It was incredibly sad to hear of the passing of my friend and crazy golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies.
I first met Ace Man in person at the 2007 BMGA British Masters at Adventure Island in Southend-on-Sea where I was making my tournament debut. Characteristically he was with another legend of the game, John 'Big Top Ted' McIver, and the pair had been at the course very early to get as much practice in as possible. Tim & Ted were both incredibly welcoming - and had been so for many months before I made my first appearance at an event, through the MiniatureGolfer.com website and forum.
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| Tim 'Ace Man' Davies and 'Squire' Richard Gottfried at the 2007 BMGA British Open at Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate, Kent, England |
The old MiniatureGolfer.com forum was a brilliant place to find out about crazy golf in the UK and speak with a whole host of characters. Ace Man had poured hours of time and effort into the website and forum to get the word out about crazy golf, and this certainly inspired people to get involved in the game and the sport.
Tim's list of 600 or so minigolf courses in the British Isles was the starting point of what became me and Emily's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and we spent many years updating the list and website with Tim.
As Tim and I were both keen collectors of minigolf items and ephemera we created the Crazy Golf Museum in 2010, and this continues to be a treasure trove and archive for all things related to minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf, miniature golf, Putt Putt, and putting.
One of the first pieces of minigolf coverage I ever saw was the excellent Grudge Match on Channel 4, a documentary about the rivalry between Tim & Ted! This is still available to watch on demand and I recommend you give it a look!
Tim was a friend, rival, colleague and mentor and will be greatly missed.
My thoughts are with Tim's family at this time.
R.I.P. Ace Man.
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| Emily Gottfried and Tim Davies at the 2009 BMGA British Open at Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate, Kent, England |
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| Richard Gottfried and Tim Davies at the 2008 Nations Cup at Manse Ratagolf Club in Tampere, Finland |
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| Richard Gottfried and Tim Davies eating Rotten Shark at Harald Viking Restaurant in Finland after the 2008 Nations Cup of Minigolf |
