Report from the Second Knowley Grail Minigolf Tournament

Results and report from the second Knowley Grail Minigolf Competition.

 

The second edition of the Knowley Grail was contested between thirteen BMGA Tour Pro players following the first day's play of the BMGA British Open at Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate, Kent.

 

The rules of the Knowley Grail dictate that all players use the same Minigolf ball - a 'Pinky Diver' - and any player scoring a seven is automatically eliminated from the rest of the one-round competition.

 

With two balls available the group of thirteen split into two groups and commenced play. Defending champion Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd was in group one and along with players including Seth Thomas and Will Donnelly set an early pace rattling in the holes-in-one.



'Squire' Richard Gottfried plays hole three at Strokes Adventure Golf course in Margate, Kent during the second The Knowley Grail minigolf tournament



The first player to be eliminated was 'Oh' Chris Jones who was unable to get the super bouncy ball to stay at the top of the ramp at hole three and so was relegated to a 'plastic garden chair of shame' for the rest of the round.

 

'Oh' Chris Jones has a rest after being eliminated from the Knowley Grail at hole 3

 

No other players were eliminated from the tournament until Paul 'Johnson Paul Johnson Don't Call Me Sue Thompson' Johnson scored a seven at the 11th hole - the aptly named "Heartbreak Ridge". The hole would also claim Scott 'Donkey Gringo' Lancley as another victim and both would join 'Oh' Chris Jones on the lawnchairs of shame.

 

A less than happy Paul 'Johnson etc.' Johnson having been eliminated from the Knowley Grail at hole 11

 

Scott 'Donkey Gringo' Lancley takes a seat after being knocked out of the Knowley Grail tourney at hole 11

 

At the end of the 18-hole round there was a tie for first place, with James 'The Rocket' Rutherford and Adam 'AK47' Kelly both scoring rounds of 38(+2). A sudden-death play-off commenced and The Rocket scored a hole-in-one, while AK47 was unable to respond with an Ace, meaning that the new Knowley Grail champion was James Rutherford.

 

James 'The Rocket' Rutherford looks for an Ace at hole 11 to take the outright win

 

A reluctant and defeated Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd hands over the Knowley Grail trophy to James 'The Rocket' Rutherford

 

Results of the second Knowley Grail competition:

1. James Rutherford - 38 - won play-off

2. Adam Kelly - 38

3. Ted McIver - 41

4. Michael Smith - 42

5. Brad Shepherd - 43

5. Will Donnelly - 43

7. Richard Gottfried - 47

8. Seth Thomas - 48

8. Alan Norman - 48

10. Gareth Holmes - 51

DNF Scott Lancley - scored a 7 at hole 11

DNF Paul Johnson - scored a 7 at hole 11

DNF Chris Jones - scored a 7 at hole 3

 

The Knowley Grail minigolf competition was created by members of the London Minigolf Club following the Midlands Open tournament held at the 12-hole Minigolf course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull. The LMGC members had spent the Friday perusing the charity shops of nearby Knowle and found a silver chalice on sale for £2.50. This became the trophy for the Knowley Grail tournaments.

 

Related Blog Post:

- The Knowley Grail of Minigolf

An old Putting Course in Westbrook, Margate

Finding another unplayable Miniature Golf course on my travels.

 

Having completed our sixth and final round of the 2012 BMGA British Open minigolf championship at the 18-hole Strokes Adventure Golf course on Westbrook Promenade in Margate, Kent, my fellow BMGA Tour Pro players John 'Big Al' Moore, Gareth 'Something for the Ladies' Holmes and I went for a wander to the nearest shops to get some food for a picnic in the lovely torrential rain conditions that had hampered the second and final days play of the British Open.

 

After walking along the seafront we headed up to the main road and crossed a patch of grassland at Westbrook Bowls Club that looked suspiciously like an old Minigolf Putting Course. And it was!



At the old Putting Course at Westbrook Bowls Club

 

Matt Wood from the excellent Strokes Adventure Golf course confirmed that it used to be a Putting Green and that he used to play there as a kid.

 

 

 

You could still make out some of the raised greens and hillocks on the course.

 

 

A shame its not still open. But if you are in Margate then you can always have a round at Strokes.

 

 

The course was the 203rd unplayed course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 509th visit overall!

 

Links:

- Strokes Adventure Golf

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour List and Links

The Knowley Grail of Minigolf

Competing for a new Minigolf trophy.

Following the 2012 Midlands Open Minigolf Tournament at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge twelve BMGA Tour Professionals competed for a brand new Miniature Golf title and trophy in The Knowley Grail!

With the London Minigolf Club members having spent the Friday perusing the charity shops of nearby Knowle they had happened across a silver chalice on sale for £2.50. With players always eager to compete in side-competitions the trophy and a prize pot of £9.50 was up for grabs in a one-round shootout between the competitors.

There were a few specials rules in The Knowley Grail contest. Firstly, all players would use one type of ball – a “Pinky Diver” – and secondly, any player scoring a maximum of seven shots on any hole would be eliminated from the contest. With the Pinky Diver having an unprecedented amount of bounce on it the casualty rate was expected to be high!

However, despite Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd’s best efforts to jinx players it wasn’t until the 11th hole that play crumbled. In fact up until that point many of the competitors had actually scored better than they had in the Midlands Open!

Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd hoping for a 7 from Sethers

With the lead group of Brad, me, Seth and Chris Jones completing the round unscathed and with Brad holding the clubhouse lead with a score of 22(-2), and a new personal best for him at Dorridge, we were able to settle down to watch the remaining eight players take on the last two holes.

Alan 'Stormin' Norman lining-up a shot

The first player to crumble was Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman. The Brewmaster’s Open Champion managed to get the ball through the pipe but was unable to sink the putt when on the green and so was sent/dragged to a chair of shame.

Alan 'Stormin' Norman being dragged off the course by Brad

Alan 'Stormin' Norman sitting in a chair of shame

With ‘Stormin’ able to relax the wait was on to see if anyone else would hit a dreaded seven. We didn’t have to wait long as Ruth Burke was also unable to complete the hole and was therefore out of the chase for The Knowley Grail.

Alan 'Stormin' Norman watching Ruth Burke getting her 7 on the 11th

The other players were able to hole out on the eleventh, but no one was able to score as low as Brad’s 22(-2). The runner-up was Scott ‘Donkey Gringo’ Lancley with a 26(+2) followed by five players who couldn’t be bothered to have a sudden-death play-off tied for third-place!

Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd receives his winnings and The Knowley Grail from teammate 'Oh' Chris Jones

The Knowley Grail Champion - Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd

The final results of the inaugural Knowley Grail competition were:

1. Brad Shepherd – 22

2. Scott Lancley – 26

3. Seth Thomas – 27

3. Richard Gottfried – 27

3. Chris Jones – 27

3. Owen Johnson – 27

3. Sean Homer – 27

8. Paul Johnson – 29

9. Steve Sturdy – 32

9. Gareth Holmes – 32

DNF – Alan Norman

DNF – Ruth Burke

There is talk of The Knowley Grail being a regularly contested title. It’ll probably go the way of the League of Mediocrity and the Scrap Iron Cup and become an irregularly contested event.

Golf Apocalypse - a Crazy Golf course at the end of the world?

The 304th Miniature Golf course gets played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

This year has seen some new Minigolf courses opening up in London and on Saturday 11th August we headed to the latest addition to the capital’s Crazy Golf scene - the 'Golf Apocalypse' Mini Golf course at London's Pleasure Gardens, near Pontoon Dock DLR station.

The crazy Minigolfers at the 'Golf Apocalypse' Mini Golf course. From l-r: Gareth Holmes, Richard Gottfried, Emily Gottfried, Dave Lovatt, Alan Norman. The course, much like the sign above, is like something out of Mad Max! Unlike Barter Town the course accepts cash payments to play.

Fellow BMGA Tour Pro Gareth Holmes had texted me with some snaps of the course after he had spotted it when leaving the Excel centre on Friday and with some free time on Saturday we decided to head along and give it a go.

All aboard GA airlines

The course’s designer and owner, Dave Lovatt, was also responsible for the 9-hole Crazy Golf course that staged the Welsh Open Crazy Golf Championships as part of the Newport Big Splash Festival in 2010. Unfortunately we happened to be in Newport a week too early to play that course!

None of us could beat the 'Golf Apocalypse' course record!

We’ve been looking forward to playing his latest layout and it certainly is crazy!

The 9-hole course has all manner of strange Minigolf obstacles and you find yourself playing through the fuselage of a crashed aeroplane, in a pinball machine, on a snooker table and into a volcano!

Emily plays the 3rd hole - a Loop-di-Loop made of a series of tyres!?

Hole 4 is a Pinball machine hole where you have to use the flippers to get the ball in the hole once you've teed-off!

Playing a tee-shot on hole 4 - a hole-in-one is still possible even if the ball misses the hole on the first pass! See video below...

When we arrived at the course Dave showed us a few lines (but not all of them, the cagey player that he is) and we saw he had certainly mastered the course. He told us that the very best score he had shot was an 18. Very impressive considering the bizarre nature and layout of many of the holes. The course Par is listed as 32 with many of the holes par-4 and the last being par-5.

Dave Lovatt shows the Pro players how to play hole 5

In our 9-hole shootout Emily picked up the win with a score of 25. I was second with 26, Gareth was third with 27 and Alan was one shot further back on 28 in our very closely fought match.

Richard tries out his potting skills on the 7th hole of the Golf Apocalypse!

After a short break we headed out for our challenge match against Dave who was itching to play against the Pro players. The ‘Golf Apocalypse’ course rules state that if the ball leaves the course at any time it must be replaced at the point it was hit from (rather than the BMGA rule of replacing it at the point of exit). This rule would prove to be a bit of a game changer when faced with the long 9th hole!

Richard putts through the fuselage of a crashed plane!

With the exception of Emily who scored a 29, we all had better second rounds. I scored a 24 while Gareth scored 25. Dave and Alan tied with a score of 22 and so a sudden-death play-off was required!

Brewery Minigolf Champion Alan 'Stormin' Norman gives Richard's second shot the thumbs-up!

The hole to play the decider on was the 9th and Alan played first, scoring a 6. Dave stepped up and despite hitting the ball out of bounds with his first two shots managed to shoot a ‘par’ score of 5 to win the match.

Dave Lovatt tees-off on the very tough 9th hole

The course is unique and very very crazy. It's well worth a play.

After visiting over 500 Miniature Golf courses you might think that we'd seen pretty much everything there is to see on a Crazy Golf course. But the Golf Apocalypse has certainly shown us that there is still much more to be written in the long history of Minigolf!

The players take up their window seats on GA airlines

Link:

- Golf Apocalypse

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.

Minigolf report from the St George's Day Classic 2010

Minigolf report from the inaugural St George’s Day Classic in Stratford-upon-Avon

The first ever St George’s Day Classic minigolf competition took place on the 23rd April 2010 to celebrate England's Patron Saint and England's National Day, at the Recreation Ground Minigolf Course in Stratford-upon-Avon.

17 minigolfers took part in the event, with an individual St George’s Day Classic title up for grabs, along with a team prize.


In the St George’s Day Classic players competition it was London’s Gareth Holmes that picked up the win with an excellent round of 30(-6). Luton’s Richard Gottfried was runner-up with 33(-3). In tied third-place were Nick Chitty and Welsh guest player Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies.

Photo: St George's Day Classic Champion Gareth Holmes receives his prizes from Emily Gottfried

Photo: Gareth Holmes holds aloft the St George's Day Classic Trophy (donated by the majority of the Welsh Team!?)

In the St George’s Day Classic team competition England ‘A’ won with a cumulative team score of 170(-10). Wales were second with 187(+7). Scotland were third with 192.5(+12.5) and England ‘B’ were fourth with 205(+25).

Photo: The St George's Day Classic Team Champions - England 'A'


Tournament Formats
Individual Competition
• One 18-hole round played by all players
• Lowest score by an English Player wins the St George's Day Classic Title
• Other 'Home International Players' are 'Guests'

Team Competition
• England Team line-ups drawn blind by random 'balls in a hat system'
• All team's total scores are the combined player's scores from the individual round
• Lowest cumulative team score wins the St George's Day Classic Team Title

Teams

England 'A'Photo: From l-r Chris Jones, Gareth Holmes, Alan Norman, Richard Gottfried, Nick Chitty

Wales
Photo: From l-r Jas Kukielka, Seve Kukielka, Leo Kukielka, Cindy Kukielka, Tim Davies

England 'B'
Photo: From l-r Sean Homer, Oliver Florence, Brad Shepherd, Paul Johnson, Owen Johnson

ScotlandPhoto: From l-r Ted McIver, Guy Martin

Photo: The England Players hold the England Flag Aloft

Ends