Minigolf report from the Midlands Open 2015

Richard Gottfried third at the Midlands Open minigolf tournament

Minigolfer Richard Gottfried with the bronze medal from the 2015 Midlands Open

Leagrave minigolfer Richard Gottfried continued his good form with a podium finish in the Midlands Open competition held at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull on Sunday 22 March.

Competing in a 24-player field on the 12-hole miniature golf course Richard shot rounds of 20, 22, 21 and 28 for a 48-hole score of 91.

Richard Gottfried playing hole 2 during the Hole in One Charity Challenge

Emily Gottfried was also in action and finished in 15th place after rounds of 26, 20, 27 and 30 for a total of 103.

Emily Gottfried playing hole 12 at Four Ashes Golf Centre

The tournament was won by Oxford’s Michael Smith with a score of 76, with London’s Will Donnelly runner-up with a score of 89.

The Midlands Open podium, from l-r Will Donnelly, Michael Smith, Richard Gottfried

Richard said “It’s great to get another medal and I’m pleased with my performance. Dorridge is a great course and a pleasure to play. I didn’t drop a shot for 42-holes which was nice. But then I had three bad holes in the final round to knock me from second place. Well played to Michael Smith on his win and to Will Donnelly for beating me to the silver medal.”

The third-place result was Richard’s best ever in the Midlands Open tournament, with his previous highest finish of fourth-place coming at the 2010 event.

The Midlands Minigolf Club are the reigning BMGA British Club Champions, winning the title in Hastings earlier this month. For more information check out the MMGC Facebook page.

Next up for Richard is a trip to Hastings for the BMGA British Minigolf Championships in May.

Links:
- Midlands Minigolf Club on Facebook
- Four Ashes Golf Centre
- British Minigolf Association

Dorridge Invitational Minigolf Tournament

Report from the Dorridge Invitational Tournament.

As a warm-up to the MMGC Midlands Open competition held at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge the seven players still practicing on Saturday evening competed in the second ever Dorridge Invitational Tournament.

The Dorridge Invitational Tournament competitors, from l-r Adrian Amey, Emily Gottfried, Will Donnelly, Richard Gottfried, Steve Sturdy, Ruth Burke, Dave Donnelly

In the one-round Pro Player shootout local competitor Ruth Burke won with a score of 20(-4), two shots clear of runner-up Dave Donnelly.

D.I.T. minigolf champion Ruth Burke putting on the final hole and sealing victory

Emily Gottfried and Will Donnelly tied for third place having scored 23(-1).

Emily Gottfried playing on hole 11 at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge

Richard Gottfried was fifth on 26(+2), with Steve Sturdy in sixth place on 28(+4) and Adrian Amey in seventh spot after scoring 30(+6).

The only previous edition of the Dorridge Invitational Tournament was held in 2011 and won by Seth Thomas in an eight-player field.

Dorridge Invitational Tournament (D.I.T.) Hall of Fame
2015 - Ruth Burke
2011 - Seth Thomas

Related blog posts:
- Dorridge
- The Dorridge Invitational Minigolf Competition 2011

Links:
- Midlands Minigolf Club on Facebook
- Four Ashes Golf Centre
- British Minigolf Association

Minigolf Report from Dorridge

8th September 2014
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report from Dorridge

Results from the Midlands Open competition and BMGA British Doubles Championships held at the Four Ashes Golf Centre.

Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried competed in two Minigolf tournaments at the 12-hole course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull on the 6th and 7th September.

In the Midlands Open competition held on Saturday Emily finished in 17th place overall in the 29 player field. Richard was 19th.

Emily playing the fourth hole at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge

Emily scored a four-round total of 98(+2) with rounds of 26, 24, 24 and 24.

Richard scored a total of 100(+4) after rounds of 25, 24, 25 and 26.

Richard Gottfried playing hole five at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge

On Sunday the pair teamed-up for the first time since 2008 to take on thirteen other duos in the BMGA British Doubles Championship. After six rounds of play the team finished in 6th place.

A score of 22(-2) in the first qualifying round saw them top the rankings. This was followed up with a 24(par) to finish 5th in the preliminary classification round.

In the seeded matchplay knockout stages they were drawn against the London pair of Max Plaice and Becky Statham and would go on to win 3&2.

In the quarter-finals the duo were defeated 3&2 by Margate’s Scott Lancley and Hastings’ John ‘Ted’ McIver.

The team bounced back in the classification match against Cambridge’s James Rutherford and Canterbury’s Marc Chapman with Emily scoring holes-in-one on four of the six holes she played and Richard acing the final hole for a 1up victory.

The pair were defeated by Brechin’s Freddie Blackburn-Shaw and London’s Will Donnelly in the match for 5th place, with Donnelly scoring a hole-in-one at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.

Commenting after the weekend’s events Emily said “I was really pleased with my 17th place finish in the Midlands Open. I felt that I played well, scoring quite a few aces, however I was let down by my performance on one particularly tricky hole. I carried that level of performance over into the Doubles on the second day of competition, achieving consistent aces through the day. Richard and I were a great team, helping and motivating each other and I was pleased with sixth place.”

Richard said “Emily played well all weekend and was a great partner in the British Doubles, scoring a huge amount of aces and we picked up some good wins and a great first round score.”

Michael Smith of Oxford won the Midlands Open, with Birmingham’s Chris Harding teaming with Smith to win the BMGA British Doubles Championship.

Ends

Minigolf Report from the 2012 Midlands Open & BMGA British Doubles Championships

10th September 2012

Press Information

For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – Midlands Open & BMGA British Doubles Championships

Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried was in action over the weekend as he competed in two tournaments at the 12-hole Minigolf Course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull.

Midlands Open

First up was the Midlands Open competition held on Saturday 8th September.

The competitors at the 2012 Midlands Open in Dorridge

Richard finished in tied tenth place in the 34-player field with a score of 94(-2) following rounds of 22, 23, 26 and 23. The four-round competition was won by the reigning World Crazy Golf Champion, Oxford’s Michael Smith with a score of 78(-18).



Richard Gottfried playing at the 2012 Midlands Open minigolf tournament as Oliver 'The Machine' Florence and Alastair Shaw look on

BMGA British Doubles Championships

The 2012 BMGA British Doubles Championships were held on Sunday 9th September. Richard teamed with Margate’s Scott Lancley for the second year in a row. The team finished in seventh place overall in the 16-team competition.

Commenting on the weekend’s events Richard said “The Minigolf course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge is one of my favourite courses and always presents a great challenge. I’m pleased with achieving another pair of top ten finishes on the BMGA Tour in two very competitive fields. It was a pleasure to once again team with Scott Lancley in our attempt to win the British Doubles, unfortunately we lost our quarter final match against the eventual champions, but we’ll have another crack at the titles next year.”

In the BMGA British Doubles Championships each of the competing 16 teams played in a round robin group qualifying stage, before moving on to a knockout stage to determine the final rankings.

Team Sqonky at the 2012 BMGA British Doubles Championships in Dorridge - l-r 'Squire' Richard Gottfried and Scott 'Donkey Gringo' Lancley

Richard and Scott were second in their group with two wins and a draw, after defeating Marina Breeden and Adam Breeden, Alex Pragnell and Alastair Shaw and tying with Michael Smith and James Rutherford. This meant they qualified for the play-off matches for positions 1-8.

In the quarter final match against Ted McIver and Nick Chitty they were handed their first loss and entered the pool for positions 5-8. McIver and Chitty were the eventual champions, defeating the duo of Seth Thomas and Chris Smith in the final. Gottfried and Lancley lost their next classification match against Marion Homer and Sean Homer, but were victorious in their match against Oliver Florence and Richard Skeggs in the play-off for 7th/8th place.

The immaculately turned out players of Team Sqonkey at the 2012 BMGA British Doubles Championships

The Gottfried & Lancley team finished the BMGA British Doubles Championships with a win/loss record of three wins, one draw and two defeats. The team’s career record stands at seven wins, one draw and five losses in thirteen matches on the British Minigolf Association Tour.

Ends

Minigolf Report - BMGA British Doubles Championships 2011

3rd August 2011
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report - BMGA British Doubles Championships - Gottfried & Lancley 7th, Gottfried & Shepherd 10th

The 2011 BMGA British Doubles Championships were held at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull on Sunday 31st July, with both Richard and Emily Gottfried competing.

Photo: Team Sqonkey - 'Squire' Richard Gottfried and Scott 'Donkey Gringo' Lancley

In the tournament Richard teamed with Margate’s Scott Lancley for the first time, while Emily reformed her team with London’s Brad Shepherd. Richard’s team achieved seventh place overall; with Emily’s team finishing in tenth spot in the 14-team competition.

Each of the competing 14 teams played in a round robin group qualifying stage, before moving on to a knockout stage to determine the final rankings.

Richard and Scott won their group with two wins and a loss, to qualify for the play-offs for positions 1-8, only to be defeated in their next match against the defending champions Chris Harding and Marc Chapman, who went on to win the event for the second time.

The Gottfried/Lancley team (playing as 'Team Sqonkey) had a win/loss record of three wins, and three defeats.

Photo: Team Sqonkey look on as Richard 'Gentle Touch' Skeggs plays the seventh hole at Dorridge as his Team Wilson team mate Oliver 'The Machine' Florence watches

The Gottfried/Shepherd duo (playing as 'Fist N Lemony') had a win/loss record of two wins, one draw and three losses.

Ends

Minigolf Report - Midlands Open 2011 - Emily Gottfried 7th, Richard Gottfried Ties for 8th Place

3rd August 2011
Press Information
For Immediate Release


Minigolf Report - Midlands Open 2011 - Emily Gottfried 7th, Richard Gottfried Ties for 8th Place

Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried were in action over the weekend as they competed in two competitions at the 12-hole Minigolf Course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull.

First up was the Midlands Open competition on Saturday 30th July, with Emily finishing in seventh place in the 25 strong field with a score of 95(-1). Emily had been in tied second place with British Number One Michael Smith heading into the last round, and with her strong performance in the event placed higher than Richard Gottfried for the first time in a BMGA Tour event. Richard carded a four-round total of 96(par) to finish one-shot behind in tied eighth place with London's Nick Sandqvist.

Photo: Emily plays the 12th hole in the final round

Emily scored rounds of 25, 22, 21 and 27 for her 95(-1) total.

Richard scored rounds of 25, 22, 23 and 26 for his 96(par) total.

Emily said “The Midlands Open was a fantastic tournament for me. I played particularly well in the first three rounds, so I was very pleased to be playing in the leading group going out into the fourth and final round. Unfortunately it was an average round for me, which came just when other player seemed to be reaching their peak, so I dropped down the leader board. I still enjoyed the tournament greatly and it was nice to play the final round with such good players as Chris Harding and Michael Smith.”

The four-round competition was won by the reigning World Crazy Golf Champion, Birmingham’s Chris Harding with a score of 88(-8). Greenhithe’s Sean Homer defeated Canterbury’s Marc Chapman and Lewisham’s James Rutherford in a play-off to take second place after the trio had scored 90(-6).

Ends

Minigolf Doubles Teams - Gottfried & Lancley / Gottfried & Shepherd - Sponsorship Opportunities Available

A new Minigolf Doubles Team will be created at the upcoming 2011 BMGA British Doubles Championships to be held at the Four Ashes Golf Centre, Dorridge, West Midlands, as Luton's 'Squire' Richard Gottfried teams up with Great Britain team-mate Scott 'Donkey Gringo' Lancley, who hails from Margate. In last year's tournament Richard's team (with Kevin Moseley) were on the podium in 3rd place, losing only one-match during the event. Scott's team (with Nick Chitty) finished in 13th place.

Emily 'Coach' Gottfried will also be in action at the BMGA British Doubles Championships, once again teaming with London's Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd. Last year the duo were 3rd in the Lost World Classic in Hemsby, Norfolk. In the 2010 BMGA British Doubles Championships Emily and her partner Cindy Kukielka finished in 4th place, while Brad and his team-mate Chris Jones finished in 7th spot.

All four players are Great Britain International Team Members.

Both Minigolf Partnerships are seeking Sponsorship for the one-day tournament, with opportunities for player sponsorship also available for the Midlands Open minigolf competition to be held the day before the BMGA British Doubles Championships at the end of July.

To sponsor the teams, and/or Richard and Emily Gottfried in future Minigolf tournaments please get in touch.

Link to the British Minigolf Association.