Showing posts with label Richard Richard Skeggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Richard Richard Skeggs. Show all posts

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Mini Golf at Sandown Park Golf Centre in Surrey

A look at the new Adventure Golf course at Sandown Park Golf Centre in Surrey.


Many thanks to my mate, minigolf rival and blogger Oliver 'The Machine' Florence for these snaps of the horse-themed Adventure Golf course at Sandown Park Golf Centre, taken during a round against Richard 'Michael Skaggs' Skeggs.

Richard Skeggs playing Mini Golf at Sandown Park Golf Centre in Surrey. Photo by Oliver Florence 120518
I've never seen a tee-off area like this before!

I'm looking forward to playing a round there on my Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Richard Skeggs playing Mini Golf at Sandown Park Golf Centre in Surrey. Photo by Oliver Florence 120518
What a huge minigolf loop-di-loop

The minigolf course at Sandown Park Golf Centre looks like it'd be a nice spot to play the biannual Surrey Invitational Tournament on.

Friday, April 05, 2013

Playing Archery Tag in Guildford

Trying out the new sport of Archery Tag.

As a fan of all manner of sports and games, whether old or new, traditional or obscure, I'm always on the lookout for new ones to have a go of. Following my blog post on the 1st of January 2013 where I asked the question "What sport or game that we haven't tried already should we give a go in 2013?" I had some responses via the comments, Facebook and Twitter.

One of these came from fellow sporting polymath Oliver 'Lawrence' Florence who suggested we give Archery Tag a go. He had heard an upcoming event would be taking place in Guildford and so it'd be a chance to have a play of the game for free!

Me, Guy Martin (grey) and Oliver Florence (red) in Archery Tag action

After a busy day of Minigolfing in Beckenham, Croydon and Carshalton Emily and I headed to Guildford and the Spectrum Leisure Complex which was the host venue for the Archery Tag event. Our group had been booked in for the 7pm session so we took some time beforehand to watch the action in the busy sports hall from the spectator's gantry. 

Before we got stuck into the game our group decided to warm-up with some target practice using the specific Archery Tag equipment. The bow and arrows differ from those used in Archery and the main thing you notice is the foam pad on the end of the arrows, these ensure that if (when!) you get hit by a shot it doesn't injure the competitor.

Richard 'Michael Skaggs' Skeggs (left) and Oliver 'The Machine' Florence warming-up before the main-event

Our group was then ready to hit the court (arena, course, battlefield?) and after a briefing by the Archery Tag organiser - Joshua from Discover Archery - we were provided with protective face masks, a bow and two arrows.

The game mixes Archery with rules similar to Dodgeball, Paintball and Laser Tag with two teams of players taking up positions on either side of the battlefield and once the whistle goes it's a free-for-all of arrows firing at the opposing force. In a competitive match we were told that if you get hit you are eliminated from the game for a one-minute period before re-entering the fray. For our have-a-go session we were involved in two seven-minute games, played with 'no outs'. So it gave us a great opportunity to practice our aim and have fun, without the fear and threat of elimination.

The Archery Tag 'battleground'

Once you've used up your initial two arrows you can then collect any arrows from the floor and re-use them - just be careful not to get hit while retrieving them! The arena also had a number of inflatable bases and barriers to hide behind and you certainly needed to use them as the game is non-stop with a constant hail of arrows coming in from the opposing team.

Launching a shot towards the opposition

One of the great things about the game is that you can also get 'catches'! So, if you see an arrow coming towards you and fancy grabbing it from mid-air then that is perfectly allowable - and quite an achievement too! I managed a couple of catches in the two games and hit some of the opposition too. Fellow sports enthusiast Richard 'Richard' Skeggs got really stuck into the sport and planted a perfect shot on my face - thank goodness for the protective face masks! I did get a couple of catches off him to slightly make up for it though.

Richard Skeggs - the 'one man gang' of Archery Tag!

It was great fun and I'd definitely like to play a competitive match. Perhaps a Luton team could travel to Guildford, or vice versa...

Emily models the Archery Tag 'look'

Check out details of Archery Tag on the Discover Archery website.

Links:

Related Blog Posts:

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The British Bread Golf Open 2012

This November sees the British Bread Golf Open take place on the River Thames in London!

It's not Gluten Free but as a fan of 'crazy' Golf events I'll be heading along to give it a go!

Last year my fellow BMGA Tour rivals Oliver 'The Machine' Florence and Richard 'Gentle Touch' Skeggs participated, with Skeggs doing rather well in it.

Check out the British Bread Golf Open poster here.

Organised by Seething Wells the event will be raising money for Creative Youth.

Monday, December 26, 2011

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

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"

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

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

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

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Minigolf News - "Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried signs for the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club!"

In the latest Minigolf Transfer News Emily 'Coach' Gottfried has signed for the newest Minigolf Club in the UK - the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club.


Emily, a former member of the Midlands Minigolf Club and the reigning WMF Women's World Adventure Golf Masters Champion, sealed the deal through a series of texts with CMGC Captain James 'Ruthers' Rutherford while seated at the 'Sheen Sisters Table' during a meal out at PJ's Restaurant in Covent Garden, London.

The CMGC was formed in August 2011 by former Green Mini Golf Club member James 'TheRocket' Rutherford. Surrey-based players Oliver 'The Machine' Florence and Richard 'Gentle Touch' Skeggs are the other two current club members.

Details of how to join the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club can be found on the CMGC website.

Monday, August 01, 2011

The Dorridge Invitational Minigolf Competition 2011

As a warm-up to the Midlands Open the Dorridge Invitational Competition was contested on the 12-hole Minigolf course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull on the evening of Friday 29th July 2011, with the eight players making up the field drawn from those still practicing.

Lewisham/Tooting/Hither Green/London/Wandsworth’s Seth ‘Clockwork Orange’ Thomas picked up the win in the 12-hole one-round event with a three shot margin over runner-up James ‘The Rocket’ Rutherford. Nick Sandqvist was third on 25.

The Dorridge Invitational Competition 2011
Rank Player Score
1 Seth Thomas 20
2 James Rutherford 23
3 Nick Sandqvist 25
4 Richard Gottfried 27
4 Richard Skeggs 27
6 Marina Breedon 28
7 Emily Gottfried 29
7 Adam Breedon 29

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Minigolf Doubles Match - The Richards vs. The ***** - Hastings Seafront Crazy Golf

On Thursday 12th May 2011 a Minigolf Doubles Match took place at the Hastings Seafront Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course pitting the team of 'Squire' Richard Gottfried & Richard 'Gentle Touch' Skeggs (aka The Richards) against the mighty combination of Oliver 'The Machine' Florence & Emily 'Coach' Gottfried (aka The *****).

In the 18-hole Strokeplay Contest 'The Machine' & 'Coach' won with a score of 86, compared to the Gottfried/Skeggs Combo's score of 99.








In the individual scores Emily won the Irregular Mini Golf Tour contest with a 41, Richard G was runner-up on 43, Oliver was third with 45, while Richard 'Michael Skaggs' Skeggs was a long way off on 56!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Minigolf Spotted in Hong Kong! It's at the YMCA!

Emily has spotted an advertisement for Minigolf (as part of an 'Easter Camp') on the wall of a YMCA in Hong Kong!


Fellow Minigolfers Oliver 'The Machine' Florence & Richard 'Gentle Touch' Skeggs played Hong Kong's Shek O Obstacle Golf Course, and also created a Beach Minigolf Course on their trip to Asia last year - "Sand and sausages as Asia gets new course."

Monday, February 14, 2011

Laser Quest in Bristol - The Minigolfers Challenge


Following the BMGA Rumble in the Jungle Minigolf Tournament me, Marc Bazeley, Oliver Florence and Richard Skeggs headed to Bristol's Silver Street and the Old Fire Station for a Laser Quest Challenge!

Oliver and Richard had beaten us to it and by the time Marc and I arrived they had scouted out the 'course' and already played one game! With 'Ice Man' Richard Skeggs runner-up at a seven-year-old's Birthday Party!


In the following match-up the 'Ice Man' stuck with the RED team, while the rest of us joined the mighty GREENS.


The Individual Rankings:
3rd Overall - 'Squire' Richard Gottfried
5th Overall - 'Ice Man' Richard Skeggs
6th Overall - Oliver 'The Machine' Florence
14th Overall - Marc 'Snag*' Bazeley

* Marc actually gave his nickname as 'Snake' lol!?

Website of Laser Quest Bristol.