Playing Archery Tag in Guildford

Trying out the new sport of Archery Tag.

As a fan of all manner of sports and games, whether old or new, traditional or obscure, I'm always on the lookout for new ones to have a go of. Following my blog post on the 1st of January 2013 where I asked the question "What sport or game that we haven't tried already should we give a go in 2013?" I had some responses via the comments, Facebook and Twitter.

One of these came from fellow sporting polymath Oliver 'Lawrence' Florence who suggested we give Archery Tag a go. He had heard an upcoming event would be taking place in Guildford and so it'd be a chance to have a play of the game for free!

Me, Guy Martin (grey) and Oliver Florence (red) in Archery Tag action

After a busy day of Minigolfing in Beckenham, Croydon and Carshalton Emily and I headed to Guildford and the Spectrum Leisure Complex which was the host venue for the Archery Tag event. Our group had been booked in for the 7pm session so we took some time beforehand to watch the action in the busy sports hall from the spectator's gantry. 

Before we got stuck into the game our group decided to warm-up with some target practice using the specific Archery Tag equipment. The bow and arrows differ from those used in Archery and the main thing you notice is the foam pad on the end of the arrows, these ensure that if (when!) you get hit by a shot it doesn't injure the competitor.

Richard 'Michael Skaggs' Skeggs (left) and Oliver 'The Machine' Florence warming-up before the main-event

Our group was then ready to hit the court (arena, course, battlefield?) and after a briefing by the Archery Tag organiser - Joshua from Discover Archery - we were provided with protective face masks, a bow and two arrows.

The game mixes Archery with rules similar to Dodgeball, Paintball and Laser Tag with two teams of players taking up positions on either side of the battlefield and once the whistle goes it's a free-for-all of arrows firing at the opposing force. In a competitive match we were told that if you get hit you are eliminated from the game for a one-minute period before re-entering the fray. For our have-a-go session we were involved in two seven-minute games, played with 'no outs'. So it gave us a great opportunity to practice our aim and have fun, without the fear and threat of elimination.

The Archery Tag 'battleground'

Once you've used up your initial two arrows you can then collect any arrows from the floor and re-use them - just be careful not to get hit while retrieving them! The arena also had a number of inflatable bases and barriers to hide behind and you certainly needed to use them as the game is non-stop with a constant hail of arrows coming in from the opposing team.

Launching a shot towards the opposition

One of the great things about the game is that you can also get 'catches'! So, if you see an arrow coming towards you and fancy grabbing it from mid-air then that is perfectly allowable - and quite an achievement too! I managed a couple of catches in the two games and hit some of the opposition too. Fellow sports enthusiast Richard 'Richard' Skeggs got really stuck into the sport and planted a perfect shot on my face - thank goodness for the protective face masks! I did get a couple of catches off him to slightly make up for it though.

Richard Skeggs - the 'one man gang' of Archery Tag!

It was great fun and I'd definitely like to play a competitive match. Perhaps a Luton team could travel to Guildford, or vice versa...

Emily models the Archery Tag 'look'

Check out details of Archery Tag on the Discover Archery website.

Links:

- Discover Archery

- Discover Archery - Archery Tag

- Guildford Spectrum Leisure Complex

- Archery Tag

Related Blog Posts:

- A new sport or game for 2013?

- 2012 - A Big Year of Sport
- Behold...
- Underdog Day and meeting an Olympic Archer!

Receiving the OFBIMT Minigolf Trophy Orb...

...in the Car Park at Star City (the Las Vegas of the West Midlands).

'Birthday Boy' Oliver Florence presents the mysterious Green Orb to me. Note the 'unique' handshake Florence has applied

A more traditional approach to the trophy presentation

Me and the Orb

The Orb was my reward for winning the Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Minigolf Tournament in December 2011.

The late presentation of the trophy was due to previous Champion Guy Martin forgetting to bring it to New Malden, having left it somewhere ending in 'ham'.

Link:
- "Glory for Gottfried as Martin's mistake fails to cloud celebrations"

Winning the Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Minigolf Tournament at Jurassic Encounter, New Malden

On Saturday 10th December 2011 nine Crazy Minigolfers, including me and Emily, headed to New Malden's 18-hole Jurassic Encounter Adventure Golf course to compete in the second bi-annual Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Minigolf Tournament

The format for the 30th Birthday edition of the contest saw two contests take place, with a Doubles Pro-Am competition and an overall individual winner to be crowned - Scottish International Minigolfer Guy Martin headed into the event as the reigning and defending champion and a 20/1 shot in the pre-tournament betting. However, the final pre-tournament odds* saw Martin de-listed and therefore an 'other' at 10,012/1!?

In the 18-hole contest I won the individual contest by one-shot from AMF Asian Open Runner-Up Richard 'Gentle Touch' Skeggs. I scored an imperfect Par of 36.

You can read the full report over at Ollie's Blog - "Glory for Gottfried as Martin's mistake fails to cloud celebrations"

Photos from the event:

Photo: Birthday boy Oliver 'The Machine' Florence takes an action photo of defending champion Scottish International Minigolfer Guy Martin who was about to score a dreaded seven on the fourth hole!

Photo: Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried takes a snap of Birthday boy Oliver 'The Machine' Florence Putting at the Jurassic Encounter course

Photo: 'Squire' Richard Gottfried taking a shot

Photo: A tricky second Putt awaits Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas

Photo: Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas lines up the plant pot putt

Photo: With the crowd looking on Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas hits his 'recovery' shot (it didn't go in)

Photo: Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried Putting on the 18th hole 

Photo: 'Squire' Richard Gottfried spots another fake Crocodile/Alligator to add to his collection!

*The final 'odd' odds were:
- Florence 5/2
- Thomas 3/1
- Gottfried 7/2
- Cooley 6/1
- Skaggs 7/1
- Jones 10/1
- Clark 12/1
- Rutheringtons 33/1
- Pragnell 1,001/1
- Other 10,012/1

Links:
- The Minigolfer Blog
- Jurassic Encounter Adventure Golf website
- World of Golf New Malden website
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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