wrong.

Bar Billiards sign at The Strathmore Arms Pub

Indoor League was a show that ran from 1972-1977 on Yorkshire Television/ITV and was presented by Cricket legend Fred Trueman. The games played on the show include Darts (using a Yorkshire board, which has no ‘trebles’!), Skittles, Shove Ha’penny, Table Football and a game that took my fancy – Bar Billiards.

In all my years frequenting pubs I had never played the game and have only ever seen a glimpse of a table before – at The White Horse Pub in Southsea. With Indoor League whetting my appetite for a play of the game I took to the web to search out information on the game and whether there were any tables near to us in Luton...?

First of all I found that there is an ‘All England Bar Billiards Association’ that governs the game and organises tournaments in 18 counties, which are mostly in southern England and Jersey.

A link on the All England Bar Billiards Association (AEBBA) website shows the location of Bar Billiard tables in the UK. Checking this out I saw that the closest ones to us were at The Strathmore Arms pub in St Paul’s Walden (near Hitchin, Herts), The Red Lion at Studham (near Dunstable, Beds), The Bedford Arms in Hitchin and at The Bucks Head in Little Wymondley (near Hitchin, Herts). Also on the list and fairly nearby were The White Lion in Hemel Hempstead, The Goat Inn in St Albans, The Chequers Inn in Knebworth, Our Mutual Friend in Stevenage and The Unicorn in Cublington, Bucks.

So, on Friday 27th January 2012 we headed to the closest pub on the list – The Strathmore Arms pub in St Paul’s Walden.

The Strathmore Arms pub in St Paul's Walden, near Hitchin, Herts

Though close to Luton, a mere 8 miles, the B Road there is long, winding and quite pot holey – far removed from the hustle and bustle of Luton. It’s not often we venture out to the villages surrounding Luton. We have passed through some of them to reach the Offley Oriental Chinese Restaurant (which serves some great Gluten Free food). We also regularly go to Tea Green Golf Club at Wandon End, but this is very close to the Luton border.

When we arrived at The Strathmore Arms we ordered some drinks and then asked if they had a Bar Billiards table. The obliging barman said they did and pointed us around to a room attached to the main bar area where the table stood. And what a sight it was. The Barman told us it was a “pound a go” and left us to it.

The Bar Billiards table at The Strathmore Arms pub

Having only seen the game played on TV before, Emily and I had a quick glance at the rules on the plate affixed to the table itself, put a quid in the machine and started playing.

Emily plays a shot

After the first practice game we had a deeper read of the rules sheet that was beside the table and realised we had been playing our own version of the game! We then decided to play a best-of-3 games match to decide the Champion.

Emily has a read of the rules

In the first ‘proper’ game I managed to beat Emily with a final score of 400 to nil after Emily knocked the Black Peg down in the final ball shootout. Emily had reached a score of 940 before this was wiped out.

In the second game of the best-of-3 match I once again won to take the overall victory. This time I had a score of 1000, to Emily’s 90. This was a much cleaner match, with very little peg knocking down!

I line up a shot

In our fourth and final game Emily beat me 70-0. I had reached 180 but knocked the Black Peg down to wipe-out. Emily’s opening break was a score of 380 before she played a foul shot to wipe-out the break.

Once we’d finished our games we had a chat to the bar staff and some of the friendly locals. We got some further information about Bar Billiards and that it used to be a very popular game in Hertfordshire (and was one of the originating spots for the game), however there are not that many tables left to play.

As we were so interested in the game a few of the locals asked us if we were on a mission of some sort relating to Bar Billiards. We told them we weren’t (yet), but were on a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour! As I’m like a dog with a bone about new/old/interesting/fun/obscure/odd games and sports and challenges who knows, we may start-up a Crazy World of Bar Billiards Tour!

Another view of the table - plenty of balls still in play!

Emily was also interested in the Pudding Club that is run at The Strathmore Arms and there was a lively discussion going on amongst the staff and regulars over the latest offerings and the current rankings list!

A Dart Board was also set up next to the Bar Billiards table. I may take my ‘arrers next time we visit.

Looking at the Bar Billiards table I noticed that there was a badge affixed to the table we played that was from the “National Bar Billiards Association”. When I got home I had another look on The Online Guide to Traditional Games website and reread about the game and saw that National Bar Billiards Association was a pre-World War II organisation! The game started in the UK in the 1930’s, so the table at The Strathmore Arms could well be one of the first in the UK then!

Speaking with Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd and fellow sports and games enthusiast Marc ‘The Roller’ Bazeley I have found out they know of other tables in London, Gravesend and Northampton. ‘The Roller’ also tells me there is a thriving Wellingborough Bar Billiards League and when Emily and I head to Northants for a game then the Crown & Anchor Pub in Northampton is the place to go.

It seems a Bar Billiards ‘side-tournament’ or two is in order.

As Fred Trueman would say “Ahl si thee”

The Rules of Bar Billiards

Links:
- All England Bar Billiards Association
- The Strathmore Arms Pub
- Indoor League at Wikipedia
- Indoor League at UK Game Shows
- Bar Billiards at The Online Guide to Traditional Games
- Bar Billiards at Wikipedia
- Map of Bar Billiards Tables in the UK
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minigolf Course Visit #210(a!?) - Vienna, Austria (Askoe Wien Wasserpark) - pit-pat "Hindernis Billards" (Obstacle Billiards)!

Receiving the OFBIMT Minigolf Trophy Orb...

2012-01-27T07:45:00.021Z

...in the Car Park at Star City (the Las Vegas of the West Midlands).

'Birthday Boy' Oliver Florence presents the mysterious Green Orb to me. Note the 'unique' handshake Florence has applied

A more traditional approach to the trophy presentation

Me and the Orb

The Orb was my reward for winning the Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Minigolf Tournament in December 2011.

The late presentation of the trophy was due to previous Champion Guy Martin forgetting to bring it to New Malden, having left it somewhere ending in 'ham'.

Link:
- "Glory for Gottfried as Martin's mistake fails to cloud celebrations"

Arcade Games at Star City – Air Hockey, Pool & Ping Pong

2012-01-26T08:01:00.033Z

Following the first minigolf event of the BMGA Tour season at the Star City Open in Birmingham on Sunday 22nd January, a group of players headed to the amusement arcade attached to the Bowling Alley in the Star City Complex for an Air Hockey Tourney.

Among the competitors in action at the Las Vegas of the West Midlands were reigning Worlds Air Hockey Champion Peter ‘The Puckmaster’ Jones, James ‘Ruthers’ Rutherford, Seth ‘Wandsworth’ Thomas, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried & Oliver ‘The Machine’ Florence.

The first game to be played was on the closest table to the door and after a draw of sorts was organised by Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried play commenced with a match-up between perennial Air Hockey loser, ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried, and the Welsh Worlds Air Hockey champ and side-tournament specialist Peter ‘The Dragon’ Jones.

Peter Jones (far side) faces-off against Richard Gottfried in the longest match ever!

Unbeknownst to the players the match would create something of a record result, as the machine was a bit broken! The final result saw 31 goals scored as the match seemed to be never ending. Normally the first player who scores 7 goals is the winner and the machine keeps the puck from being returned. However in the battle between Gottfried & Jones, Richard managed to get the upset win, with a slim victory of 16-15.

With the match going on for so long Richard retired from the rest of the contest due to exhaustion and went to have a nice sit down. This meant that Peter ‘The Crazy Aced Assassin’ Jones was back in the contest and would face Seth ‘Tooting’ Thomas in the ‘first’ round.

Before that contest could take place a new table needed to be found for the match between Ruthers and The Machine. Play then commenced after Ollie had put a deposit down for half an hour’s play on the Ping Pong table. In the Air Hockey match Ollie took control and defeated Ruthers 7-5 meaning The Machine would head to the final to face either Thomas or Jones. The defeated Ruthers consoled himself by heading to the Table Tennis table to take on and beat all-comers (except Seth, who was just too good). One notable result was the ‘Squire’ (ranked 50th alongside Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd in the 2010 World Series of Pong) coming out of retirement for one more match. He was swiftly beaten 11-6 by Ruthers.

Ping Ponger Ruthers awaiting new challengers

In the highly anticipated match-up between Worlds Champ Peter ‘Toy Truck’ Jones and the sporting polymath that is Seth ‘Clockwork Orange’ Thomas the result was an unexpected win to Thomas, who managed to take down the champ and win 7-3 to line up a contest against The Machine in the Grand Final.

The Machine warms-up for the Air Hockey final with a bit of Table Tennis

Having seen the photos of the Air Hockey matches online, and on being told he had wrongly assumed that Peter 'Indoor League' Jones had been dishing out lessons, Finnish player Pasi ‘Bruiser’ Aho commented “He's just giving you that false feeling of confidence and will strike back when it matters.”

With the first Air Hockey table used in the competition set to ‘Long Play’ the players couldn’t imagine that the event would befall some other controversy, but that is exactly what happened in the big final match-up. With Seth Thomas easing to a 6-2 lead against Oliver Florence what happened next could of been taken straight from a round of ‘What happened next?’ on TV game show A Question of Sport. As Ollie hit a goal to bring his score up to 3 goals, the puck got stuck in the goal mouth and couldn’t be retrieved, nor did it register on the scoreboard!

Seth Thomas and Oliver Florence face-off in the Air Hockey Final

Luckily Emily ‘I’ll get #TheMan’ Gottfried was on hand and went and got the man to come and have a look at the machine (the table, not Ollie). With much wrenching and fiddling the technician was unable to get the puck out, so instead turned off the table and gave the players their pound back.

Pucking Hell! The Air Hockey Puck gets stuck in the goal

This caused a dilemma as the result of the match was still undecided. To decide the ultimate winner of the Star City Air Hockey Contest, Seth and Ollie decided to play one game of Ping Pong as a decider!

The result of the Air Hockey Tournament is decided on a Ping Pong Table

In the end there seemed to be only one possible result as Seth took an early and commanding lead, as he had done on the Air Hockey, and finished the match by smashing in a result of 11-2 and leaving The Machine with the runner-up spot.

Following the final of the Air Pong competition Seth declared that “the fun isn’t over if I’ve still got money left” and proceeded to challenge players to games of Pool. First up was Richard who, apart from the break and potting one ball, spent the game speaking with Peter 'PJ#2' Jones on the sidelines.

Richard Gottfried enjoys a nice sit down on his way to a Pool defeat at the hands of Seth Thomas

With the Hurricane Simulator ‘Out of Order’ a doubles Pool match was proposed, with the line-up of England (Ollie & Seth) to take on the ‘Wales’ team of Peter and Richard. England won.

And that wrapped up the fun and games at The Buttons of Star City. For a change no Laser Tag was played. The next big arcade event will no doubt be a £2 Tat Challenge at the amusement arcades of Worthing, West Sussex in April.

Links:
- 2011 Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championships in Hastings
- Crazy Minigolfers Play Air Hockey Tournament in Hastings
- The Undisputed International Worlds Crazy Air Squash Championships

Nominate Richard & Emily Gottfried for the Luton Sports Awards!

2012-01-25T07:26:00.012Z

Nominate us for a Luton Sports Award!

Voting has opened for the annual Luton Sports Awards, organised by Luton Sports Network.

Emily and I would both appreciate your vote and nomination to help us be shortlisted (and hopefully win) a prestigious Luton Sports Award. Details on Criteria and How to Nominate is below.

Emily is entering the ‘Sports Woman of the Year’ category and I am entering the ‘Sports Man of the Year’ category. A summary of the highlights of our 2011 Minigolf Season can also be found below.

You can download entry forms from the link here

The deadline to nominate is Tuesday 21st February 2012.

Criteria:
Nominations will be accepted for sports people, teams or clubs who either have their home team/club venue or reside within the Borough and have:
• Achieved outstanding performances
• Shown outstanding ability
• Shown major improvement in their sport
• Promoted sport and influenced more members of the community to take part in sport

How to Nominate:
Complete the nomination form, which would typically include information on:
• For individuals: commitment and training, achievement, representation (e.g. school, club, county, international), contribution to sport etc. during 2011

Notes:
Please ensure that you provide full details and information about the nominee’s achievements during 2011 on this nomination form as the judges decisions will be based entirely upon this and no supplementary information will be considered.

The Luton Sports Awards are made by members of the public through a series of nominations per category. You can nominate anyone who meets the criteria on the nomination form. The awards are presented by the Luton Sports Network on behalf of Luton’s sporting community to recognise achievement in sport.

The nomination forms should be returned by Tuesday 21st February 2012 to Luton Sports Awards, c/o Active Luton, Wigmore Hall, Eaton Green Road, Luton LU2 9JB.

2011 Minigolf Season Highlights

Emily Gottfried

Emily is a British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour Pro and competed in ten full BMGA Tour competitions in the 2011 season.

Emily Gottfried - the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women's Champion

Emily represented Great Britain in two Minigolf tournaments in the UK and Sweden, winning the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women’s Championship in Hastings in May. While playing for Great Britain in Stockholm, Sweden in June she set a new British Women’s Record, and all-time personal best round, by scoring a 24(-12) on the Eternit type of Miniature Golf.

In September Emily was the runner-up in The Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada and on home soil she has continued to improve her play, recording four top ten finishes in her ten BMGA Tour appearances, along with a fifth place finish representing England, for the fourth time, in the Castle Golf Women’s World Crazy Golf Championships in October.

International Honours:
- Member of the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team that competed in the WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden
o The Great Britain 2 team finished the tournament in 10th place
o Set a new British Women’s Record, and an all-time personal best score, with a round of 24(-12) on the Eternit format of Miniature Golf. Her previous best was a 37(+1). Emily also set a new personal best of 36 on the Beton format of Minigolf, with a previous best of 40
o 10th in the WMF Nations Cup (Female Category)
o 45th in the WMF Nations Cup (Individual Category)
- Great Britain Player in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters
o First-ever WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women’s Champion
- In the WMF World Minigolf Rankings for Nations Great Britain has moved up one place to now be ranked 19th of 31 Countries

2011 Minigolf Season Highlights – Results:
- Winner of the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women's Championship in Hastings, East Sussex
- Runner-up in The Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
- 4th in an April GMGC Club Tournament in Hither Green, London
- 5th in the Castle Golf Women’s World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings, East Sussex
- 6th in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open Tournament in Hastings, East Sussex
- 7th in the Midlands Open Tournament in Dorridge, Solihull
- 8th (tied) in the Weymouth Open in Dorset
- 10th (with Brad Shepherd) in the BMGA British Doubles Championships in Dorridge, Solihull

2011 Minigolf Season – Rankings:
- Ranked 24th of 138 players in the BMGA Season Rankings for 2011
- Ranked tied 35th of 116 players in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings for 2010-2011

- Continued to promote Minigolf through online and offline media and social media channels

- During 2011 Emily played at 72 different Miniature Golf courses, taking the total played to date to 282, with 444 courses visited in total since 2006

Richard Gottfried

Richard is a British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour Pro and competed in 14 full BMGA Tour competitions in the 2011 season.

Richard Gottfried at the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament in Hastings

Richard represented Great Britain in two Minigolf tournaments in the UK and Sweden. In the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings in May he qualified for a Major WMF Final for the first time and finished in 18th place overall. While playing for Great Britain in Stockholm, Sweden in June Richard was chosen to be Captain of the GB2 side that finished the tournament in 10th place overall.

In September Richard won The Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada to add to the Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament) title he won in Newport in July. He also won in England with a victory in the Weymouth Open Team Tournament alongside Chris Harding.

On the BMGA Tour Richard recorded ten top ten finishes in his 14 tournament outings, including two runner-up spots. In October Richard represented England in the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships, finishing in 25th place in his fifth appearance in the tournament.

International Honours:
- Member of the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team that competed in the WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden
o Captain of the ‘Great Britain 2’ team at the WMF Nations Cup
o 34th in the WMF Nations Cup (Male Category)
o 41st in the WMF Nations Cup (Individual Category)
o Recorded new personal best rounds on Eternit Miniature Golf with two rounds of 29(-7) and on Beton Minigolf with a round of 33(-3). His previous personal bests were 39 and 36 respectively
- Great Britain Player in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters
o 11th in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters (Male Category)
o 18th (finalist) in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters (Individual Category)
- In the WMF World Minigolf Rankings for Nations Great Britain has moved up one place to now be ranked 19th of 31 Countries

2011 Minigolf Season Highlights – Results:
- Winner of The Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
- Winner of the Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament) in Newport, Wales
- Winner (with Chris Harding) of the Weymouth Open Team Tournament in Dorset
- Runner-up in the Weymouth Open Tournament in Dorset
- Runner-up in the London Invitational Tournament in East Finchley, London
- Runner-up in a January GMGC Club Tournament in Hither Green, London
- Runner-up (with Will Collins) in the Lost World Adventure Golf Pro-Am Classic in Hemsby, Norfolk
- Runner-up in the First Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt
- 3rd in a February GMGC Club Tournament in Hither Green, London
- 3rd (with the Midlands Minigolf Club) in the BMGA British Club Championships is Dorridge, Solihull
- 7th in the BMGA English Open at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk
- 7th (with Scott Lancley) in the BMGA British Doubles Championships in Dorridge, Solihull
- 7th (with Oliver Florence) in the GMGC Green Doubles Tournament in Hither Green, London
- 9th in the BMGA British Masters Tournament in Margate, Kent
- 25th in the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings, East Sussex

2011 Minigolf Season – Rankings:
- Ranked 10th of 138 players in the BMGA Season Rankings for 2011
- Ranked 16th of 116 players in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings for 2010-2011

- Continued to promote Minigolf through online and offline media and social media channels

- During 2011 Richard played at 72 different Miniature Golf courses, taking the total played to date to 282, with 444 courses visited in total since 2006

Photo Links:

Emily Gottfried

Emily Gottfried at the WMF Nations Cup in Sweden

- Emily Gottfried - the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women's Champion
- Emily Gottfried playing hole 1 at the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships
- Emily Gottfried playing hole 16 of the Crazy Golf course in Hastings during the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open
- Emily Gottfried playing the first hole at Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate at the BMGA British Masters
- Emily Gottfried playing hole 18 at Wroxham Barns during the BMGA English Open

Richard Gottfried 

Richard Gottfried at the WMF Nations Cup in Sweden

Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Tee-Off new Minigolf Season at the BMGA Star City Open in Birmingham

2012-01-23T10:15:00.001Z

Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried were back in Minigolf action as they teed-off in the first event of the 2012 British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour season on Sunday 22nd January at the BMGA Star City Open at Adventure Island Mini Golf, Star City, Birmingham.

Both players finished four places higher than in last year’s event, with Richard 13th and Emily 24th in the 31 player field.

Richard scored a three-round total of 104(-4), having scored 37, 33 and 34. Richard still jointly holds the official BMGA course record of 28(-8) on the Lost Hut Trail which he set in 2010 at the BMGA National Open.

Richard Gottfried plays the 13th hole on the Lost Hut Trail course

Emily scored a total 111(+3) after rounds of 41, 37 and 33.

Emily Gottfried plays hole 2 on the Lost Hut Trail course

The tournament was played over three 18-hole rounds on the Lost Hut Trail course at the Star City venue, and was won by Birmingham’s Chris Harding following a sudden-death play-off with Oxford’s Michael Smith. Cambridgeshire’s Adam Kelly was third, defeating Cambridge's James Rutherford in a sudden-death play-off.

Richard said “My scoring was good and I only dropped six shots over the three rounds and 13th place was not too bad. My round of 37 was a little disappointing though as I know I can shoot much better scores on the course. I’m now looking ahead to the trip to Worthing and the BMGA British Masters in April”

Richard and Emily are now in their sixth year as BMGA Tour players. Last season Richard was ranked 10th of 138 players in the BMGA Season Rankings and 16th of 116 players in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings for 2010-2011. Emily was ranked 24th in the Season Only Rankings and tied 35th places in the Order of Merit.

Ends

Revisit & Replay of Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf in South Shields

2012-01-18T15:44:00.002Z

On Sunday 8th of January 2012 Emily made a revisit to the Miniature Golf course that was the 100th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2009 - the 12-hole Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf course in South Shields, Tyneside.

Photos from January 2012:

The Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf course in South Shields

One of the holes on the course

Another view of the course

A barrel of Putters

A skellington

The 12th and final hole!

On her round on the course Emily shot a 29(+5).

Links:
- Gottfried's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Minigolf Course Played No. 100!!!
- Video introducing my 100th Minigolf Course Visit on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

The 100th course location visited overall was the 9-hole Arnold Palmer course at Pops Meadow Putting Green in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk on the 10th of May 2009.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Another Blogging Minigolf Team - Richard Gottfried & Seth Thomas Team Up

2012-01-16T07:09:00.008Z

Following the pairing of myself and fellow minigolf blogger Oliver 'The Machine' Florence in the 2011 Green Doubles minigolf tournament in Hither Green, me and NKOTBB* Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas teamed up for a challenge match at Dorridge against the duo of The Smiths.

Seth (l) and me in our 'internet' t-shirts earlier in the BMGA Minigolf Season at Dorridge. Fellow blogger and a former doubles partner of mine, Oliver 'The Machine' Florence is also pictured lurking in the background

Our team - named Looting** - defeated the team of Chris 'WMD' Smith & Michael 'Hole In One Kenobi' Smith 4&2 in the 12-hole Matchplay Match at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge. In doing so Seth became my 18th Minigolf Doubles Team Mate since the 17th of May 2008 when Emily and I teamed up in a losing effort against Sean Homer & Marion Homer (aka Casual Force) in our debut at the BMGA British Doubles Championships in Warwick.

In early October 2011 I also teamed with Michael 'HIOK' Smith as the Oxfordshire Mini Golf Club in a victory over James 'The Rocket' Rutherford & Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried from the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club in a grudge match between the two counties. I am yet to team with Chris 'WMD' Smith. Although he has teamed with Emily, when they were runners-up in the Weymouth Open Team Tournament in October 2011 (which me and fellow Midlands Minigolf Club team mate Chris 'Who' Harding won)!

My 19th team mate in Miniature Golf doubles competition was the Scottish International and renowned apathetic Crazy Golfer Guy Martin, when we teamed up in the 'Pro-Am' event at the Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Tournament at New Malden in December 2011.

The BIG minigolf question now is - Who will be my next, and landmark 20th, Minigolf Doubles Team Mate?

My Many Many Many Minigolf Doubles Partners (2008-2011):
1 Emily Gottfried
2 Matt Smith
3 Andy Gonsalves
4 Owen Johnson
5 Paul Johnson
6 Kevin Moseley
7 Chris Harding
8 Simon Hall
9 Leo Kukielka
10 Christopher Gottfried
11 Alan Norman
12 Oliver Florence
13 Julio Kent
14 Richard Skeggs
15 William Collins
16 Scott Lancley
17 Michael Smith
18 Seth Thomas
19 Guy Martin

My Minigolf Doubles Record:

Click to enlarge image

*New Kid On The Blogging Block

** aka The Bloggards, aka Quantity and Quality, aka Insquired, aka Clock of the Walk, aka Sqock Won, aka Bloggy Brilliant, aka Why have I spent 8 ruddy minutes thinking up team names!?

strange games: Strange Games News: British Mini Golf Tour

2012-01-15T16:42:00.000Z

strange games: Strange Games News: British Mini Golf Tour: More than just an excuse to post a video of cool American mini golfers...The British Mini Golf Association have just published this yea...

Join the BMGA for 2012 Minigolf Season

2012-01-13T08:07:00.003Z

Join the British Minigolf Association ahead of the 2012 Minigolf Season

The British Minigolf Association (BMGA), the Governing Body for Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf Sport in the UK, offers two membership levels - 'Free' & 'BMGA Tour Pro'.

- 'Free Membership' via the BMGA website ensures members receive regular newsletters on forthcoming events and results from the BMGA tour.

- 'Tour Card Membership' costs £20 for the season and entitles players to discounted pre-event practice rates at tournament venues on the calendar (some venues will offer these rates all season).

Full details of what is available to members under the two tiers of membership can be found at the BMGA Membership Page. To register for Free BMGA Membership please visit the BMGA Website Registration Page.

The BMGA organises and promotes around 20 Miniature Golf and Crazy Golf competitions each year.

If you have any questions about BMGA Tour membership please contact the BMGA via its website.

Yours in sport,

'Squire' Richard Gottfried

BMGA Tour Pro
Great Britain International
Member of the BMGA since January 2007

Gottfrieds in the World Minigolf Sport Federation Rankings – Nov 11 Update

2012-01-12T07:03:00.011Z

The World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) has released the latest World Minigolf Ranking Lists (dated November 2011).

In the Women’s Rankings Emily is ranked at number 132 of 137 places (150 players).

Great Britain International Emily Gottfried

In the Men’s Rankings List I am ranked at number 406 of 411 places (427 players).

Great Britain International Richard Gottfried

In the Country Rankings Great Britain has moved up one place to now be ranked at 19th of 31 Nations.

The Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team at the 2011 WMF Nations Cup in Sweden (from l-r Eirik Seljelid (Coach), Scott Lancley, Björn Dinau (Coach), Michael Smith, Tony Kelly, Emily Gottfried, Marc Chapman, Marion Homer, Sean Homer, Richard Gottfried)

The latest WMF statistics show that there are 16,037 competition players registered with their national associations and the WMF. Germany is the largest Minigolfing nation, with 5,060 registered competition players. Great Britain has 198 registered players and is the 12th largest Minigolfing nation according to WMF figures.

2010-11 British Minigolf Association (BMGA) National Rankings

In the 2010-11 BMGA Order of Merit Rankings I finished the BMGA Tour season as the British number 16, Emily was tied for 35th place. In the 2011 BMGA Season-Only Rankings I was ranked 10th, with Emily 24th.

Links:
- World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF)
- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)
- Report from the WMF Nations Cup minigolf tournament in Stockholm, Sweden
- Blog Post – Minigolf Diary: 5 Days on International Minigolf Duty
- UrbanCrazy - Great Britain Team Sponsor

Business Tenants in London Ready to Get Putting on New Office Minigolf Course

2012-01-11T07:09:00.007Z

Reading the CITY A.M. newspaper on the 10th January 2012 Emily spotted a story on The Capitalist page about a new City office space that is offering tenants a mini-golf course as part of the package!

The offices are run by the serviced office company Co-Work and their City location in London is home to a three-hole Miniature Golf Putting course.

You can see the course layout in the first photo on the Co-Work ‘City’ location website.

Links:
- “GOLF RETURNS TO THE BOARDROOM AS CITY FIRM TEES UP TENANTS” Story on City AM website
- Co-Work
- Co-Work City Location

Related Blog Posts:
- Minigolf in London
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- 85 Years Too Late to Play a Rooftop Putting Green in London

Regular Show & Miniature Golf

2012-01-10T07:49:00.003Z

Just before Christmas one of my nephews told me to check out a cartoon on the Cartoon Network called ‘Regular Show’, so I did.

It’s brilliant.

The show followers two 23-year-old Park Groundskeepers, Mordecai and Rigby, and the many shenanigans they get up to as they try to avoid work and their angry boss, Benson. The pair enjoy slacking off, playing video games (on what looks like a Sega Master System 1), Zombies and Rock Paper Scissors, amongst other things!

The rest of the cast of characters on the show are a weird bunch too.

One of the episodes ‘Do Me A Solid’ features Minigolf (in an ironic sense).

I urge you to check out Regular Show, it’s anything but!

Links:
- Regular Show on Cartoon Network UK
- Regular Show on Cartoon Network USA
- Regular Show page on Wikipedia

Putter Fingers’ ‘Spot The Ball’ Minigolf Competition

2012-01-08T07:33:00.004Z

The team at Crazy Golf business Putter Fingers have launched their second online competition and this one is a minigolf ‘Spot The Ball’ contest!

To enter the online competition you’ll need to visit the Putter Fingers facebook page to check out the photo and choose the grid square you think the ball is in.

The photo was taken at the 2008 BMGA British Open held at Strokes Adventure Golf course in Margate, Kent (which will once again host the tournament in September this year).

The contest closes at 12pm on Wednesday 18th January 2012.

Links:
- Putter Fingers
- Putter Fingers ‘Spot The Ball’ contest page
- Spot the Ball – Crazy Golf Style! January Mini Golf Competition
- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)
- Strokes Adventure Golf
- Winners of the Putterfingers Micro Putt Minigolf Competition Announced

100,000+ hits - Thank you for reading!

2012-01-07T06:52:00.006Z

Towards the end of December 2011 The Ham & Egger Files had its 100,000th 'hit'!

I’d like to start the New Year by thanking everyone for visiting and reading the blog over the years.

Looking at the web stats, The Ham & Egger Files has been visited by people from 32 countries outside of the UK, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Moldova, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, the USA and Venezuela.

So, wherever you are from and whatever your interests are, be it Miniature Golf (Air Hockey, Amusement Arcades, Arm Champs II Arcade Games Arm Wrestling, Brussels Sprout Competitive Eating, Bun Throwing, Conga Dancing, Crazy Air Squash, Crazy Golf, Crystal Maze Games, Darts, Dodgeball, Fake Alligators/Crocodiles, Gluten Free, Guinness World Records, Lazer Tag, Picnicking, Piers, (Ping) Pong, Pirate Flyer Laser Monorails, Rock Paper Scissors, Shooting Shacks, 'Tat' Challenges, Tea Rooms, Thumb Wrestling or Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube Men) do keep checking back for more...as I'll be continuing to write about our travels on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour (and other sports and games).

If you have any suggestions or comments to make please do let me know, it’s always good to hear feedback from visitors from around the world.

All the best for 2012.

Richard

Putter King Miniature Golf Hole Design Contest - Vote for the Best of the Top 3

2012-01-06T07:32:00.001Z

The Putter King Miniature Golf Hole Design Contest deadline has passed and the three winners have been declared.

The three Hole Designs will be added as a free update to the Putter King Adventure Golf app for iOS and Android.

The top three Minigolf Hole Designs have now been put through to a final stage of voting to decide which will win the cash prize.

The winning designs were:
- Island Moai Statues
- PK's Crown
- Putter King Car Course

You can vote at the Putter King contest page on facebook. Voting ends on Sunday 15th of January 2012.

My Miniature Golf Hole Design for the competition - The Jewel in the Crown - was voted as the sixth best of 30 design submissions.

Links:
- The Putter King website
- Putter King App Hole Design Vote on facebook
- My hole design (sadly not a winner) – The Jewel in the Crown
- Early Details of the 2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Released

Todays Escape Route!

2012-01-05T07:07:00.005Z

While playing the Crazy Golf course at Alexandra Palace I noticed an interestingly positioned sign.

An interesting exit route!

The best thing about the photo is that the blue doors are padlocked shut too, so the ladder may be the best bet!

2012 Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament - New Year's Day Crazy Golf at Woodside Animal Farm

2012-01-01T19:21:00.001Z

Results and photos from the 2012 Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament at Woodside Animal Farm, Slip End Village near Luton

Luton's Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried became the first player to retain the Luton Invitational Tournament title as she defeated 'Squire' Richard Gottfried in the 2012 edition of the competition.

Reigning Luton Invitational Tournament minigolf champion Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried with the 2012 LIT prize of a magnetic Rat

Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried tees-off on hole one to begin what would be her successful defence of the LIT title

The fourth staging of the event saw only two players compete as both Simon 'Practice' Hall and John 'Not' Oxley failed to make the 2pm tee-off time as they were in no condition to perform.

Emily won the tournament with a score of 47(+11) to Richard's 49(+13), with Emily hitting two Aces on the 18-hole course. Richard scored zero holes-in-one.

Two-time Luton I.T. Minigolf Champion Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried said "I am very pleased to be the first LIT Champion to retain my title, and I am obviously also very happy with my successful start to 2012."

'Squire' Richard Gottfried said "Well played to Lemony for a big minigolf win to start the new year. I always enjoyed starting the year by visiting Woodside Animal Farm. I was disappointed not to win the competition though and doubly annoyed to have fallen over and hurt my knee on the hill on the 15th hole. This year the animals were in high spirits too and we saw two Pigs attempting what looked to be a Piggyback! I think they failed though!"

John 'Not' Oxley said "Wow, that's got to be the first time that's happened in all the years of the tournament. Retaining the title I mean."

Simon 'Practice' Hall said "I'm planning to be back in action at the 2013 edition of the event and hopefully it'll be taking place in the French Riviera."

Since 2010 the Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament has been the traditional opening Miniature Golf event of the year on the Irregular Mini Golf Tour. In 2010 the players faced-off in arctic cold weather conditions, while 2011 was played in heavy drizzle. 2012's weather was mild, but drizzly.

Luton Invitational Tournament Honours Board:
2012 - Emily Gottfried
2011 - Emily Gottfried
2010 - Richard Gottfried
2006 - Joanne Tubby

On the 1st of January each year Woodside Animal Farm opens for a New Year's Day Party to raise money for the Keech Cottage Children's Hospice and Grove House charities.

Video: 'Squire' Richard Gottfried introduces the LIT from Hole 15 of the Woodside Crazy Golf course

Photos of the Luton Invitational Tournament on the Woodside Crazy Golf course:

Emily on Hole 2 - Chicken Run

Emily on her way to scoring a 7 on Hole 7. This would not dent her chances of the win though

Emily on the Pond Drop hole

Richard on Hole 2 - Chicken Run

Richard on a downhill hole

A tricky second Putt for Richard

Richard on the 'Bags of Fun' hole

Richard 'drives' the Tractor on Hole 18

Photos of our wander around Woodside Animal Farm:

Richard feeds a Miniature Pony

An Alpaca eats some Carrot

The Minature (sic) Ponies!

One of the Pigs

Some Flamingoes

A couple of Lemurs

Archive of LIT Minigolf Results 2006-2012:

2012 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:
1. Emily Gottfried - 47 (+11)
2. Richard Gottfried - 49 (+13)

2011 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:
1. Emily Gottfried - 43 (+7)
2. Richard Gottfried - 51 (+15)
3. Simon Hall - 54 (+18)
4. John Oxley - 57 (+21)

2010 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:
1. Richard Gottfried - 46 (+10)
2T. Emily Gottfried - 54 (+18)
2T. John Oxley - 54 (+18)
4. Simon Hall - 57 (+21)

2007-2009 - Luton Invitational Tournament:
Not Played

2006 Luton Invitational Tournament Results*:
1. Jo Tubby - 54 (par)
2. Emily Gottfried - 56 (+2)
3. Richard Gottfried - 62 (+8)
* Note: Par used was 'Course Par' of 3 shots per hole, rather than 'BMGA Par' of 2 shots per hole.

The Woodside Animal Farm Crazy Golf course was the 4th course ever to be played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back on the 27th October 2006. As of January 1st 2012 Emily and Richard have visited 444 Miniature Golf courses on the Tour.

2011 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review

2011-12-31T06:54:00.211Z

2011 saw another busy year of blogging here on The Ham & Egger Files. The site began on the 21st of December 2006 and in the past five years a total of 1,350 blog posts have been published! 450 of them being written in 2011.

During 2011 we've played a further 72 Miniature Golf courses, taking the total played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour to date to 282, with a further 162 visited but not played for a variety of reasons. This makes a grand total of 444 visited overall since the 30th of September 2006!

Us with some FREE Minigolf Game Passes won at Great Yarmouth

Below is a month by month breakdown of some of the highlights of our year of Adventures on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour (and in other sports and games).

January
- 39 blog posts
- Emily wins the first Minigolf competition of the year at the Luton Invitational Tournament
- Richard is the runner-up in a GMGC Club Tournament
- Richard is 17th and Emily is 28th at the Star City Open minigolf competition in Birmingham

February
- 30 blog posts
- Richard attends his first-ever Punk Gig!
- Richard is 12th in the BMGA Rumble in the Jungle minigolf tournament in Bristol
- Richard is 3rd in a GMGC Club Tournament
- Teaming with Oliver 'The Machine' Florence, Richard finishes in 7th place in the GMGC Green Doubles minigolf tournament in Hither Green

March
- 32 blog posts
- We play the 212th and 213th courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on a trip to Liverpool
- We find a Ham & Egg Parade in New Brighton
- We fight each other in a one-on-one Laser Tag Battle at the Lazer Quest in New Brighton!
- Richard is 16th and Emily 19th in the BMGA National Open in Liverpool
- Richard wins the Scrap Iron Cup in Liverpool

April
- 29 blog posts
- Richard is 85 years too late to play a rooftop Minigolf course in London
- Richard is 9th in the BMGA British Masters in Margate, Kent. Emily is 25th
- Richard is 4th in a GMGC Club Tournament
- Richard is the runner-up in the London Invitational Minigolf Tournament
- We attend the latest Royal Bun Throwing in Richard's home town of Abingdon

May
- 77 blog posts
- We play a brand new Minigolf course in Emily's home town of Ipswich
- We pop to Clacton for some Minigolf on a Pier!
- We play minigolf for Great Britain in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings
-- Despite travelling to Hastings numerous times before, Richard gets lost on the way!? But he does find a new Crazy Golf course to play!
-- Emily becomes the first-ever WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women's Champion
- Some £2 Tat Challenges are played in Hastings
- Richard teams with Alan Norman to take-on the Kosovan National Minigolf Team in a Doubles Match
- We visit 10 Miniature Golf courses on a coastal roadtrip from St Leonards to Worthing
- Richard is interviewed by the Putter King website in Japan
- We visit 40 Mini, Crazy & Adventure Golf courses on our seaside and minigolf tour of Lincolnshire & Norfolk
-- The first played is at Oddballs Crazy Golf in Cleethorpes, Lincs
-- The last is at the Vegas Amusements in Hunstanton, Norfolk
- Emily is 4th in a GMGC Club Tournament. Richard ties for 6th place

June
- 57 blog posts
- Richard & his team mate Will Collins are runners-up in the Lost World Adventure Golf Pro-Am Classic in Hemsby
- Richard finishes 7th in the BMGA English Open at Wroxham Barns, Emily is 19th
- We play minigolf for Great Britain in the WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden
-- Read about the 5 Days on International Minigolf Duty
-- The Beton (Concrete) Miniature Golf course becomes the 250th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Along with Brad Shepherd we head to Elstree & Borehamwood for the 40th Anniversary On The Buses Event!
- Richard becomes the Melbourn Village Fete Target Bowls Champion

July
- 36 blog posts
- Alongside Oliver Florence and Kallum Harper, we take part in the Worm Charming Competition at St Mary’s Village Carnival in Edlesborough
- Richard wins the 2011 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament)
- Richard is the runner-up in the Cwmbran Table Tennis Classic
- We play our first Laser Maze in Weston-super-Mare

August
- 42 blog posts
- We compete in the 2011 UK Thumb Wrestling Championships in Lowestoft, Suffolk
- Emily is 7th in the Midlands Open minigolf competition in Dorridge. Richard ties for 8th place
- Richard teams up with Scott Lancley and Emily teams with Brad Shepherd in the BMGA British Doubles Championships
- On a trip to Scotland we meet-up with fellow Minigolfer John 'Thighs' Moore to go and watch some Cycle Speedway!

September
- 28 blog posts
- Emily leaves the Midlands Minigolf Club to become a member of the new Cambridgeshire Minigolf Club
- We revisit fabulous Las Vegas and Richard wins the Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament, Emily is the runner-up
- Luton Dodgeball Club hits 'One'
- We celebrate five years of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour with a revisit to the first two courses ever played!

October
- 32 blog posts
- We finally meet Mick 'The Man' Gisbourne at Poole Park's Crazy Golf course!
- Richard is the runner-up in the fourth Weymouth Open minigolf tournament. Emily ties for 8th place
- Richard attempts to help break the Guinness World Record attempt for the most people to ‘High Five’ simultaneously
- We compete in the Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships in London
- We attend the 59th Annual National Town Criers Championships as spectators
- Emily is 6th in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open, Richard is tied for 10th place
- Richard is 25th and Emily 51st in the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships
- Richard, Emily and Christopher (and friends) just about survive the Zombie Apocalypse in Hastings!
- Richard is a runner-up and Emily is tied for 9th place in the 2011 Worlds £2 Tat Challenge
- Richard competes in the Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championships 2011, losing in the first round

November
- 17 blog posts
- Richard & Emily join the EcoStyle team for a 3rd place finish in the Namco Business Tenpin Bowling Grand Final in Luton
- Richard is the runner-up in the 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt
- The 2011 BMGA Tour season comes to a close in Dorridge, Solihull - Richard and his Midlands Minigolf Club Team Mates finish 3rd in the BMGA British Club Championships
- Richard finishes the BMGA Tour season as the British number 16 in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings, Emily is tied for 35th place. In the BMGA Season-Only Rankings Richard is 10th with Emily 24th
- Emily wins the Stokesley NO/NIT Classic Minigolf Tournament in Middlesbrough

December
- 31 blog posts
- Richard is a runner-up in the Putterfingers Micro Putt Online Mini Golf competition
- Along with Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, Richard has a feature on Crazy Golf Postcards published in Picture Postcard Monthly
- Richard wins the Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Minigolf Tournament in New Malden
- Richard is 3rd and Emily is 8th in the 2011 Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Tournament

Year by Year Blog Post Stats on The Ham & Egger Files:
- 2006 - 3 blog posts
- 2007 - 43 blog posts
- 2008 - 158 blog posts
- 2009 - 332 blog posts
- 2010 - 364 blog posts
- 2011 - 450 blog posts

Previous Year in Review Blog Posts:
- 2010 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review
- 2009 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Crazy Golf at Alexandra Palace in London - Course played #282

2011-12-30T14:05:00.058Z

On Monday 19th December 2011 Brad Shepherd and I made a visit to Alexandra Palace to have a play of the Crazy Golf course set up there.

The 18-hole course became the 282nd played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Photo: Richard Putting on Hole 10

Photo: Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd playing the 3rd hole

Brad and I faced-off in an 18-hole one-round contest on the course. Over the front-9 holes I scored 15, with Brad hitting a 23. Brad struck back on the back-9 and scored a 22 to my 26. However, I managed to defeat him 41-45.

The course is owned by Moneypenny Events and features some of the holes/frames as the Minigolf courses we previously played at Devonshire Square in London (#155 & #155.5/visit 199b). The company also own the course that has appeared at the o2 (#210).

Photos of the course:

Alexandra Palace is also home to an interesting looking Pitch & Put Miniature Golf Course. Some of the holes are played up/down hill! There is also a Putting Course there. They are both on the 'to play' list, hopefully sometime in 2012...

Photo: The Brown Sign pointing the way to Alexandra Palace. The sign is opposite Wood Green Tube Station

Links:
- Minigolf & Crazy Golf in London
- Alexandra Palace
- Crazy Golf at Alexandra Palace
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

New Indoor Minigolf Course Opening in Las Vegas - KISS Minigolf by Monster Mini Golf

2011-12-30T08:38:00.010Z

As a BIG fan of both Las Vegas and Minigolf I'm pleased to see that another new Miniature Golf course is opening in the city in 2012!

Back in July 2011 I spotted that a KISS-themed Indoor Mini Golf course was being built by Monster Mini Golf and it was due to open in late 2011/early 2012.

Unfortunately the opening, should it have been in the autumn, would have come after our revisit in September (we did get to play the other new course in downtown Las Vegas at The Swingers Club at the Plaza and Emily and I were first & second in the Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament!).

According to Monster Mini Golf the brand new 18-hole KISS Glow-in-the-Dark Indoor Minigolf course will be part of a unique KISS Rock n’ Roll-themed attraction that will also house an amusement arcade, Wedding Chapel, and KISS Cafe, KISS Gallery and the largest KISS Gift Shop in the World!

Fingers crossed for another trip to Las Vegas in 2012.

Links:
- Monster Mini Golf
- Monster Mini Golf on twitter
- Monster Mini Golf - KISS, Las Vegas on facebook
- Las Vegas 'tagged' Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files

Darts in London - The Jolly Anglers Pub in Wood Green

2011-12-29T14:06:00.013Z

Prior to the Crazy Golfers Christmas Meet-up at Rileys in Victoria, Brad Shepherd and I met up at Wood Green before heading off to visit and play the Crazy Golf course at Alexandra Palace.

We followed a Brown Tourist Sign to point us in the right direction and one of the first things we spotted was another very interesting sign, this time outside a Pub!

Photo: The Pub Darts Sign

Photo: Brad 'Stops' by the Pub Darts Sign

We decided to come back and give the Jolly Anglers pub a go on our way back after playing at Ally Pally. Just a short distance further along Station Road we spotted a Darts Shop too! And it was on a 'Bradley Road'!!! Sadly it had closed down, so we couldn't get stocked up on any Darts supplies ahead of the evening's tournament.

Photo: Brad standing outside the old Darts shop on Bradley Road

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Darts Championships were being held at Alexandra Palace during our visit, so we had a look around, but it all seemed very quiet.

Photo: Me outside the VIP Entrance

After playing the Minigolf course at Alexandra Palace we had plenty of time to head back to the Jolly Anglers to warm-up with a few games of Darts.

Photo: Brad chucks some 'arrers

In between drinks and goes on the Quiz machine, Brad and I played five '301' games of Darts, with victories all going my way. However, in the evening's main-event Brad would get his revenge by beating me in our two meetings (group stage & semi-final) and eventually went on to win the 'Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championship'.

Photo: Me and the Dart Board at The Jolly Anglers pub

The Jolly Anglers pub was friendly enough and the board, while not super high-quality, was in good condition and we were able to play there for well over an hour. Their sign advertising the Darts did well!

Photo: The Jolly Anglers pub sign

Photo: The Brown Tourist Sign pointing towards Alexandra Palace

Links:
- Justin Irwin - Bachelor of Darts - Capital Darts List
- Follow The Brown Signs
- Alexandra Palace
- The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
- The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Sprouts & Pong - Previous Blog Posts About Me & Brad's Antics in December's past:

- Guinness World Record Attempt - Most Brussels Sprouts Eaten in a Minute!
- The London-Lu(x)ton Connection play in the 'World Series of Pong' Ping Pong Tournament in Tooting!

More Fake Crocodiles & Alligators - Bluewater, New Malden & Milton Keynes

2011-12-29T07:52:00.004Z

While they may not be places likely to be well known for habitat suitable for Crocodiles or Alligators on our recent travels we have managed to find a fair few Crocodiles/Alligators lurking on Miniature Golf courses at Bluewater Shopping Centre, World of Golf New Malden and on a Pirate Adventure Golf course in Milton Keynes!

Pirate Cove Adventure Golf at Bluewater

Jurassic Encounter Adventure Golf at New Malden

Pirate Island Adventure Golf in Milton Keynes

Links:
- Fake Crocodiles! Or are they Alligators?
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Hmm, Some Bizarre Gluten & Gluten Free Shelf Stacking!

2011-12-28T19:05:00.000Z

Some great merchandising of Gluten and Gluten Free Food Products dangerously stocked side-by-side in EARTH Natural Food in Kentish Town, London!?

Gluten Free Reviews on Travel Gluten Free

2011-12-28T12:42:00.001Z

On our travels around the UK and overseas Emily and I are always on the look out for places to eat out at Gluten Free.

As a Coeliac it is vital that I don't eat any food that would be unsafe, so options for dining can be quite limited. However, on our travels we've found some great places to eat at.

As well as tweeting about them when I find them and blogging about them here on The Ham & Egger Files, I also regularly submit reviews to the Travel Gluten Free website.

You can read my reviews on Travel Gluten Free at:
- Where to eat - UK, Restaurants
- Where to eat - UK, Chains
- Where to eat - UK, Stores
- Where to eat - North America, Restaurants
- Where to eat - North America, Chains
- Where to eat - North America, Stores
- Where to eat - Sweden, Restaurants
- Where to stay - UK

Links:
- Travel Gluten Free
- Coeliac UK - The leading charity working for people with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH). Their mission is to improve the lives of people with coeliac disease through support, campaigning and research.

More Gluten Free Black Pudding. And a Haggis!

2011-12-28T08:25:00.004Z

While researching places to eat Gluten Free ahead of our trip to Edinburgh in August Emily had spotted that Findlays Butchers in Portobello, Edinburgh, Scotland offer wide-range of Gluten Free products that are also available to order online.

While we were in Scotland we didn’t manage to visit the actual shop, but did walk by it, and wouldn’t have had anywhere to store the meat anyway. Instead we waited to buy some nearer to Christmas.

I ordered a Gluten Free Haggis (yet to try it) and two Gluten Free Black Puddings (one down, one to go). Black Pudding was one of my favourite meat dishes before I was diagnosed as a Coeliac and the Black Puddings from Findlays are very tasty. They do contain Oatmeal, however Findlays have made sure that the ingredients going into their products are uncontaminated and as safe for Coeliacs as possible.

Photo: The Gluten Free Haggis, one of the Gluten Free Black Puddings and the edge of the BIG Bone-In Beef Rib Roast

We also ordered a Bone-In Beef Rib Roast and this piece of meat was one of the best we have ever tasted.

Findlays have a variety of Gluten Free specialist products and plenty of other meats to choose from too. It’s easy to order and they have good packaging and delivery. I would use them again.

In March 2011 I had my first taste of Gluten Free Black Pudding when we spotted them (along with Gluten Free Sausages) on the Shaw Meats/Cumbrian Salami Company stall at the Centre MK Craft & Food Fair at Middleton Hall.

Previous Gluten Free Black Pudding Blog Post (!):
- Gluten Free Sausages and Black Pudding from Shaw Meats/Cumbrian Salami Company

New Adventure Golf course heading to Sheffield

2011-12-27T08:07:00.000Z

As a member of the Paradise Island Adventure Golf 'Golf Club' I receive their regular email newsletter with details of upcoming new and events (sign up here). In the latest issue there was the announcement that Paradise Island is now on facebook (find them here).

When I clicked through I saw that in addition to the two 36-hole Adventure Golf centres they have at Xscape, Brahead, Glasgow and at The Trafford Centre in Manchester, they are setting up a new course at Valley Centertainment in Sheffield!

Emily and I have played the courses in Brahead and Manchester and are looking forward to checking out the new Sheffield Adventure Golf in 2012!

Checking out the Valley Centertainment website I noticed the centre has a Laser Quest too!

Links:
- 85 Manchester (Paradise Island Adventure Golf, Tiki Hut Trail) - Adventure Golf
- 86 Manchester (Paradise Island Adventure Golf, Temple Ruins Adventure) - Adventure Golf
- 90 Glasgow (Paradise Island Adventure Golf, Maggie McCaw's Challenge) - Adventure Golf
- 91 Glasgow (Paradise Island Adventure Golf, Tiki Hut Trail) - Adventure Golf
- Paradise Island Adventure Golf at Braehead, Scotland

More from the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Revisit to Championship Miniature Golf at Trafford Golf Centre, Manchester

2011-12-26T11:18:00.000Z

On Monday 12th December 2011 we made a revisit to the 9-hole Championship Miniature Golf course at the Trafford Golf Centre in Manchester.

We’ve played at the centre for fun and in two Miniature Golf tournaments (which I won) with our last visit in 2009. The course was the 84th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On our recent visit we found the course to still be in excellent condition, very playable and still every bit as challenging as before. The course has been designed to replicate famous holes from ‘Big’ Golf courses and each hole has a board next to it telling you the history of the hole, tips on how to play it and quotes from famous golfers.

In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up I defeated Emily 32-35 and then 26-33. The course record of 23 held by course designer Nick Ashfield still stands!

The course provides four different tee-off points to choose from (Juniors, Ladies, Mens and Competition) and the course is definitely a Par-3 set-up. While Holes-in-One are achievable on the course, they are very rare indeed and a two is a very good score on most of the holes.

The 9-hole Championship Miniature Golf course is located at the Trafford Golf Centre (formerly PlayGolf). The Minigolf course costs £5 a round for adults (£4 for under 16s) and a second round is only £2.50. It's well worth a play if you're in Manchester.

While having a wander around the centre we also spotted a Putting Practice hole next to the Driving Range.

Previous Blog Posts about Championship Miniature Golf in Manchester:
- Course #84 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Championship Miniature Golf
- Minigolf Report – Richard Gottfried wins the Manchester Mini Masters tournament
- Minigolf Report – Gottfrieds finish first and second in the Manchester Miniature Open tournament

Links:
- Championship Miniature Golf
- Trafford Golf Centre
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Congratulations to Oliver Florence & Team for winning the South of England Earthworm Charming Championships

2011-12-26T08:36:00.002Z

While Emily and I were busy revisiting the 'birthplace' of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in Southsea in late and playing some new courses too, our Minigolf Rivals and fellow keen odd-sportsmen Oliver Florence, Richard Skeggs and Leamington Spa-based Robert Clarke were competing at the South of England Earthworm Charming Championships - an event they won!

We had been invited us to be a part of the team, but due to the prior booking and trip to Southsea in our calendar we were unable to be a part of the Championship-winning side. In the competition the team collected a brilliant 193 worms.

The first South of England heat for the 2012 World Worm Charming Championships was organised by the Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust and saw 16 teams in total battle it out for the Worm Charming Title.

Back in July, one week after the 2011 World Worm Charming Championships that Ollie, Richard and Leamington Spa-based Robert Clarke had competed in, we took part in the Worm Charming Competition at St Mary’s Village Carnival in Edlesborough and finished in tied third place.

Photo: The team of Ollie, me (as a Chicken) and Kallum at the Worm Charming Competition at St Mary’s Village Carnival in Edlesborough

Links:
- Ollie's Blog Post from the 2011 'Worlds' "Charming fox worms his way to success at world championship"
- Ollie's Blog Post "Mexican rejection fails to keep charming trio off screen"

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year from The Ham & Egger Files

2011-12-25T00:01:00.005Z

Wishing you a very happy Christmas and all the best for 2012!

Cheers,

Richard & Emily

Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Abbey Hill Golf Centre, Milton Keynes - Minigolf Course Played #281

2011-12-24T07:47:00.055Z

On Thursday 15th December 2011 while in Milton Keynes I headed to the new Pirate Island Adventure Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre. The 18-hole Adventure Golf course became the 281st played on the Crazy World of Minigolf.

Pulling into the car park at the Golf Centre the sight of the huge Pirate Ship struck me straight away! It's massive, bright and colourful and will surely lure people to play the course.

For adults it's £7.50 a round, which seems to be the going rate these days for an 18-hole round of Minigolf on the new wave of Adventure Golf courses. While not cheap, the Milton Keynes course was actually very good to play and the £7.50 seemed worth it. While I had the course pretty much to myself as it was 6pm on a cold Thursday in December, I imagine that the course is going to be very busy in the spring and summer. What is good though is that there are floodights so the last ticket sold for the course every day is at 8.45pm.

Photo: The view from the Car Park

Photo: Hole 1 - Putting into the Pirate Ship

Photo: Inside the Pirate Ship - Indoor Black Light Glow in the Dark Minigolf!

Photo: Hole 3 - and the Driving Range

Photo: A pair of Pirates having a fight over some treasure on an island!

We've played similar courses to the Pirate Island Adventure Golf, most notably at Celtic Manor in Wales, but each of the holes were new ones to me. I really liked the first two holes, which made good use of the Pirate Ship. The island hole which required the use of two 'do it yourself' rafts was also very well designed and made. The whole look and feel of the course has been well crafted and you wouldn't think you're in Milton Keynes!

Photo: Hole 11 - A Snake

Photo: The Island and a Raft

Photo: A loop di loop

Photo: A BIG Minigolf Skull

Photo: Another Crocodile/Alligator for my collection

Photo: Sailing back to shore

In my one round I managed to hit a couple of holes-in-one and scored a 54(+18, but one-under using the course par of 55.

Later that evening I returned with fellow Minigolf Pro Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley, where we had a close fought challenge match with me coming out the victor with a score of 52 to Marc's 53.

Videos of the course (15/12/11)

Links:
- Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Abbey Hill Golf Centre
- Blog Post - A new Mini Golf course in Milton Keynes - Pirate Island Adventure Golf at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre
- Photos of the course, by our fellow Minigolf Travellers Paul & Owen Johnson, at MiniatureGolfer.com
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

MK Winter Sporting Challenge - Minigolf/Adventure Golf, Air Hockey, Quasar Laser Tag & Pool

2011-12-23T07:55:00.064Z

On Thursday 15th December 2011 me and Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley met up in Milton Keynes for a "Best-of-Three, no wait make it Best-of-Five Games Series" for the title of MK Winter Sporting Challenge Champion! We had planned to play a lot of Quasar Laser Tag at the Tenpin Mega Bowl at MK Leisure Plaza, however there were no spaces in games until 9pm! So with time to spare we headed to the brand new Pirate Island Adventure Golf at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre for a game of Minigolf.

Photo: Not me & Marc having a Pirate Battle on a Minigolf Island!

As I had arrived in MK before Marc, I had managed to get a game in beforehand (making it minigolf course #281 played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!). Not that my warm-up game helped too much in our challenge match. Under floodlight conditions we hit the 18-hole course and it's excellent Pirate-theming for a match played in very cold conditions.

Photo: Marc Putting on a Double Plateau Hole

Photo: Richard on a Raft attached to a Minigolf Island

To say the match was one-sided in the early stages would be an understatement as Marc, the BMGA British #89, raced ahead over the Front-9 holes.

Video - Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley Plays the 10th Hole at Pirate Island Adventure Golf:

Photo: Marc has a testing second Putt on the 18th hole

But by the 17th hole the match was level on both Strokeplay and Matchplay! I stepped up first and hit a two, Marc played his first shot which ended in the rocks, played his second and waited... and it ran just passed the hole and he had to settle for a very unfortunate three. The final scores - Richard 52, Marc 53.

Game One - Winner - 'Squire' Richard Gottfried

Following the Minigolf match we decided to head back to the Mega Bowl to have a warm game of Quasar.

While we were waiting for the 9pm game slot we decided to have a game of the Crazy Golfers Favourite - Air Hockey. Despite leading for most of the (10-minute!) match I lost 8-9 after scoring an own goal in injury time. The game conditions were quite interesting, with just two of us and with no Emily to fetch #TheMan when the Puck went flying off the table there were a lot more throw-ins than usual!

Game Two - Winner - Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley

With 9pm approaching we headed to the check-in desk, signed the disclaimer (no running, no swearing, no fighting, no rifle-butts to the face etc.), found out that it would just be a one-on-one match and then waited to be called through to the Briefing Room. While we were waiting to go through Marc had the opportunity to have his photo taken with one of his Minigolf heroes!

Photo: Marc and his Minigolf Hero

Once in the Briefing Room the man said that before we could play we would have to watch "The DVD"! He seemed quite apologetic that we'd have to sit through it, however Marc and I were quite excited as in all the times we've played Laser Tag we've never had a briefing through a TV/DVD! The video was very informative, told us we were playing "Q-2000" and that once the film was over we'd be led to "The Vesting Room"!

The Milton Keynes Quasar Arena was very maze-like, with narrow passages leading to a central hub. With the game beig a solo battle the bases were unfortunately not in play. The game saw each of us trying to track the other down and in the quite big arena you had to take your opportunities and use the element of surprise on your opponent. Marc managed to do this and scored more hits, ending the game with a win for the REDS.

Photo: RED Marc and GREEN Richard

In the Quasar Stats for our game Marc was playing as RED 9 while I was GREEN 12. Marc won with a Hit Ratio of 0.9% after firing 855 shots and scoring 1,600 points! Inconceivably I was shown to have fired 4,003 times in our battle and ended with a Hit Ratio of 0.1% and 1,000 points!?

In the Never Ending Laser Tag War waged between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS players in the Laser Tag Rankings have taken part in Laser Battles in 'laser-war-torn' places including Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough, Crawley, New Brighton, Cannock, Whitstable, Skegness, Rayleigh and Milton Keynes.

Updated Laser Tag Rankings following the MK Battle:

Click to enlarge image

Game Three - Winner - Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley

With the series at two-wins-to-one in Marc's favour we headed to the Pool tables. The table we played on seemed to have a bit of a slope and was also a bit troublesome if you were shooting from one end of it, as you had to open the door to the Hurricane Simulator arcade machine to get any sort of leverage!?

The other Pool table was out of order, but happened to be the one with any chalk in the chained up chalk holder!

In our match Marc won, with me still having three balls left to pot when Marc nailed the black for victory.

Game Four - Winner - Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley

After playing Pool we (I) tried to make the series a best-of-seven event, but Super Mario Kart wouldn't accept any of our coins and someone had jammed a pound coin and a ten pence piece in the coin slot of Out Run 3, putting paid to any chance of another win for me.

Overall Champion of the MK Winter Sporting Challenge - Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley

Ultimate MK Games Champion Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley said "I knew it was going to be tough, especially after the minigolf. But I always believed in myself and that belief was justified."

Perennial Runner-Up ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried said “Well done to Marc on his big win at the games. It was well deserved indeed and he was unlucky not to beat me at the Minigolf too! I’m looking forward to some more games of Laser Tag and visits to #TheButtons soon.”

The new Pirate Island Adventure Golf course at Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Two Mile Ash is well worth a visit and we'll be heading back again. Hopefully we'll get to play the Quasar with more people next time too.

Links:
- Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Abbey Hill Golf Centre
- Tenpin - Milton Keynes
- Blog Posts - Air Hockey
- Blog Post - Quasar in Milton Keynes
- Blog Post - A new Mini Golf course in Milton Keynes - Pirate Island Adventure Golf at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Crazy Golfers Christmas 'Do' in London - Darts Tournament at Rileys Victoria!

2011-12-22T07:06:00.078Z

Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd wins the 'Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships' in 14-player field

Shepherd makes it three wins in three years at Crazy Golfers Crimbo Shindigs!

Photo: The un-Bronze Bully Prize!

On Monday 19th December 2011 thirteen of the World’s best Crazy Golfers and Snooker Ace/Juggler Richard '147' Linden met under the Arrivals Board at Victoria Station (how romantic) before heading to Rileys Victoria for an evening of shenanigans in the 2011 Crazy Golfers Christmas ‘Do’.

Previous years have seen the group play Minigolf in 2009 (a busman’s holiday) and Indoor BIG Golf on a simulator & a bit of Putting in 2010. But for the 2011 Open Invitational event there were a few new options suggested, including Tenpin Bowling, Darts, Laser Tag and Table Football.

With Bowling Alleys either charging too much (read 'extortionate'), or not bothered about the potential booking from the group it was decided that Darts would be a good option and after some research on the Bachelor of Darts’ Capital Arrows website the venue for the ‘Do’ was found and a booking made for three Dart Boards at Rileys Victoria. What was even better was the Boards were free to book!

The 14 players would be vying for the Christmas Champion Title and the un-Bronze Bully in the ‘Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships’! Players got into the festive/darts spirit by donning Christmas hats and gaudy shirts for the night out.

Photo: Action from Board 3. Trevor 'The Wraith' Robertson on the oche in his match against Emily 'Ah Bristow' Gottfried. Alan 'Stormin' Norman is the scorer

At 7pm the players began practising their throws and the competitors could get an early idea of who the opposition would be. While the praccy was underway a draw/bracket/format was organised by EmilyLemonyCoach, TevorTheWraithSmeethino and Brad.

Of note is the fact that Seth ‘Zen’ Thomas had brought his own Snooker Cue, which many players thought was a Javelin in a case when they met at Victoria. Unfortunately with so much ‘arrers action going on the group never had time to play any Pool or Snooker. Perhaps next year...

Photo: Seth 'Zen' Thomas and his Pool Cue in a case at Victoria Station. Also pictured, Alan 'Stormin' Norman (l) and Steve 'F1' Gow

One of the early favourites for the tournament victory was Gareth ‘Colleen’ Holmes, who while not present on the Minigolf-scene of late (since a devastating tackle from Brad at an Air Hockey table in Hastings which put him on the disabled-list), was thought to be a challenger as someone said he’d “played a bit of Darts before.” Where he’d played, how long ago and against who is still unclear!? On the walk to Rileys ‘Oh’ Chris Jones had also stated that he’d played before and wasn’t bad, however he then said "But that was 32 years ago!"

Photo: Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd on the oche, with scorer Martin 'Smashin' Robertson

With the competition format decided a draw was then held to decide the groups for the event.

All of the matches, except the final, would be played as one-leg shoot outs of 301 straight-in, double-out games. The final of the ‘Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships’ would be played in a 501 game.

For the qualifying round the 14 players were drawn into three Pools and each assigned to a Dart Board to play round-robin matches. The top two players from each group would then qualify automatically to the last-8, with the three players who finished third in their groups meeting one another in a play-off to decide which two would qualify as players 7 & 8.

The remaining players would be placed into a Loser’s Pool to play-off in a round-robin format to decide places 9-14.

The top-8 would play in a knockout format to decide who would make the semi-finals and the losing four players would then play for positions 5-8. There would also be a 3rd/4th place match prior to the Grand Final.

Pool A / Dart Board 1

Seth ‘Zen’ Thomas

Jon ‘The Stance’ Angel

‘Oh’ Chris Jones

Gareth ‘Colleen’ Holmes

Richard ‘147 Linden

Pool B / Dart Board 2

‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried

Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd

Martin ‘Smashin’ Robertson

Lionel ‘The Spoon’ Bender

Pool C / Dart Board 3

Emily ‘Ah Bristow’ Gottfried

Trevor ‘The Wraith’ Robertson

Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman

Steve ‘The Rant’ Gow

Marc ‘The Professor’ Chapman

Due to unforeseen technical issues, the pre-prepared 'Walk-on' music for each player ahead of their matches was unavailable. It wasn't a big problem though as it would likely have been drowned out by the Christmas tunes anyway!

Automatically qualifying for the quarter-finals from Group A was Seth, with Martin and Brad joining him from Group B. Alan was the automatic qualifier from Group C.

In Group A and C there were players tied for the second and third places so a three-way 9-dart play-off was required to decide who finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th in each group. In Group A Gareth won with a score of 156 to qualify as group runner-up. Jon was third, scoring 113, and would go into the play-off pool for the third place players, joining Richard G and the third player from Group C. Richard L scored 70 and finished 4th in Group A.

In Group C Emily won the 9-dart play-off with a score of 127, with Steve qualifying for the three-way play-off against Richard G and Jon, having scored 117. Despite hitting treble-20 with one of his last three darts Marc scored 108 to finish fourth in the Group.

The highest three-dart score of the whole tournament was made by Trevor ‘The Wraith’ Robertson in a first-round match when he hit a great score of 111.

Before the matches in the last-8 could commence, the players who would be ‘seeded’ 7th and 8th needed to be decided. In the three-way play-off Richard G beat Steve, Steve lost to Jon, and Jon beat Richard G, meaning Jon qualified as number 7 and Richard as number 8. Steve would join Marc, Richard L, Chris, Trevor and Lionel in the Loser’s Pool for the ranking matches for places 9-14.

In these matches both Marc and Steve managed to complete their games before the Grand Final got underway and finished in 9th and 10th places respectively, with Marc winning four of his five round-robin games. Steve won two and lost three in the round-robin pool. Steve also managed to play the most competitive matches in the tournament, stepping up to the oche to compete in eleven matches overall!

Lionel, Chris, Trevor and Richard L did not complete all of their round-robin games and were tied in 11th place (or 11th, tied 12th and 14th to be ever so precise).

In the last-8 matches Emily lost to Richard G in a grudge match between the two Lutonians. Brad beat Martin in a re-match from the group stages. Gareth lost to Seth and Jon beat Alan.

In the games to decide the rankings from 5th to 8th place Emily lost to Martin who found some of his first-round form to get the win. Alan beat Gareth in an all-London encounter. Martin lost to Alan and Emily lost to bookies favourite Gareth.

In the semi-finals Richard G once again lost to Brad, as he had in their group match, with Brad progressing to the Grand Final. Earlier in the day the two had stumbled across a Pub in Wood Green advertising their Dart Board and had a few games, with Richard winning five-out-of-five, but he could not find the double against Brad in the semi-final.

Photo: Semi-Finalists Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd and 'Squire' Richard Gottfried

In the second semi-final Seth beat Jon to book his place in the Grand Final against Brad.

Photo: Semi-Finalists Seth 'Zen' Thomas and Jon 'The Stance' Angel

Ahead of the Grand Final Richard and Jon met, in another re-match from earlier in the evening, to decide who would finish as the Bronze medallist. In the 301 contest Richard picked up the victory to claim a place on the Podium.

Photo: The Finalists Seth 'Zen' Thomas and Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd. With scorer Gareth 'Colleen' Holmes

With the un-Bronze Bully up for grabs, a fair few drinks imbibed and hunger setting in, the atmosphere for the final saw the other twelve players reaching a sort-of mild fever-pitch.

In the 501 straight-in double-out contest Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd managed to defeat surprise finalist Seth ‘Zen’ Thomas by hitting double-2, leading to a big cheer from the crowd as Brad realised his dream of winning the competitions at three Christmas ‘Do’s’ in three years! Marc the announcer declared Brad the winner and Gareth the scorer presented him with the coveted un-Bronze Bully to shouts of “Bully! Bully! Bully!” from the uproarious audience.

Video: Crazy Golfers Christmas Darts at Rileys London - The Grand Final

Photo: 2011 Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Champion Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd

With the matches over and the promise of some sore heads & throwing arms and bruised egos the next day, the merry minigolfers made their way to all corners of London and the Home Counties (and Canterbury) all looking forward to a Merry Christmas and dreams of toppling Brad’s reign as Crazy Golf’s Crimbo Champ in 2012!

Suggestions for sporting contests for the 2012 Crimbo Contest already include:
- Draughts/Kick-boxing
- Ludo/Fencing
- Connect-4/Arm-Wrestling
- Ping-Pong/Sumo

Other ideas more than welcome, please leave comments below...

Final Rankings and Win/Loss Records for the 2011 ‘Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships’

More photos from the event:

Photo: Lionel 'The Spoon' Bender hits the Bullseye!

Photo: Snooker player and Juggler Richard '147' Linden reaches his 'perfect' score!

Photo: Marc 'The Professor' Chapman takes a closer look at Bully (censored version)

The 'Rivernear' Darts Tournament was the biggest in the history of Crazy Golf! In 2008 the first-ever (and only one to date) Links Darts tournament was contested at Planet Hastings Crazy Golf course at the end of the first day’s play of the 2008 BMGA British Minigolf Championships. That contest was won by Sean ‘The Sandman’ Homer. Perhaps the 2012 minigolf season will throw-up a meeting between Brad and Sean in a battle of the two ‘codes’ in a Grand Slam of Minigolf-Darts!

Links:
- The Minigolfers Christmas 'Do' 2010
- 2009 Christmas Crazy Golf Challenge at Devonshire Square
- Links Darts at MiniatureGolfer.com
- Justin Irwin, the Bachelor of Darts
- Rileys
- Rileys Victoria
- The World Darts Federation (WDF)
- The British Darts Organisation (BDO)
- The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
- The British Minigolf Association (BMGA)

More Darts Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files:
- Writing about a little bit of Britain on the Las Vegas Strip for Smitten by Britain
- The Las Vegas Darts Classic - Richard vs. Emily
- Cwmbran Darts Classic 2010
- Minigolf 'Links Darts' featured in We Love Darts magazine

Winning the Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Minigolf Tournament at Jurassic Encounter, New Malden

2011-12-21T13:53:00.001Z

On Saturday 10th December 2011 nine Crazy Minigolfers, including me and Emily, headed to New Malden's 18-hole Jurassic Encounter Adventure Golf course to compete in the second bi-annual Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Minigolf Tournament

The format for the 30th Birthday edition of the contest saw two contests take place, with a Doubles Pro-Am competition and an overall individual winner to be crowned - Scottish International Minigolfer Guy Martin headed into the event as the reigning and defending champion and a 20/1 shot in the pre-tournament betting. However, the final pre-tournament odds* saw Martin de-listed and therefore an 'other' at 10,012/1!?

In the 18-hole contest I won the individual contest by one-shot from AMF Asian Open Runner-Up Richard 'Gentle Touch' Skeggs. I scored an imperfect Par of 36.

You can read the full report over at Ollie's Blog - "Glory for Gottfried as Martin's mistake fails to cloud celebrations"

Photos from the event:

Photo: Birthday boy Oliver 'The Machine' Florence takes an action photo of defending champion Scottish International Minigolfer Guy Martin who was about to score a dreaded seven on the fourth hole!

Photo: Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried takes a snap of Birthday boy Oliver 'The Machine' Florence Putting at the Jurassic Encounter course

Photo: 'Squire' Richard Gottfried taking a shot

Photo: A tricky second Putt awaits Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas

Photo: Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas lines up the plant pot putt

Photo: With the crowd looking on Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas hits his 'recovery' shot (it didn't go in)

Photo: Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried Putting on the 18th hole

Photo: 'Squire' Richard Gottfried spots another fake Crocodile/Alligator to add to his collection!

*The final 'odd' odds were:
- Florence 5/2
- Thomas 3/1
- Gottfried 7/2
- Cooley 6/1
- Skaggs 7/1
- Jones 10/1
- Clark 12/1
- Rutheringtons 33/1
- Pragnell 1,001/1
- Other 10,012/1

Links:
- The Minigolfer Blog
- Jurassic Encounter Adventure Golf website
- World of Golf New Malden website
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Minigolf and Crazy Golf in and around London

2011-12-19T14:19:00.000Z

The London Bus and a Passing Tube Train at the Crazy Golf course in Chiswick

To date we've visited 30 (and a half) Minigolf, Crazy Golf, Miniature Golf, Adventure Golf and Putting Courses in and around London on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour (playing 18 and a half). Here's a list of them.

Note: The number next to the course denotes the 'visit number' on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. You can click through from the list below to the webpage on the Ham & Egger Files detailing our visit to the course.

All Minigolf courses played in, and around, London (as at 19th December 2011)
59 Harrow (Northwick Park) - ‘Mini Majors’ Adventure Golf
74 New Malden - Jurassic Golf
81 Merton/Motspur Park (Sir Joseph Hood Park) - Mini Golf
117 Staines (Lammas Park) - Adventure Golf
155 London (Devonshire Square) - Minigolf
155b London (Devonshire Square) - Temporarily Christmas-Themed Minigolf
158 Stanmore (Stanmore & Edgware Golf Club) - Putting Green
160 Hither Green, Lewisham, London (The Green Indoor Mini Golf) - Swedish Felt - Update: August 2011 - Closed
169 London (Broomfield Park) - Adventure Golf
170 Barnet (Copthall/Metro Golf Centre) - Mini Golf
190 East Finchley - Garden Minigolf - The course was also the 'Landmark' 250th course location visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour (Private Course - No Public Access)
191 London (Hyde Park) - Adventure Golf Grass Putting
205 Sidcup/Chiselhurst (World of Golf) - Lost Island Encounter Adventure Golf - Mateleys Course - It's actually in Kent, but is within spitting distance from the border with Greenwich
206 Sidcup/Chiselhurst (World of Golf) - Lost Island Encounter Adventure Golf - Explorers Course - It's actually in Kent, but is within spitting distance from the border with Greenwich
209 Kensington, London - Putting Greens at UrbanGolf - Formerly an 'Unplayed course visit'
210 London (The O2) - Q-Golf Minigolf
214 Chiswick (Rocks Lane Multi Sports Centre) - Crazy Golf
262 Arkley (near Elstree & Borehamwood) - 'Dinosaur Safari' Adventure Golf Course
282 London (Alexandra Palace) - Crazy Golf - See also #155 & #155b

Photos from Miniature Golf Course Visits in and around London

Jurassic Encounter, New Malden (2008)

Barnet Copthall (2010)

Alexandra Palace (2011)

East Finchley (2010)

Hyde Park (2010)

Broomfield Park (2010)

Northwick Park, Harrow (2010)

Staines (2009) - venue for the 2009 London Open minigolf tournament where I finished as the runner-up (Links: BMGA Report / Blog Report)

Standing in the middle of the unplayed Crazy Golf course in Camden (2009)

London Minigolf courses visited but not played* (as at 19th December 2011)
44 London (Clarence Way, Camden) - Crazy Golf - Residents-only course, no clubs or balls for hire
56 Upminster (Hall Lane) - Miniature Golf - Derelict
57 Hornchurch (Harrow Lodge Park) - Minigolf/Miniature Golf - Did not exist!?
58 Hornchurch (Haynes Park) - Minigolf/Miniature Golf - Did not exist!?
59 Romford (Harold Wood Park) - Mini Golf - Did not exist!?
60 Havering (Central Park) - Miniature Golf
81 Kensington, London - Putting Greens at UrbanGolf
83 Sidcup (World of Golf) - Putting Course - Members-only
- London (Adelaide House) - Rooftop Putting Green - Years too late!
- London (Portobello Gold Hotel) - Mini Golf on Roof Terrace - You must be a Hotel Guest booked in that room
- London (Alexandra Palace) - Pitch & Putt - Closed for the Season
- London (Alexandra Palace) - Putting Course - Closed for the Season

* Due to closure, flooding, dereliction or other causes

Links:
- Ham & Egger Files Homepage
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Full Course List

Birdies Pop Up Golf - Launch Event for a New Minigolf Business in Manchester

2011-12-19T07:17:00.009Z

Birdies Pop Up Golf - Launch Event for a New Minigolf Business in Manchester

On Monday 12th December 2011 Emily and I were invited to the launch night of a new Miniature Golf business based in Manchester.

Birdies Pop Up Golf has launched a new Portable Minigolf Business providing a modular portable Pop Up Golf course that is available for events.

Photo: Richard playing hole 3 of the Birdies Pop Up Golf course

The launch event saw Birdies Pop Up Golf's Mark Rooney and his team set up a challenging 9-hole Miniature Golf course at The Merchant Room, Albert's Shed in the Castlefields area of Manchester. Guests were invited to try out the course and compete in a fun minigolf competition.

Photo: Richard Putts on hole 1 of the 9-hole launch event layout

Birdies Pop Up are offering the Mini/Crazy Golf course for Corporate Events, Charity Fundraisers, Marketing Campaigns, Schools, Sports Clubs, Weddings and more. You can find out more at their website.

Photo: From l-r Richard Gottfried, Jon Angel and Richard Linden line up ahead of their Minigolf challenge match

The launch event also featured a friendly minigolf competition (with a fine trophy from The Trophy Store). In the Birdies Pop Up Golf Official Launch Night Competition I finished 2nd in the field of over 30 guests at the event. The winner had a score of 38(+2), while I shot a 39(+3). Emily scored a 43(+7) in the two round, 18-hole contest.

Photo: Emily poses for the camera!

As well as the main contest we also had some friendly rounds and mini-minigolf competitions against fellow Minigolfers Jon Angel and Richard Linden of UrbanCrazy.

In the first contest Jon and I tied on scores of 20(+2) over 9-holes, with Emily hitting a 22. Our play-off saw Jon take the victory with a hole-in-one at the third extra hole.

In the second contest I shot a 19(+1), Richard Linden hit an 18(par), while Jon scored 17(-1) to take the win.

Photo: Richard Putting on hole 3 of the 9-hole Birdies Pop Up Golf course launch night layout while Jon Angel and Richard Linden look on

Photo: An overview of the 9-hole Birdies Pop Up Golf course layout

Photo: Special Birdies Pop Up Cupcakes for the launch night were made by Hey Little Cupcake

Photos of the launch event can also be found in the Birdies Pop Up photo gallery.

Links:
- Birdies Pop Up Golf website
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Crazy Golf at Fantasy Island on Canvey Island (re-visit Dec 11)

2011-12-18T06:46:00.015Z

On Sunday 4th of December 2011 we made a revisit to Canvey Island and went to check out the 9-hole Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course at Fantasy Island (formerly 'Cheeky Monkey's Outdoor World'!).

The course is still there and appeared to have had a bit of a paint job since my last visit, when I got to play the course, in April 2009. The course is still un-felted though.

Previous Canvey Island Crazy Golf Blog Posts:
- November 2008 - 10 Minutes in Canvey Island
- April 2009 - Minigolf Course Visit No. 87 - Canvey Island

Video: Canvey Island's Fantasy Island Amusement Park - Out of Season (Dec 2011)

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Las Vegas on Canvey Island

2011-12-17T07:34:00.002Z

On our way back from Southend-on-Sea we made a revisit to Canvey Island where we found another Las Vegas Amusement Arcade.

Photo: Richard outside the Las Vegas Casino in Canvey Island. He won one token from the 2p pusher

- Little Las Vegas in Wallingford
- Skeg-Vegas!
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour #248 Hunstanton (Vegas Amusement Arcade) - Crazy Golf
- BIG Buttons in Liverpool
- 10 Minutes in Canvey Island

Check out other Blog Posts about 'Las Vegas'.

The Bay Museum on Canvey Island, Essex

2011-12-16T08:14:00.005Z

On our drive to the seafront in Canvey Island on the 4th of December I spotted a sign, next to a white building beside the sea wall, which said that the Bay Museum was open. On our previous visits to Canvey Island I hadn’t noticed the building or museum.

Emily and I are always travelling around looking for new places to visit and things to do and so we popped in to have a look around. We found out it was formerly a Degaussing Station for passing ships during The Cold War and became a Museum of Military History in 2010.

We were very impressed to see the number of exhibits that are displayed in the relatively small space available inside the two storey building and the knowledge of the Curators was excellent. I particularly enjoyed finding out about the Fencing Musket that was displayed, as I’d never heard of the ‘weapon’ before visiting, and one of the Curators allowed me to ‘use it’ too!

The Bay Museum is open on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Entry is free (donations welcome) and it is well worth a visit.

Visit The Bay Museum's website

Early Details of the 2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Released!

2011-12-15T13:14:00.011Z

Early details of the 2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt have been released on twitter!

The event will begin on Thursday 1st of March 2012 and you can follow the action on twitter by using the hashtag #PKSH2

The Putter King has announced to his followers to stay tuned for more teasers ahead of the event...

Photo: Me and Putty, the Putter King Mascot

Results & Links from the 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt in which I was the runner-up to Australia's Allan Cox.

Vote for my Minigolf Hole Design 'The Jewel In The Crown' as part of the Putter King Hole Design Contest.

Latest Laser Tag Rankings - Update after Laser Tag Battle at MegaZone Rayleigh in Essex

2011-12-15T07:54:00.006Z

On Sunday 4th December 2011 Emily and I teamed up and joined the ranks of the foot soldiers of the Yellow team as we faced-off in a 27-player three-team Laser Tag Battle against the Reds and the Blues at the MegaZone in Rayleigh, Essex.

In the 30-minute shootout the mighty Yellow team was victorious beating the Blue team by just under 20,000 points!

In the match I was ranked 3rd overall, with Emily in 5th place in the 27-player field.

The Laser Tag Rankings have been updated following the contest and the top three places remain unchanged in the 11-player rankings. I am ranked #1 (with six wins from eight battles), while Oliver 'The Machine' Florence is #2 (with a 100% win/loss record from his four games) and Emily is #3 (with four wins from seven outings).

Click to enlarge ranking list

In the Seemingly Everlasting Laser Tag War waged between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS players in the Laser Tag Rankings have taken part in Laser Battles in 'laser-war-torn' places including Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough, Crawley, New Brighton, Cannock, Whitstable, Skegness and Rayleigh.

Adventure Island's Aztec & Inca Adventure Golf in Southend-on-Sea (re-visit Dec 11)

2011-12-13T06:57:00.028Z

On Saturday 2nd of December 2011 we replayed the two 9-hole Adventure Golf courses that were originally the 14th and 15th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in March 2007!

We also played the Aztec Adventure Golf course in 2003, way before our 'proper' Tour began.

On this occasion our Emily defeated (destroyed!) me in our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up with a score of 22 to my 28 on the Aztec Adventure course and a 22 to my 30(!?) on the Inca Challenge course.

Photo: The courses do not contain any fake Crocodiles, or Alligators, but does have a turtle on the 9th hole of the Aztec Adventure course

In April 2007 I made my Professional Minigolf Debut in the BMGA British Masters tournament held on the Adventure Island courses in Southend-on-Sea, where I finished 24th in the field of 28 players and was the runner-up in the Novice Category.

Video: Playing Adventure Island Minigolf Golf in Southend-on-Sea (Dec 11)

Previous Blog Posts
- Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf in Southend-on-Sea - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minehead & Southend on Sea - pre-Crazy World of Minigolf Tour course visits
- From the Minigolf Archives - Results of our first-ever game of Adventure Golf against each other!
- Minigolf in Southend on Sea - The Southend Masters

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Southend-on-Sea's Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf (re-visit Dec 11)

2011-12-11T08:00:00.040Z

On Saturday 2nd of December 2011 we revisited the 16th course we played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Southend's 18-hole Arnold Palmer Mini Golf course.

The course was closed for the season so we didn't manage to play it on our visit.

The site used to have two 18-hole Crazy Golf courses - the East & West courses. Only the East course remains.

The site of the old West course is now just an empty patch of grass.

Previous Southend-on-Sea Crazy Golf Blog Posts
- Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf in Southend-on-Sea - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Arnold Palmer in Southend...
- Derelict Crazy Golf in Southend...
- Then & Now – Southend Arnold Palmer ‘West’ Course
- Minigolf in Southend on Sea - Arnold Palmer West Course
- Minehead & Southend on Sea - pre-Crazy World of Minigolf Tour course visits
- From the Minigolf Archives - Results of our first-ever game of Adventure Golf against each other!
- Minigolf in Southend on Sea - The Southend Classic 2010

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Cliff Lift Funicular Railway in Southend-on-Sea

2011-12-09T08:04:00.001Z

While in Southend-on-Sea on Saturday 2nd December 2011 I had a ride on the Cliff Lift Funicular Railway. The lift was built in 1912 and was reopened in 2010 following its closure in 2003 and the completion of restoration work!

Some great views from the carriage and 50p well spent on the 'trip' indeed.

New Course Visits - Pirate Cove Adventure Golf at Bluewater!

2011-12-07T07:02:00.006Z

On Friday 2nd of December 2011 we made a slight detour on our way to Southend-on-Sea to stop-off at Bluewater Shopping Centre as we hadn't yet played the two 18-hole Adventure Golf courses that opened there in the summer.

The Pirate Cove Adventure Park features two Adventure Golf courses - Pirates & Smugglers - and also has pedalos and a high-wire activity centre.

The courses became the 278th and 279th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up I defeated Emily 41-47 on the Pirates course and 41-46 on the Smugglers course.

The new courses cover the area that used to be a 'Pro Tour Putting' Minigolf course.

Photo: The Christmas decorations outside the course

Photo: One of the holes was covered in fallen berries and small leaves

Photo: And unfortunately for Richard some animal droppings too!

Photo: One of the holes on the Pirates course had an Alligator (or is it a Crocodile) on it!

Photo: One of the holes on the Smugglers course also had some Alligators (or are they Crocodile) on it!

Photo: Blimey indeed!

Photo: A tricky, but Ace-able hole!

Photo: By the time we had finished our rounds the Christmas lights had come on!

Previous Bluewater Blog Post:
- March 2009 - Minigolf Course Visit No. 80 - Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Minigolf Report - Stokesley NO/NIT Classic - Minigolf Tournament in Middlesbrough

2011-12-05T08:18:00.021Z

Minigolf Report - Stokesley (NO/NIT) Classic - Minigolf Tournament in Middlesbrough

Emily Gottfried wins three-round tournament on Teesside

On Monday 28th November 2011 Pro-Minigolfers Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried, ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried and John ‘Thighs’ Moore headed to Teesside to compete in the first-ever Stokesley NO/NIT Classic Minigolf Tournament. The competiton was won by Emily Gottfried.

Photo: New Stokesley Classic Champion Emily Gottfried with the prestigious 'Newcastle Open!?' trophy and Gold numberless medal

The three-round, 36-hole event was held on the 12-hole Crazy Golf course at Stokesley Golf Range, Middlesbrough and saw Luton’s Emily Gottfried take a two shot victory with a total of 92(+20) with rounds of 31, 37 and a course record round of 24(par) in round three.

Photo: Emily Gottfried Putting her way to victory at the Stokesley Golf Range Crazy Golf course

Richard Gottfried was runner-up with a score of 94(+22) following rounds of 35, 28 and 31. Newcastle’s John Moore was third on 100(+28) with rounds of 32, 34 and 34.

Photo: Richard Gottfried (l) and John Moore with their medals

New Stokesley NO/NIT Classic Minigolf Champion Emily Gottfried said "I love the course at Stokesley. There are some really good, but tough holes, especially the Volcano hole! I felt I played really well, and apart from a dip during the second round I was in the lead for much of the tournament. Despite some excellent competiton from Squire and John "Al" Moore I really felt I deserved the win."

Runner-up Richard Gottfried said "At the end of the event I was amazed I hadn't won, but equally I was amazed I hadn't finished third! My first round was awful and then after a very good second round I found myself in the lead. A brilliant event on a very good course, in bitterly cold conditions, with an excellent champion in Emily, and yet another minigolf score of 24 for her to crow about. Well done to her for winning with a perfect par final round though."

Bronze Medallist John Moore was unavailable for comment following the tournament's conclusion.

The Stokesley NO/NIT Classic was the 2011 edition of the annual ‘Newcastle’ tournament that was inaugurated in 2009 with the hosting of the Newcastle Invitational Tournament that saw play at three courses on Tyneside. Last year saw the first-ever Newcastle Open take place at Gosforth Park, Newcastle.

Newcastle NO/NIT/SC Hall of Fame:
2011 – Emily Gottfried (won Stokesley Classic)
2010 – Simon Hardie (won Newcastle Open, defeating John Moore & Richard Gottfried in a sudden-death play-off)
2009 – John Moore (won Newcastle Invitational Tournament)

A selection of photos from the 2011 Stokesley NO/NIT Classic Minigolf Competition.

Photo: Emily Gottfried takes a Putt on the 10th - Tunnels

Photo: John Moore playing hole 10 - Tunnels

Photo: John Moore on Hole 4 - Restrictor

Photo: Richard Gottfried on Hole 5 - Volcano

Photo: Richard Gottfried (l) on Hole 11 - Bunkers

Photo: Richard Gottfried on Hole 3 - Windmill

Photo: Emily and some bags of quality potatoes! The land that Stokesley Golf Range is on is owned by farmers, so you can handily pick up some spuds when you visit the course

Previous Results & Reports:
- Newcastle Open (NO) 2010
- Newcastle Invitational Tournament (NIT) 2009

Unrelated Blog Post (with a Tenuous Link to 'a Newcastle')
- Minigolf Course Visit No. 133 - Henllan Station on the Teifi Valley Railway (it's near a place called Newcastle Emlyn)

Crazy Golf at Stokesley Golf Range, Middlesbrough - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Crazy Golf course visited, but not played, in Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees

2011-12-04T08:21:00.038Z

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour trip to Teesside we made a visit to the 12-hole Crazy Golf course at Preston Hall Museum and Park in Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees.

Prior to our visit we knew the course would not be open and playable as I've been in contact with the new owners of the course who have plans to refurbish and reopen the course in the 2012.

We did have a wander around and had a look at the existing course.

To be honest, on our travels to the 436 Miniature Golf courses prior to visiting Eaglescliffe we have found some really Crazy Golf horror courses, many of which we've actually paid to play, so on seeing the condition of the Preston Hall Park course we didn't think it was that bad and obviously would have given it a play had it been open.

The borders of the course are solid and holes, such as the first (below), reminded me of Beton and Eternit type courses with wall shots needed.

The felt was worn in places and some holes had had patches replaced.

Leaf fall was a bit of a problem too!

We're looking forward to a return visit when the Crazy Golf course has been refurbed and we'll be having a look around the Museum there too, as it was also closed for a refurb on our visit.

Photos of the Stockton-on-Tees Crazy Golf course at Preston Hall Museum and Park on MiniatureGolfer.com

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Crazy Golf article in December 2011 Issue of Picture Postcard Monthly!

2011-12-03T08:45:00.021Z

An article about Crazy Golf Postcards written by me and fellow Crazy Golf Museum Curator Tim 'Ace Man' Davies has been published in the December 2011 issue of Picture Postcard Monthly.

Picture Postcard Monthly is the top magazine for collectors of old and modern postcards worldwide and has been informing and entertaining the postcard world since 1980.

The Crazy Golf Postcards article looks at the history of Miniature Golf and Crazy Golf around the world since 1867, as well as featuring 14 postcard images showing a wide-range of Minigolf courses.

Issue 392, December 2011 costs £2.60 (+85p P&P) and also features articles on such topics as the Women’s Land Army, to Comic postcards from New Zealand, and Are postcards better mint or used? As it’s the Christmas issue there are also a number of seasonal articles, including one on Seasonal greetings from outer space!

You can order the latest issue of Picture Postcard Monthly online at http://www.postcardcollecting.co.uk/ppm.htm, details of the December 2011 issue can be found at http://www.postcardcollecting.co.uk/latest.htm

Winners of the Putterfingers Micro Putt Minigolf Competition Announced

2011-12-02T07:32:00.002Z

I am one of the five winners of a Putterfingers Masters Golf Putt Returner having competed in the Putterfingers Micro Putt Online Mini Golf Competition!

Micro Putt Mini Golf Game by Mochi Games

The overall winner was my BMGA Tour Minigolf rival James 'The Rocket' Rutherford who managed to score 2,868 with five holes-in-one in a rown and completed in 32 seconds!

The four other competition winners were tied on 2,867 points. Along with Laurence Wicks we completed the course in 33 seconds, with Laurence playing 143 times, while I had 118 plays. 'The Rocket' played the game a total of 218 times!

Others in tied second-place were Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas and Stu 'British #66' Bowker.

Read the news item on the Putterfingers Blog.

You can still check out the Putterfingers Micro Putt Mini Golf Game here.

Putterfingers Web Links
- Putterfingers website
- Putterfingers Facebook page
- Putterfingers Micro Putt Mini Golf Game