Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s End of Season Review

20th December 2010
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s End of Season Review

Luton Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried’s 2010 minigolf season came to an end on Saturday 18th December at the Green Indoor Mini Golf course in Hither Green, Lewisham which hosted the final tournament of the 2010 BMGA Tour.

The British Minigolf Association’s Tour Calendar boasted 19 tournaments running from January to December, and Richard competed in 16 events, while Emily took part in three tournaments.

2010 was Richard’s fourth year as a BMGA Tour player.

In the 2009-2010 BMGA Order of Merit Rankings Richard finished the year in a career-high end of season ranking of 11th of 98 players with a total of 3,885 points. This was up on last year when he finished in 16th spot of 74 players. Between July and August Richard was ranked as high as 7th in Great Britain. With Emily playing fewer tournaments than last year she slipped three places to 41st in the rankings with 816 points.

In the 16 full BMGA Tour events Richard entered he achieved nine top ten finishes, including two runners-up spots and a third place. His best finish of the year was as the runner-up in the BMGA British Matchplay Championships at the new Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing in July, narrowly losing to Kent’s Sean Homer in the final.

In addition to his good finishes on tour Richard also set a new course record at Star City in the BMGA National Open as he hit his first sub-30 round of minigolf, scoring a 28(-8) on the Lost Hut Trail course. The record-breaking round included a total of ten holes-in-one, and a run of six aces in a row. He just lost out on the Aces Championship at the event, losing to Brighton’s Peter Emmerson at the third hole of their sudden-death play-off.

In April Richard put in strong performances in the Midland Open, finishing 4th overall and winning the Aces Championship, and at the BMGA British Doubles Championships he and doubles partner, Bath’s Kevin Moseley, finished in 3rd place.

Emily also put in a good performance in the BMGA British Doubles Championships, where she and doubles partner, Welsh Ladies Number One Cindy Kukielka, finished in 4th place. In the Lost World Classic Doubles Competition in Hemsby Emily also picked up 3rd place, with Brad Shepherd. Emily’s other tournament finish was at the BMGA Scottish Open in Aberdeen where she was 21st.

In the 2003-2010 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Rankings list Richard has risen up the table following another good showing in this year’s World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings. Richard moved up from 31st spot to 26th of 260 players, while Emily dropped slightly to 55th place.

Richard also competed in three of the four non-Ranking BMGA minigolf tournaments which were run prior to regular BMGA Tour events. Along with Doubles Partner, Cwmbran’s Leo Kukielka, he was runner-up in the Codonas Classic Doubles Competition in Aberdeen in May, and at the Kent Open in Sidcup in November, he and team-mates Michael Smith and James Davies won the Kent Open Team Tournament.

In the 31 Independent Minigolf competitions Richard played in 2010 he picked up eight wins and 11 other podium places. The biggest of these non-BMGA Tournament wins came in August when he won the first-ever Green Mini Golf Club (GMGC) Club Tournament.

Richard said “Heading into the 2010 BMGA Tour I set myself the objective of finishing in the top ten in every event and I managed nine top tens of 16, not too bad really as I also had two 11th places and two 12th places. My hard work on the courses around the UK has paid off as I have achieved my highest year-end National Ranking of 11th place. I was also ranked 7th in the UK during the summer, which was another minigolf career objective achieved.”

Emily said “I have had a great time this season, especially as I played very well in the three tournaments in which I took part. I attended the vast majority of the seasons’ events as a non-player and greatly enjoyed being there as a spectator and as part of the BMGA. We visited some great new towns, cities and seaside locations, so I am very much looking forward to the 2011 season.”

In the close-season Richard and Emily will be practicing on the Crazy Golf course at Tea Green Golf at Wandon End, Luton. In 2011 they will be back in action, first of all competing in the Star City Open at Adventure Island Mini Golf in Birmingham, followed by around 20 further events.

Ends


Link to the Gottfried's 2009 End of Season Review