The Chrizy Golf Masters minigolf competition in Manchester

I won the Chrizy Golf Masters miniature golf tournament eleven years ago today!

The first - and to date only - Chrizy Golf Masters minigolf tournament was held on a festive-themed pop-up crazy golf course at Piccadilly Place in Manchester on the 30th November 2012.

The Chrizy Golf course was the 313th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now been to more than 1,000 courses since September 2006.

The Chrizy Golf course was gone once the 2012 festive season was over and the building remained empty, or used for other pop-ups, until the team at Junkyard Golf made it their home for another minigolf course. That layout was there for a couple of years. They have since moved on and can be found at a permanent venue at First Street in the city.

Janken: The International Rock Paper Scissors Championships 2012

A look back at the 2012 International Rock Paper Scissors Championships in London.

We competed in the International Rock Paper Scissors Championships in London eleven years ago this week. Time certainly flies!

We teamed up with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Dave Barry and his daughter Sophie from the USA to take part in the huge event.

The San Marino Rock Paper Scissors team

More than 150 athletes from 16 teams competed in the Wacky Nation organised tournament held at the Knight’s Templar Pub on Chancery Lane in London.

As we couldn’t play as a combined "UK-USA" team we decided to represent the plucky nation of San Marino instead.

Prior to the start of the competition I challenged football hard man Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock to a 'friendly' RPS contest to warm-up. Needless to say I won the shootout! It was an ill-tempered clash with plenty of foul language and gamesmanship. The heated battle almost resulted in a knock-out punch too!

Clash of the titans

International Rock Paper Scissors

Matches in the Round Robin stage of the main-event were played in a ‘first to four points’ format with each player in the team taking it in turns to win a point by competing in a ‘best of three’ Rock Paper Scissors game. Our team managed to rack up a win loss record of won four, lost one.

Before any teams could advance from our pool a play-off was required as Austria and Lapland A had also finished with four wins and one loss!

Thankfully our team was able to win both matches to advance alongside Lapland A, with the Austrians sent home.

The first semi-final saw San Marino take on the Vatican City team in a ‘first to six points’ match.

Unfortunately we lost and were therefore unable to go for gold.

Sadly we just missed out on the podium, suffering defeat to Great Britain in the repechage to ultimately finish in fourth place.

The final was a battle between the might of Lapland A and the Vatican City, with the Laplanders finishing on top and grabbing the gold medal.

Getting to the semi-finals of the International Rock Paper Scissors Championships was the furthest I ever reached in an RPS tournament, having been knocked out in the preliminary rounds of national competitions held in 2010 and 2011.

The Chrizy Golf Masters minigolf competition

I won the Chrizy Golf Masters miniature golf tournament nine years ago today!

Chrizy Golf

The first - and to date only - Chrizy Golf Masters minigolf tournament was held on a festive-themed pop-up crazy golf course at Piccadilly Place in Manchester on the 30th November 2012.

Chrizy Golf

The Chrizy Golf course was the 313th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now been to 979 courses since September 2006.

The Chrizy Golf course was gone once the 2012 festive season was over and the building remained empty, or used for other pop-ups, until the team at Junkyard Golf made it their home for another minigolf course. That one was there for a couple of years. They have since moved on and can be found at a permanent venue at First Street in the city.

Chrizy Golf - Christmas Crazy Golf

A look back at the Chrizy Golf Masters crazy golf competition in Manchester.

I won the Chrizy Golf Masters miniature golf tournament in Manchester eight years ago today.

Time flies!

Back on the 30th November 2012 the first - and to date only - Chrizy Golf Masters minigolf tournament was held on a festive-themed pop-up crazy golf course at Piccadilly Place in Manchester.

The Chrizy Golf course was the 313th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Chrizy Golf course was gone once the 2012 festive season was over and the building remained empty, or used for other pop-ups, until the team at Junkyard Golf made it their home for another minigolf course. That one was there for a couple of years. They have since moved on and can be found at a permanent venue at First Street in the city.

Related blog posts:

- Christmas Crazy Golf

- Christmas

International Rock Paper Scissors Championships 2012

Looking back at the 2012 International Rock Paper Scissors Championships in London.

We competed in the International Rock Paper Scissors Championships in London eight years ago this week. Time flies.

International Janken action

We teamed up with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Dave Barry and his daughter Sophie from the USA to take part in the huge event.

The San Marino Rock Paper Scissors team

More than 150 athletes from 16 teams competed in the Wacky Nation organised tournament held at the Knight’s Templar Pub on Chancery Lane in London.

As we couldn’t play as a combined "UK-USA" team we decided to represent the plucky nation of San Marino instead.

Prior to the start of the competition I challenged football hard man Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock to a 'friendly' RPS contest to warm-up. Needless to say I won the shootout! It was an ill-tempered clash with plenty of foul language and gamesmanship. The heated battle almost resulted in a knock-out punch too!

Clash of the titans

International Rock Paper Scissors

Matches in the Round Robin stage of the main-event were played in a ‘first to four points’ format with each player in the team taking it in turns to win a point by competing in a ‘best of three’ Rock Paper Scissors game. Our team managed to rack up a win loss record of won four, lost one.

Before any teams could advance from our pool a play-off was required as Austria and Lapland A had also finished with four wins and one loss!

Thankfully our team was able to win both matches to advance alongside Lapland A, with the Austrians sent home.

The first semi-final saw San Marino take on the Vatican City team in a ‘first to six points’ match.

Unfortunately we lost and were therefore unable to go for gold.

Sadly we just missed out on the podium, suffering defeat to Great Britain in the repechage to ultimately finish in fourth place.

The final was a battle between the might of Lapland A and the Vatican City, with the Laplanders finishing on top and grabbing the gold medal.

Getting to the semi-finals of the International Rock Paper Scissors Championships was the furthest I ever reached in an RPS tournament having been knocked out in the preliminary rounds of national competitions held in 2010 and 2011.

The perfect socially distanced sport?

Thinking about it, Rock Paper Scissors could be the perfect sport to play in these time of social distancing.

As a non-contact sport it's played by opponents standing apart from each other. The distance between them could be increased to 2 metres or more, they could wear PPE without impairing their throws and/or a protective screen could be placed between the two players.

If anyone ever fancies a game of Rock Paper Scissors via a video call do let me know...

A Mini Golf Apocalypse

A look back at the Golf Apocalypse crazy golf course in London.

As we're in the midst of a pandemic I thought it'd be interested to look back at an apocalypse - the Golf Apocalypse crazy golf course from 2012.

Looking back to 2012

We played the Golf Apocalypse miniature golf course back in August 2012. The layout had been created as part of the London Pleasure Gardens, an area set-up to tap into the passing trade between the DLR and the London 2012 Olympic Games at the ExCel centre.

A BIG piece of OBEY street art in the distance

Golf Apocalypse was the first really really really mad-cap pop-up course we played on our travels.

What a sight!

A crazy set-up

The layout contained all manner of strange minigolf obstacles and we found ourselves playing through the fuselage of a crashed aeroplane, around a pinball machine, a snooker table and into a volcano.

What a thing to putt through

Pinball wizard

Snooker loopy

The End

Pop-up crazy golf

The pop-up miniature golf course was the first to use reclaimed materials in its construction. Something that has become commonplace these days and we've seen and played a number of funky, junky, scrap, ghetto, trash, garbage, graffiti, wreck and art-based courses since.

Playing hole 2

Competitive minigolf

In our minigolf match-up Emily picked up the win with a score of 25. I was second with 26, with Gareth Holmes third with 27 and Alan Norman on 28.

Emily playing hole 3

22 was a very good score to get on the 9-hole course

The course’s designer and owner, Dave Lovatt, was also responsible for the 9-hole Crazy Golf course that staged the Welsh Open Crazy Golf Championships as part of the Newport Big Splash Festival in 2010. Following the 2012 pop-up in London the course moved on to Bristol.

Crazy golfing at the end of the world - from l-r Gareth Holmes, Richard Gottfried, Emily Gottfried, Dave Lovatt, Alan Norman

Our challenge match with Dave went to a sudden-death play-off between Dave and Alan after both players had shot rounds of 22. Dave picked up the win on the deciding hole to take the title. I had finished on 24, Gareth had a 25 and Emily had shot a 29.

Alan snookered

Gareth putting on hole 1

A different sort of podium

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

The 9-hole Golf Apocalypse course was the 304th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

More photos of the Golf Apocalypse course.

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Chrizy Golf

A look back at the Chrizy Golf Masters in Manchester.

Seven years ago this evening I won the first and to-date only Chrizy Golf Masters crazy golf tournament.

The Chrizy Golf Master

The event took place on the pop-up Chrizy Golf course set up at Piccadilly Place in Manchester on Friday 30th November 2012.

The 9-hole indoor minigolf course was open for six weeks in the run-up to Christmas 2012.

The Chrizy Golf course was the 313th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Do you know of any Christmas-themed Crazy Golf courses popping-up this festive season?

2012 - A Big Year of Sport

A jam-packed year of playing, spectating and organising sporting events!

2012 has been a very full year of sporting events large, small and everything in-between. As a player, spectator, visitor and organiser I have been involved in a lot of contests during 2012.

2012 has been a GIANT year of sport

Player/Competitor

• Twelve British Minigolf Association Tour Events, winning a BMGA Tour title at the BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Championship

• WMF World Adventure Golf Masters – Individual and Team competitions

• Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championship – Finalist and 17th place overall

• World Alternative Games Egg Throwing Championship – Champion (with Jas Kukielka)

• Worlds £2 Tat Challenge – Winner

• Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Challenge – Team Champions

• Luton High Town Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Street Party Men's 18-50 year-olds 60m Running Race – Runner-up

• Oswestry Games Oslympics Quiz – 3rd place team

• International Rock Paper Scissors Championship – 4th place (as Team San Marino)

• Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt 2 – 4th

• The first-ever World Bun Throwing Championships in Abingdon-on-Thames – Competitor 

• 33rd Bun Throwing in Abingdon-on-Thames – Participant 

• The Chase – TV Quiz Show Contestant

• First Ever Ripping Yarns Hopathon – Guinness World Record attempts for the ‘Fastest 400m Relay Hop’ and the ‘Largest Group Hop’

• Luton Community Games – Petanque and Pitch & Putt

• Yattendon & Frilsham Fete Christmas Tree Throwing Competition

• Twelve other Miniature Golf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf competitions including victory at the Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr Championships at Selfridges London

Spectator/Visitor

• London 2012 Olympic Games – Handball, Archery & BMX

• London 2012 Paralympic Games – Wheelchair Fencing, Powerlifting & Boccia

• PDC Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship 2013

• Olympic Torch Evening Celebration Event in Luton

• Olympic Torch Relay Event in Luton

• Olympex 2012 at the British Library

• Guinness World Record Attempt for the “Largest Synchronized Morris Dance”

• Jigfest

Organiser/Volunteer

• 28 British Minigolf Association Tour Events

• Eight WMF & EMF International Minigolf Championship Events

• World Finger Jousting Federation UK Championship at the World Alternative Games 

• Paralympic Flame Celebration Event in Luton – Paralympic Flame Assistant as part of Sport Makers

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Milestones

• 300th course played and 500th course visited overall

• At Wonderland theme park at Telford Town Park

Related Blog Posts:

- Behold...

- 2011 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review

- 2010 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review

- 2009 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review