We made our Great Britain team debuts at the 2008 Nations Cup of Minigolf in Tampere, Finland 16 years ago today!
Our Great Britain Minigolf team, sponsored by UrbanCrazy, finished the tournament in 13th place. In the individual rankings I finished in 51st place and Emily was 53rd.
In action at the Minigolf Nations Cup in Tampere, Finland
The 2008 Great Britain squad - Jouni Valkjarvi (coach), John 'Big Top Ted' McIver, Marion 'Mation' Homer, Sean 'Freebird' Homer, Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, Steve 'F1' Gow, Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried, Andy 'Sarge' Booth, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried
The Beton Concrete Mini Golf course at the Manse RG Club in Tampere was the 50th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The Eternit Miniature Golf course was the 51st and the Swedish Felt Minigolf course there was the 52nd played. We've now been to 1,045 courses since 2006.
A look back at the 2008 Nations Cup of Minigolf in Tampere, Finland.
We made our Great Britain team debuts at the 2008 Nations Cup of Minigolf in Tampere, Finland 16 years ago this week. Where has that time gone!
The GB team playing the Beton Concrete Minigolf course in Tampere, Finland during a practice session
In international action on the Eternit Miniature Golf course
Our Great Britain Minigolf team, sponsored by UrbanCrazy, finished the tournament in 13th place. In the individual rankings I finished in 51st place and Emily was 53rd.
The 2008 Great Britain squad - Jouni Valkjarvi (coach), John 'Big Top Ted' McIver, Marion 'Mation' Homer, Sean 'Freebird' Homer, Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, Steve 'F1' Gow, Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried, Andy 'Sarge' Booth, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried
Since the 2008 Nations Cup we've also played for the GB national team in tournaments in Stockholm, Sweden and Hastings, England.
Receiving some tips on the Middle Hill Eternit Miniature Golf hole from Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies
In action at the Minigolf Nations Cup in Tampere, Finland
The 2008 Great Britain squad - Jouni Valkjarvi (coach), John 'Big Top Ted' McIver, Marion 'Mation' Homer, Sean 'Freebird' Homer, Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, Steve 'F1' Gow, Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried, Andy 'Sarge' Booth, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried
The Beton Concrete Mini Golf course at the Manse RG Club in Tampere was the 50th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The Eternit Miniature Golf course was the 51st and the Swedish Felt Minigolf course there was the 52nd played. We've now been to 958 courses since 2006.
A look back at the 2008 Nations Cup of Minigolf in Finland.
We made our Great Britain team debuts at the 2008 Nations Cup of Minigolf in Tampere, Finland twelve years ago today!
The GB team playing the Beton Concrete Minigolf course in Tampere, Finland
In international action on the Eternit Miniature Golf course
Our Great Britain Minigolf team, sponsored by UrbanCrazy, finished the tournament in 13th place. In the individual rankings I finished in 51st place and Emily was 53rd.
The 2008 Great Britain squad - Jouni Valkjarvi (coach), John 'Big Top Ted' McIver, Marion 'Mation' Homer, Sean 'Freebird' Homer, Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, Steve 'F1' Gow, Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried, Andy 'Sarge' Booth, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried
We've also played for the national team in tournaments in Stockholm, Sweden and Hastings, England.
Receiving some tips on the Middle Hill Eternit Miniature Golf hole from Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies
The World Championships of Minigolf are taking place in Lahti, Finland.
This week sees the WMF World Minigolf Championships taking place in Lahti, Finland with 127 players from 19 countries and four continents lining up to compete.
The 2015 WMF World Minigolf Championships are being held on the Feltgolf and Miniaturegolf courses at the Lahti Minigolf Centre. Good luck to all of the participants, especially those making their debut appearances on the world stage.
The 2008 Great Britain team - Jouni Valkjarvi (coach), John 'Big Top Ted' McIver, Marion 'Mation' Homer, Sean 'Freebird' Homer, Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, Steve 'F1' Gow, Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried, Andy 'Sarge' Booth, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried
The GB team playing the Beton Concrete Minigolf course in Tampere, Finland
Emily playing the Swedish Felt minigolf course at the Manse Ratagolf Club in Tampere, Finland
Receiving some tips on the Middle Hill Eternit Miniaturegolf hole from Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies
In international minigolf action
Playing an incredibly long Feltgolf hole in Finland as Steve 'F1' Gow looks on
The World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) is the umbrella organisation of Minigolf sports association's worldwide and continental associations in Asia, Europe and America.
Following the recent WMF Delegates Conference eight new national minigolf federations were accepted into memebership, with Belarus, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Togo, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam joining the existing 47 members. And this year New Zealand and Kenya are appearing in an international tournament for the first time.
On our recent holiday we visited Devon and en route to Teignmouth from Dawlish we had to pop into one of the other places in the UK called 'Luton'. This one is near Newton Abbot.
All of the road signs on the way said Luton was 1 and a half miles away!
Look! There's another one
And another!
One of the two approach roads to Luton in Devon. Heading away from this Luton on the way to Teignmouth we had to drive across a golf course - that was interesting
The village sign was partially obscured by a hedge and stinging nettles. It was purely by chance that we spotted it too. Driving into this Luton we didn't see any signs, but after we'd driven through the village I did a three point turn near a farm on Fore Street and there it was!
'Home' again
Back in April 2012 we visited Luton in Chatham, Kent. That's little more than a street. We drove by that Luton again last year.
The only road sign we saw for Luton in Kent showed it was one mile away
There's another Luton in Devon, near Honiton. We didn't have time to visit on our road-trip, but next time we're down that way we're going to pop along for a look.
The Smitten by Britain blog is a blog all about the best of British and is run by American Britophile Melissa Stoey and covers subjects including culture, sports, travel, history, food & drinks and books - it's the home of the Britophile and all things British.
Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, webmaster of MiniatureGolfer.com and Crazy Golf Legend, has updated the details of Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team Members Results at major WMF Championships on his website.
Emily and I have played for the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team at two overseas Minigolf Championships - the 2008 WMF Nations Cup in Tampere, Finland and the 2011 WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden.
My results in 2008 see me ranked at 61st of 73 performances at major WMF Championships, with Emily's results in Finland ranking her 69th.
We both improved massively in our performances in the 2011 Nations Cup as my performance sees me at 27th and Emily at 40th.
The results in the list include details of major World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) Competitions including Nations Cups, European Minigolf Championships and World Minigolf Championships.
The Smitten by Britain blog is a blog all about the best of British and is run by American Britophile Melissa Stoey and covers subjects including culture, sports, travel, history, food & drinks and books - it's the home of the Britophile and all things British.
