Help us win a 10,000 minute holiday with our "Minigolf at the Seaside" video!

Today is the last day to help me and Emily win a 10,000 minute holiday in the Enjoy England 'Enjoy Every Minute' competition.

Please check out our "minigolf at the seaside" video on the Enjoy England website, and give it a vote (and please comment if you like too)!

Many thanks.

Richard & Emily

Gluten Free and Coeliac/Celiac Friendly Places to Eat in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

While on holiday in Las Vegas last month we were able to eat out at a number of great Gluten Free restaurants.

Among them were The Cracked Egg - 7660 W Cheyenne Ave #125, Las Vegas, NV 89129 - which had an extensive gluten free menu. I opted for the Southside Scramble, which filled me up for the whole day!



Botero at Encore Las Vegas - 3131 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV 89109-1967 - I had Steak Tartare to start (for the first time ever) which was excellent, followed by Organic Roasted Chicken, frisee salad and a natural jus. The service and the specialist menus were brilliant.



The Yard House - Town Square, 6593 Las Vegas Blvd S. Las Vegas, NV 89119 - here we watched the England vs. USA World Cup Match eating Rib-Eye Steak for breakfast, washed down with some great Redbridge Beer.



PF Changs - Aladdin/Planet Hollywood, 3667 Las Vegas Boulevard, South Las Vegas, NV 89109 - I had an excellent meal of Egg Drop Soup to start, followed by Gluten Free Chang's Spicy Chicken. Delicious.



Outback Steakhouses - On the first evening in town we went to the restaurant at the Coke Bottle - 3785 Las Vegas Blvd, 4th Fl, Las Vegas, NV 89109 - (where I had an excellent Rib-Eye Steak and Garlic Mash, plus a huge side-salad), we returned on the last night and I went for a huge full rack of ribs (that I couldn't finish), and on our last day we went to the branch at Casino Royale - 3411 S Las Vegas Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89109 - (where I had another Rib-Eye Steak - this time for brunch!).




Big Al's Oyster Bar at The Orleans Hotel & Casino - 4500 West Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas, NV - did some great Cajun seafood, and had great service. It's a little off the strip, but well worth a visit to The Orleans. The hotel also has a great tenpin bowling alley!


Penazzi Oyster Bar in Harrahs Hotel & Casino - 3475 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV 89109-8922 - did some great Oysters, and cocktails too!


Whole Foods stores also offer a great range of Gluten Free foods (and beers!).

Redbridge Beer is great, and we also picked up a case of Bard's Beer, which was nice too.

Ahead of our holiday the Gluten Free Las Vegas Blog was a great source of information.

Unfortunately we couldn't visit every place that could cater for Coeliacs/Celiacs, but that is just one more reason for us to return again!

I also managed to drink plenty of my favourite soft drink while in the US - Mountain Dew!


The Wal-Mart Version - Mountain Lightning - is good too.

Updated Minigolf Player Profiles for Richard & Emily Gottfried

Updated Minigolf Player Profiles for Richard & Emily Gottfried can now be viewed at the following links.

'Squire' Richard Gottfried

Emily 'Coach' Gottfried

Minigolf Matchplay Singles Record - 'Squire' Richard Gottfried

Minigolf Matchplay Singles Record for 'Squire' Richard Gottfried.


Win/Loss Record (in all events)
Played - 9
Won - 4
Lost - 5
Drawn - 0

Win/Loss Record (in BMGA Tour events)
Played - 4
Won - 1
Lost - 3
Drawn - 0

8 Different Opponents
4 BMGA Tour Matchplay Competition Matches
5 Non-BMGA Matchplay Competition Matches

Updated Minigolf Doubles Record - 'Squire' Richard Gottfried

Updated Minigolf Doubles Record for 'Squire' Richard Gottfried following the SB Classic and the Lost World Classic.


Win/Loss Record (in all friendlies & full BMGA Tour events)
Played - 38
Won - 19
Lost - 16
Drawn - 3

Win/Loss Record (in BMGA Tour events)
Played - 19
Won - 11
Lost - 5
Drawn - 3

Record (in BMGA Warm-up Doubles events)
Played - 2
First - 0
Second - 1
Third - 0
Other - 1

11 playing partners (current competition team mate is Kevin Moseley)
19 competitive matches
19 friendlies
29 matchplay matches
9 strokeplay format matches
2 BMGA Warm-up Doubles events

'Minigolf' but not as we know it!

Driving back from Swavesey and Melbourn I passed by the American Golf Driving Range in Biggleswade and decided to pay it a visit.

At the range they have a novelty 'hole-in-one' target - a Mini car. A leaflet for the range described the addition of the target as 'MINIGOLF COMES TO BIGGLESWADE'.

The Driving Range also had quite nifty 'Power Tees' installed in some of the bays. I've never seen them before. They're nice to use if you want to be lazy as it saves a lot of bending to place the ball on the tee!

Miniature Crazy Golf at Swavesey Village Fun Day - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #180

Following the visit to Minigolf course number 179 at Melbourn Village Fete, I headed over to the Swavesey Village Fun Day to play the other 9-holes!



Another two rounds of tricky crazy golf, this time scoring a not very good 27(+9) and 23(+5).











With my love of odd signs, I couldn't resist the chance to visit the village of Over while I was in the Swavesey area!

Miniature Crazy Golf at Melbourn Village Fete - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #179

On Saturday 26th June 2010 I headed to Melbourn Village Fete in Cambridgeshire as I had heard that there was going to be a Crazy Golf attraction there!

And there was. It was a 9-hole portable, carpet on wood base set-up, with some tricky obstacles.



I had two rounds at a pound a go, scoring a 20(+2) and an 18(par).











Very nice and friendly course owners who tipped me off about their other 9-hole crazy golf course that was set-up that very same day across Cambridgeshire in the village of Swavesey (near Over), at the Village Festival Fun Day!

Also at the Fete I had a go on a plastic crossbow shooting stall, scoring 150 points - 50 shy of the top scores. And I also played the Melbourn Village Bowls Club 'Target Bowls Challenge' - scoring 0 points from my three attempts (12 bowls) ha ha.


The Melbourn area is also home to three (permanent) minigolf courses (and a Putting Green), one is at Kingsway Golf Centre, another is at Whaddon Golf Centre, and the final one is a 4-hole Crazy Golf course at The Dolphin Pub. It's no Hastings, Great Yarmouth, or Blackpool, but Melbourn, Cambridgeshire certainly has a lot of minigolf courses for such a tiny village!

Results of the 2010 Las Vegas Minigolf Desert Classic

Between the 10th and 13th of June 2010 Luton Minigolfers Richard 'The Low-Roller' Gottfried and Emily 'Snake Eyes' Gottfried headed to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA to compete in a 4-round, 72-hole tournament to crown the first ever Las Vegas Minigolf Desert Classic champion.

Photo: The competitors line-up before the tournament!


With a final score of 178(+34) the winner was Emily, having held the lead throughout the competition, beginning with her victory at King Putt Indoor Mini Golf on the 10th June, where she won by one-shot. Richard had a 72-hole score of 182(+38).

Photo: Emily 'Snake Eyes' Gottfried Putting her way to victory at The Putt Park.
Videos from the final round at the Putt Park, including post-tournament interviews and comments are below.

Las Vegas Minigolf Desert Classic video 1 of 4


Las Vegas Minigolf Desert Classic video 2 of 4


Las Vegas Minigolf Desert Classic video 3 of 4


Las Vegas Minigolf Desert Classic video 4 of 4


The four courses played in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA were:
- King Putt Indoor Mini Golf - North West Las Vegas
- Pike's Pass Miniature Golf - Circus Circus, Las Vegas
- King Putt Indoor Mini Golf - Henderson, Las Vegas
- The Putt Park Miniature Golf - Las Vegas

Richard was Aces Champion in the competition with a total of 5 holes-in-one, to Emily's 3.

Photo: The 'fabulous' prize money up for grabs to the winner and runner-up.

Emily continues her undefeated streak in the USA, having won the Irregular Mini Golf Tour's Las Vegas Invitational on her last visit to Las Vegas in September 2008.

Not a minigolf course on the Las Vegas Strip!?

But it looked like one!