Showing posts with label 'Do'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 'Do'. Show all posts

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Playing Crazy Golf on Southend Pier

A visit to the miniature golf course at the end of Southend Pier.


On Saturday 25th June we headed to the seaside town of Southend on Sea for a day out of fun and games. Starting with a visit to the new Southend Pier Crazy Golf course - 1.3 miles out at sea!

Olga the Octopus

Emily in action on the pier's latest attraction

The 12-hole layout is on the world's longest pleasure pier and is brilliant fun.

Putting through Olga the Octopus

It's a great layout and even though there are some tough holes and obstacles, there are still plenty of hole in one opportunities.



The course became the 402nd played and 683rd visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A hole in one


During our visit we competed in a 12-player contest to crown the end of the pier champion. Featuring a cast of veterans, GB internationals, national tour champions and a sprinkling of rookies, the highly competitive event saw me take the win. Former British Master Chris Jones and regular 'do' champion Brad Shepherd were second and third.

The competitors give the course a double thumbs up

Results of the Southend Pier Invitational Tournament 2016:
1st ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried – 31
2nd Chris ‘Stretch’ Jones – 34
3rd Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – 37
4th (tied) Lionel ‘The Spoon’ Bender – 39
4th (tied) Gareth ‘Lemsip’ Holmes – 39
6th (tied) Marc ‘The Roller’ Bazeley – 42
6th (tied) Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman – 42
8th Taji ‘Not Seth’ Rafferty – 44
9th Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried – 46
10th Paul ‘Flip Flops’ O’Connor – 50
11th Cat ‘Helter Skelter’ Patterson – 52
12th Lhurlyn 'Hole-ing' Holmes – 59
DNS Madeleine 'The Caddy' Bender
DNS Steve 'F1' Gow

The tournament in full swing

Gareth on hole 1

Brad teeing-off

Chris lining up a putt

Lionel in action

Brad on a tricky obstacle
 
Chris and Lionel putting

Emily on the tee

Marc on a very tough middle hill hole

Emily on the pier

Emily and Olga

Lhurlyn finishing her round with a hole in one

Paul O'Connor on the last hole

The Southend Pier Crazy Golf course is well worth a play and it's a great addition to the entertainment on offer in the town. Visit the Southend Pier Crazy Golf course website for prices and opening times.

The pier Crazy Golf course

Video:
- Southend Pier Crazy Golf course hole in one

Links:
Southend Pier Crazy Golf website
- Southend Pier Crazy Golf on Facebook

Related blog posts:
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
Southend
- Southend Pier Crazy Golf course

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

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Friday, December 13, 2013

Report from the Minigolfer’s Annual Christmas Shenanigans ‘Do’ in London

Emily ‘Lemony Lems’ Gottfried wins the World Boules Le Noël Champignon title.


On Thursday 12th December 2013 a group of Minigolfers met for the traditional Christmas ‘Do’ in London.

In previous years the festive shenanigans have seen the athletes competing in Minigolf, Darts, Golf Simulation and Putting. This year’s tournament would be in the fine French sport of Pétanque.

The eight competitors met at the excellent Knights Templar Wetherspoon pub on Chancery Lane (itself the host venue to the 2012 International Rock Paper Scissors Championships and the 2011 Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships), a venue ideally located as it was next door but one to the location of the Boules Piste at Baranis.

However, prior to the Pétanque action dinner was on the cards and so the group headed on a twenty minute amble to Clerkenwell for a slap-up Vietnamese meal at the excellent Pho Cafe. A great restaurant with excellent service, very tasty food, lots of gluten free options and big portions.

The Shenanigan gang in their best bib and tucker at Pho

With a short trip to Cambridgeshire (by visiting Ye Olde Mitre Tavern in Hatton Garden) on the way back to Baranis the players were ready to play some Boules.

Drinking an Absinthe Cocktail was perhaps not the best idea for Squire who crashed out in round one. The Cocktails seemed to do the trick for Jon though as he didn't lose until the final

With a few late withdrawals from the tournament, and the potential attendance of Mr Christmas himself Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd, the draw-master Trevor ‘Trevino Smeeth’ Robertson set about with the draw for the quarter-finals of the “World Boules Le Noël Champignonship”.

The night's losers

The first match saw Jon ‘The Stance’ Angel play Trevor ‘Cheddar’ Robertson in a first to three-points contest. A closely fought affair saw Trevor stay true to form and become the first player eliminated from the tournament as John won 3-2.

Trevino bouleing at the 'Le Jacque'

The second contest saw Keith ‘Doc’ Kellard whitewashed by Martin ‘Smashing’ Robertson 3-0. This freed up Keith to take up refereeing duties for the rest of the evening.

Keith Kellard got whitewashed in the Petanque, but at least gets a photo of him in action in this blog post

Match three saw Emily ‘Lems’ Gottfried destroy Alan ‘Not so Stormin’ Norman 4-0 in the biggest win of the quarter finals.

The final match of the opening round saw shenanigan organiser ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried drawn to play Chris ‘Stretch’ Jones. In a match that went to the wire a loose boule by Gottfried allowed Stretch to pick up a total of four points to Squire’s two and move into the semi-finals.

Squire Petanqueing

Semi-final one saw Jonathon Angle against Martin Robertson in a first to four-point match. With Martin looking to smash Angel into the gravel of the Piste by taking a three-one lead some amazing Pétanqueing by Jon saw him score three-points in one end to take the win 4-3.

The second semi-final was a short match indeed as Emily battled Chris. In the second end Lemony scored three points to take the win 4-0.

The dusty shoed referees make a decision

So, the La Grande Final was to be a battle between the two shortest competitors, with Jon 'Johnny Foreigner' Angel to play Madame Lemony in a first to six-points contest.

With Monsieur Angel qualifying for the final first he had the honour of throwing first. The match was so close it was impossible to predict who would win and with the score level at four apiece an impromptu one-throw of Rock Paper Scissors was needed to see who would throw first in the next end. Angel won with a throw of scissors to Gottfried’s paper and so the match built to its conclusion.

In the final end of the tournament Madame Lemony threw some cracking shots and took the win and overall tournament victory with a 6-4 scoreline.

Lemony receives the Tiara, earrings and a big kiss off of Chris Jones! Ooh la la

Having won the big night out Emily was the unfortunate recipient of the prize – that had been specifically procured with what was thought to be Brad’s inevitable victory in mind.

The losing finalist John Angle

And so, another year’s Christmas ‘do’ drawing close the players began to concoct ideas of how to topple Lems from her lofty perch atop the world of crazy Minigolfer’s side-tournaments. With one potential option being some Ping Pong.

A beret wearing Emily - winner of the Grand Final of Boules

But the night wasn’t yet over, as there was time left on the Piste the Repechage competition could begin!

Each of the losing seven players could earn the chance for a shot at glory by winning “La Conférence".

In match one of The Plate bracket first round loser ‘Pernod’ Ricard Gottfried defeated Keith ‘Red Hot Chilli Pepper’ Kellard 1-0.

Alan ‘The Shark’ Norman beat Trevino Smeethino 1-0 in the other Plate semi-final to set-up a final match with the Squire. In the thrilling end of play Norman stormed to victory 1-0.

In The Shield competition between the two losing semi-finalists Chris ‘Red Wine’ Jones beat Martin ‘Smashing’ Robertson 1-0 to progress to La Conférence final.

The best of the worst title final was won in fine fashion by Alain who was able to pick up a 1-0 win against ‘Ooh la la’ Chris Jones.

As the official languages of sport are English and French please see below for a hastily translated version of the above report en Français.

Rapport annuel de la malice de Noël Do de la Minigolfer à Londres

Emily ‘Lemony Lems’ Gottfried remporte le titre Mondial de Pétanque Le Noël Champignon.


Le Jeudi 12 Décembre 2013, un groupe de Minigolfers s'est réuni pour la traditionnelle 'Do' Noël à Londres.

Dans les années précédentes, les manigances de fête ont vu les athlètes dans Minigolf, fléchettes , simulation de golf et putting. Le tournoi de cette année serait de l'amende sport français de pétanque.

Les huit concurrents réunis au pub excellents Templiers Wetherspoon sur Chancery Lane (lui-même le lieu d'accueil pour les Rock Paper Scissors Championnats Internationaux de 2012 et les Sportingbet Royaume-Uni Rock Paper Scissors Championnats 2011), un lieu idéalement situé car il était à côté mais à l'emplacement de la pétanque Piste à Baranis.

Toutefois , avant l'action dîner Pétanque était sur les cartes et si le groupe dirigé sur vingt minutes amble à Clerkenwell pour un repas vietnamien slap-up à l'excellent Pho Café. Un grand restaurant avec un excellent service, très savoureux, beaucoup de plats sans gluten et de grandes portions.

Le gang tromperie dans leur meilleur dossard et tucker à Pho

Avec un court voyage à Cambridgeshire (en visitant Ye Olde Mitre Tavern à Hatton Garden) sur le chemin du retour à Baranis les joueurs étaient prêts à jouer quelques boules.

Boire un cocktail d'absinthe était peut-être pas la meilleure idée pour Squire qui s'est écrasé au premier tour. Les Cocktails semblaient faire l'affaire pour Jon même si, comme il n'a pas perdu jusqu'à la finale

Avec quelques retraits fin du tournoi , et la présence potentielle de M. Noël lui-même Brad "Le Poing" Shepherd, le tirage au sort maître Trevor ' Trevino Smeeth ' Robertson mis sur le tirage au sort des quarts de finale de la "World pétanque Le Noël Champignonship".

Les perdants de la nuit

Le premier match a vu Jon 'Le Stance' Angel jouer le ‘Cheddar’ Robertson Trevor dans un premier concours de trois points. Une affaire très serrée vu Trevor rester fidèle à former et devenir le premier joueur éliminé du tournoi que John a gagné 3-2.

Trevino bouleing au 'Le Jacque'

Le deuxième concours a vu Keith 'Doc' Kellard blanchi par Martin ‘Smashing' Robertson 3-0. Cette libéré Keith pour assumer des fonctions d'arbitrage pour le reste de la soirée.

Keith Kellard s'est blanchie à la chaux dans la pétanque, mais au moins reçoit une photo de lui en action dans ce blog

Match à trois a vu Emily ‘Lems’ Gottfried détruire Alan 'Pas si Stormin’ Norman 4-0 dans la plus grande victoire des quarts de finale.

Le dernier match de la manche d'ouverture a vu la tromperie organisateur ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried tiré à jouer Chris 'Stretch' Jones. Dans un match qui est allé au fil d'un terrain de pétanque en vrac par Gottfried autorisés extensible pour ramasser un total de quatre points à Squire deux et de passer en demi-finale.

Squire Pétanqueing

Une demi-finale a vu Jonathon Angle contre Martin Robertson dans un premier à quatre points correspondance. Avec Martin cherche à briser ange dans le gravier de la piste en prenant un trois-un conduit certains Pétanqueing étonnant par Jon a vu marquer trois points dans une fin pour remporter la victoire 4-3.

La deuxième demi-finale était un match court en effet que Emily a lutté contre Chris. Dans la seconde extrémité Lemony a marqué trois points pour prendre la victoire 4-0.

Les arbitres ferrés poussiéreux prendre une décision

Donc, La Grande finale devait être une bataille entre les deux concurrents les plus courtes , avec Johnny Foreigner Angel Jon jouer madame Lemony dans un premier concours de six points.

Avec Monsieur Ange qualification pour la finale d'abord, il a eu l'honneur de lancer en premier. Le match était si proche qu'il était impossible de prédire qui va gagner et avec le niveau de partition à quatre chacun un impromptu d'un coup de Rock Paper Scissors est nécessaire pour voir qui jettent la première fois dans la fin prochaine. Ange a gagné avec un coup de ciseaux à papier de Gottfried et si le match a construit à sa conclusion.

En fin de finale du tournoi Mme Lemony jeté quelques coups de craquage et a remporté la victoire et la victoire finale de tournoi avec un score de 6-4.

Lemony reçoit le diadème, boucles d'oreilles et un gros bisou hors de Chris Jones! Ooh la la

Après avoir remporté le grand soir Emily a été la malheureuse récipiendaire du prix – qui avait été spécifiquement acquis avec ce qui a été pensé pour être la victoire inévitable de Brad à l'esprit.

Un béret portant Emily - vainqueur de la Grande Finale de Pétanque

Et oui, Noël une autre année 'ne' se rapprochant les joueurs ont commencé à concocter des idées sur la façon de renverser Lems de son perchoir au sommet du monde de side- tournois de fou Minigolfer. Avec une option de potentiel étant certains de ping-pong.

Mais la nuit n'était pas encore terminée , car il y avait de temps sur la piste de la concurrence repêchage pourrait commencer !

Chacun des sept joueurs perdants pourraient gagner la chance pour un coup à la gloire en remportant "La Conférence".

En correspondre à un des Support de plaque premier perdant tour de Pernod Ricard Gottfried défait Keith 'Red Hot Chilli Pepper' Kellard 1-0.

Alan ‘The Shark’ Norman battu Trevino Smeethino 1-0 dans la plaque autre demi-finale à mettre en place un dernier match avec le Squire. En fin palpitante du jeu Norman a pris d'assaut à la victoire 1-0.

Dans La compétition Shield entre les deux demi-finalistes perdants Jones Chris 'Vin Rouge' a battu Martin ' Smashing ' Robertson 1-0 pour passer à la Conférence finale.

Le meilleur du pire titre final a été remporté de belle façon par Alain qui était capable de ramasser une victoire de 1-0 contre les ‘Ooh la la’ Chris Jones.

Fin.

Crazy Golfers Christmas Do/Shenanigans Hall of Fame
2013 – Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried – World Boules Le Noël Champignonship
2012 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Riverclose Worlds UnProfessional Minigolfer's Darts Championship
2011 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships
2010 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Christmas Minigolf 9-Hole Putting Green Sudden Death Challenge
2010 – Keith Kellard & Jon Angel (Team KJ Choice) – Sim BIG Golf Par-3's of the World Doubles Challenge
2009 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Christmas-themed Crazy Golf at Devonshire Square
Before Records Began – Lionel ‘The Spoon’ Bender – Crazy Golf Contest

Links:
- The Knights Templar
- Pho Cafe
- Baranis
- English Pétanque Association

Related blog posts:
- The Minigolfer’s Annual Christmas Darts ‘Do’ 2012 in London
- Crazy Golfers Christmas 'Do' in London 2011 - Darts Tournament at Rileys Victoria!
- The Minigolfers Christmas 'Do' 2010
- 2009 Christmas Crazy Golf Challenge at Devonshire Square
- PetanquePétanque
- Boules
- Rock Paper Scissors

Monday, December 24, 2012

Results from the Minigolfer’s Annual Christmas Darts ‘Do’ in London

Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd makes it four Christmas competition wins in-a-row!

Gravesend’s Brad ‘Norovirus’ Shepherd won the annual Christmas ‘Do’ for the fourth year in-a-row with victory in the “Riverclose Worlds UnProfessional Minigolfer's Darts Championship” held at Rileys Victoria in London on Sunday 23rd December 2012.
Brad Shepherd 'takes' the cup
The tournament saw eight dartists step up to the oche on the evening and after a quick warm-up and a few swift pints the format for the event was decided and the draw was made.

The eight players were drawn into two groups for a round-robin stage, with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals along with the two group stage runners-up. As the reigning Christmas Champion Brad was the seeded player in Group 2, with BMGA Darts Champion Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman drawn into Group 1.
The players inaction. Lots of mental arithmetic in full flow
Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman qualified as the top player in Group 1 after beating Jon ‘The Stance’ Angel in a play-off to decide the group winner after both players had won 2 and lost one game.

Richard ‘Squire’ Gottfried was the winner of Group 2 with three wins from his three matches. Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd was the group runner-up.
Steve 'What's the Skinny?' Gow draws quite a crowd
Results from Group 1 all matches one-leg 301-straight-in, double-out
Chris Jones beat Alan Norman
Jon Angel beat Steve Gow
Alan Norman beat Jon Angel
Steve Gow beat Chris Jones
Jon Angel beat Chris Jones
Steve Gow lost to Alan Norman

Rankings from Group 1
1. Alan Norman – won 2, lost 1 Q*
2. Jon Angel – won 2, lost 1 q
3. Chris Jones – won 1, lost 2
3. Steve Gow – won 1, lost 2
* Alan beat Jon in a play-off to determine who would qualify as the group winner to face the group runner-up from Group 2

Results from Group 2all matches one-leg 301-straight-in, double-out
Richard Gottfried beat Emily Gottfried
Seth Thomas lost to Brad Shepherd
Richard Gottfried beat Brad Shepherd
Emily Gottfried beat Seth Thomas
Seth Thomas lost to Richard Gottfried
Brad Shepherd beat Emily Gottfried

Rankings from Group 2
1. Richard Gottfried – won 3, lost 0 Q
2. Brad Shepherd – won 2, lost 1 q
3. Emily Gottfried – won 1, lost 2
4. Seth Thomas – won 0, lost 3 

The semi-finals saw Squire face The Stance in a 501 match, eventually finishing on double one. In the other match The Fist picked up the win against Stormin to advance to yet another Christmas Final. 

Semi-Finalsone-leg 501-straight-in, double-out
Richard Gottfried beat Jon Angel
Alan Norman lost to Brad Shepherd

Classification Matches for places 5-8all one-leg 301-straight-in, double-out
Steve ‘F1’ Gow lost to Emily ‘Ah Bristow’ Gottfried
Chris ‘Stretch’ Jones lost to Seth ‘Sethers’ Thomas
Emily ‘Lemony Lemster’ Gottfried lost to Seth ‘Wandsworth’ Thomas – Seth finished in 5th place to win ‘the shield’
Steve ‘Stevie Gow’ Gow beat Chris ‘Stretch’ Jones to finish in 7th place

Before the final Norman & Angel faced-off for the third time in the evening in a one-leg 501 game to decide who would take the last spot on the podium. The BMGA Darts Champion showed his class and took the win against Jon ‘Safe Darts’ Angel.

3rd/4th place play-off one-leg 501-straight-in, double-out
Alan Norman beat Jon Angel

The final match was played in a best of three-legs format on one of the ‘fancy’ boards with electronic scoring. The referee/scorer for the contest was Emily ‘Dagenham Dan’ Gottfried. The first leg was won by The Fist after innumerable chances were squandered by both players. The second leg was clinched by Squire to mild interest from the spectators.

With the crowd growing restless and eager to head off for a curry in Bayswater Brad nailed his finish to take the win and his fourth Christmas ‘Do’ title victory in four years! An amazing achievement indeed.

Finalbest of three-legs 301-straight-in, double-out
Brad Shepherd beat Richard Gottfried 2-1
The ever-popular Brad Shepherd receives congratulations from his fellow competitors
Ranking Table
1. Brad Shepherd
2. Richard Gottfried
3. Alan Norman
4. Jon Angel
5. Seth Thomas
6. Emily Gottfried
7. Steve Gow
8. Chris Jones

Following the main-event Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman organised a game of ‘Halve-It’ between the eight contestants. With three lives each the players attempted to best the previous player’s score, with any failure to exceed the target meaning a life was lost. Guess who won? Alan was the runner-up though.
Alan 'Halve-It' Norman and another player at the Darts Tournament 
Brad ‘Mr Christmas’ Shepherd picked up yet another victory on the night as he was on the winning team, along with Seth Thomas & Steve Gow in the three-a-side Table Football match.
The three-a-side Table Football match-up
Crazy Golfers Christmas Do/Shenanigans Hall of Fame
2012 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Riverclose Worlds UnProfessional Minigolfer's Darts Championship
2011 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships
2010 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Christmas Minigolf 9-Hole Putting Green Sudden Death Challenge
2010 – Keith Kellard & Jon Angel (Team KJ Choice) – Sim BIG Golf Par-3's of the World Doubles Challenge
2009 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Christmas-themed Crazy Golf at Devonshire Square
Before Records Began – Lionel ‘The Spoon’ Bender – Crazy Golf Contest

The Christmas Club Committee will be convening in early 2013 to confirm the contest for next Christmas. If any readers know of Brad’s sporting weaknesses do let them know. Suggestions on a postcard...

Link:

Related Blog Posts:

Thursday, December 22, 2011

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

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!

The un-Bronze Bully Prize!
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!"

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

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

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

The Finalists Seth 'Zen' Thomas and Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd. With scorer Gareth 'Colleen' Holme
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


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