A re-visit to the Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf course in Arkley

Five-player ‘friendly’ Minigolf tournament played at the 18-hole Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf course in Arkley, Hertfordshire.

On Tuesday 1^st of October we headed to Arkley in Hertfordshire (near Elstree & Borehamwood) for an evening round of Minigolf on the 18-hole Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf course at the A1 Golf Centre.

Lining up to compete in the international affair were:

- Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried (GBR)

- Liezl ‘The Big Easy’ Van Zyl (RSA)

- Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace (GBR)

-  James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker (GBR)

- ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried (GBR)

Tee-ing off in dry, light and cool weather conditions the round of golf concluded in the dark and with the onset of quite autumnal weather.

Hole one saw each player, apart from Emily, score a two. James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker earned his nickname on this hole with an incredibly recovery shot to save par after what can only be described as a horrendous tee-shot.

James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker with a slightly wayward tee-shot on the first hole

Hole two saw South African superstar Putt Putter Liezl ‘The Big Easy’ Van Zyl make her mark on the event with an awesome hole-in-one to take the lead.

Liezl 'The Big Easy' Van Ziel on the way to scoring a great hole-in-one at Arkley

The remaining seven holes of the front-nine saw steady play from most of the player, barring a few threes and a four apiece for Lemony and Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace.

Lucy 'Whacker' Wallace steps up to take on the Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf course

At the half-way stage of the contest the scores were:

- Liezl ‘The Big Easy’ Van Zyl – 19

- ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried – 20

- James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker – 21

- Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried – 22

- Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace – 25

The back-nine started badly for Mr Specker who scored an unfortunate five to put a mild dent in his championship hopes.

Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried in Minigolf action at Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf in Arkley

It was at the 12^th hole that the match got even more exciting. After Squire had scored a two that was almost an ace with a clever and sneaky line to the hole, Emily and Liezl followed-up up by getting ever closer to the hole and Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace scored an incredibly hole-in-one to huge delight from her opponents.

An interesting view of the Minigolf contest during play

Attempts to recreate this piece of minigolf magic were unsuccessful, but long will the moment be remembered in the scrapbooks of her opponent’s minds.

With the win available to any with six holes remaining and the dreaded volcano obstacle to face on the penultimate hole it was Squire, The Big Easy and Lemony in with a shot at the title.

Unfortunately for Lemony the wheels would come off at the 17^th with a dreadful maximum score of seven. Squire had hit a safe two and Liezl also scored a par. Whacker put away a nice three, while Flukester couldn’t conjure up any of his earlier magic and also carded a seven.

Squire tackles the Volcano 17th hole at Arkley's Adventure Golf course as keen rival, The Big Easy, looks on

With only the final long downhill hole to play the title was being battled for between Great Britain and South Africa. Squire stepped up first and scored a two, with Liezl also shooting a par. All that was left to do was add up the scores to find out who won...

Final results

- ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried – 20 + 20 = 39(+3)

- Liezl ‘The Big Easy’ Van Zyl – 19 + 23 = 42(+6)

- Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried – 22 + 27 = 49(+13)

- James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker – 21 + 30 = 51(+15)

- Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace – 25 + 27 = 52(+16)

The course was in great condition, with some interesting dino-facts dotted around the course. Some of the water hazards are really good too – with most of the field finding the water on the sixth hole!?

The warning/advice on this sign was not heeded on hole six where four out of the five of us went in the drink!

Related blog posts:

- New Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf opening atthe A1 Driving Range in Arkley, Herts (near Elstree & Borehamwood)

- Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf Course Played atthe A1 Driving Range in Arkley, Hertfordshire

-  Gottfried vs. Hinton - Healthy MinigolfCompetition at Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf

- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and aroundLondon

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and linksfor all Miniature Golf courses visited to date

Links:

- Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf

- A1 Golf Centre

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Gottfried vs. Hinton - Healthy Minigolf Competition at Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf

July 29th 2011 saw the beginning of a new minigolf competition series, with players from JML competing against each other for inter-office glory.

Emily “Coach” Gottfried is well-known within the walls of JML’s London HQ for her exploits and achievements in both the Irregular Minigolf Tour with “Squire” Richard Gottfried, and the BMGA Tour where she has competed in a number of Professional Miniature Golf events all over the UK. And a few brave, daring souls have often laid down the gauntlet and challenged Emily to a game of minigolf or two...

So on July 29th, the talking was over and Luton’s Emily Gottfried headed to the new Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf at the A1 Golf Driving Range in Arkley with Stevenage’s Simon Hinton to put the grand-standing to an end.

Whilst being a “big golf” player, Simon regularly talked up his short-game, however on arrival at the course, nerves seemed to take hold, and even a quick cigarette couldn’t dampen the nerves as both players approached the first hole.

This first match-up took place post-work on a beautiful July summers evening, and it proved to be the perfect setting for Emily to prove her minigolfing ability, when she bested Simon 42 to 45 on stroke play, and 2-up on matchplay.

Simon said after his defeat “It was a true pleasure to be able to demonstrate to Emily the finer details of my grip, the precision involved in the setting of the hips in my stance, and the pendulum effect of my in-out-in putting path.”

Hinton added “I know that Emily was extremely pleased as she now knows how not to putt like a complete t**t, and this will hold her in excellent stead in future competitions and the inevitable world rankings. And frankly, it’s all thanks to me.”

Emily said “I enjoyed the game immensely, and as I always knew I would win, it wasn’t much of a surprise, but it was very welcome all the same. Simon does have a certain finesse with a putter, and could definitely be a contender, if he honed his skills in certain areas. He suffered a five out there today, but he can work on that and take me on again in the future. However, having seen Simon’s recent comments, I can see that it will take another few defeats at my hand before he can accept defeat gracefully”.

Following on from these self-aggrandising comments Emily “Coach” Gottfried agreed to a re-match, which took place on August 9th.

In this second match Emily again beat Simon, 40 to 41. The victory was by a smaller margin, but improvements were made by both players, including aces by Emily on the 1st and by Simon on the 14th. The match ended all-square on matchplay. At this point, Simon grudgingly acknowledged that some of Emily’s guidance had helped his game and a second-round was played.

This round showed much improvement again, and with Simon following Emily’s coaching tips he managed to win 38 to Emily’s 41. This included another ace on the 14th for Simon - making it his favourite hole. Simon also won matchplay 2-up.

After the two-rounds were over Simon said “An under par round (course par is 40) equalling the course record came as absolutely no surprise to me. This is testament to my determination, focus, skill and on-course imagination. Oh – and Coach helped a bit too”.

Coach said: “I won the first round and lost the second, but I feel that I can take some credit in Simon’s victory. I saw his potential and some handy advice helped him to his win”.

The JML Irregular tour will hopefully continue later in the year with at least three more colleagues lined up to compete.

Link - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to the Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf Course

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf Course Played at the A1 Driving Range in Arkley, Hertfordshire

Another new Miniature Golf course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

Last month while on an On The Buses Event around Elstree & Borehamwood me, Emily and Brad Shepherd spotted the building of a new Adventure Golf course in Arkley, Hertfordshire. Today, a group of us headed there to have a game. It became the 262nd course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The course is an 18-hole 'Dinosaur Safari' Adventure Golf and features a variety of holes, with hills, ramps, plateaus, rocks and water hazards.

There are also a number of Dinosaurs around the course. None of them gave us any problems though.

To enter the course and meet the 'Live Dinosaurs' you have to enter through a Time Travel 'Device'!

A sound piece of advice on this sign!

To mark our visit we held a Minigolf Competition to crown the Arkley Dinosaur Safari Golf Classic Champion.

Four players teed-off in the event with me and Emily teaming up to take on my Minigolf (and BIG Golf) rival Jon 'El Pato' Angel and his partner Cheryl 'Shuffler' Joseph.

In the Individual Event I defeated Jon by one shot, scoring a 41(+5). Emily and Cheryl tied for third place with scores of 49(+13).

In the Doubles Event Emily and I defeated Jon and Cheryl by one-shot - 90 vs. 91.

In the Doubles Matchplay Emily and I won 1-up.

In the Boys Against Girls Match Jon and I won 83-98.

After the Adventure Golf we also had a go on the Driving Range, a warm-up of sorts for our yet to be completed 'Best of 5 Pro Spirit Challenge Tour' Competition!

Video introduction of the course visit with a 'special' guest appearance by Jon 'El Pato' Angel.


Previous Blog Post About The Course - New Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf opening at the A1 Driving Range in Arkley, Herts (near Elstree & Borehamwood)

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf at the A1 Driving Range in Arkley

A new Minigolf course spotted in Hertfordshire!

A photo of the Dinosaur Adventure Golf course at the A1 Driving Range in Arkley and one of the 'inhabitants' on our visit in July 2011 

Me, Emily and Brad spotted the building work on a new Adventure Golf course while we were on the On The Buses Event around Elstree & Borehamwood on Saturday 18th June!

The course is not open yet (obviously), but digging around online I found the promotion for it (and the surrounding golf range etc.) has started, and it looks like it is planned to open in early-July 2011.

Fingers crossed all goes well with the rest of the build, we look forward to giving it a go when it opens.

I managed to take one quick photo of the construction site as we were passing, as it's visible from the road.

Dinosaur Safari website (under construction as at 20th June 2011)

A1 Golf Driving Range website (new website 'coming soon')

The address is:
Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf
A1 Golf Driving Range, Rowley Lane
Arkley, Hertfordshire, EN5 3HW

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.