Mini Golf at Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent

There's a minigolf course at Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent

Many thanks to our friend, minigolf rival, and sometimes team-mate Scott Lancley for sending us these photos of the 18-hole Mini Golf course at Wingham Wildlife Park in Wingham, Kent.

Mini Golf at Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent. Photo by Scott Lancley, March 2024

The course opened in 2022.

Mini Golf at Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent. Photo by Scott Lancley, March 2024

Visit the Wingham Wildlife Park website for more information.

It's another new course we'll have to add to our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour one day!

Report from the Great Northern Minigolf Open in Wigan

Scott Lancley wins the inaugural Great Northern Minigolf Open in Wigan.

Margate's Scott Lancley won the Great Northern Minigolf Open played in Wigan's Haigh Woodland Park on Saturday 8th April.

Scott Lancley on his way to victory on Haigh Woodland Park's Crazy Golf course

Played over two rounds on the park's two 18-hole courses, Lancley won with a 36 hole score of 87. Stockport's Richard Gottfried was runner-up on 93, with Ramsbottom's Russ Dent finishing in third place on 95. A total of nine players took part in the first staging of the event.

The finishers in the Great Northern Minigolf Open

Russ Dent was making a return to competitive minigolf after a seven-year break and rolled back the years with an impressive round of 44 on the Adventure Golf course to lead by five shots after round one. Gottfried and Lancley were in a tie for second after round one.

Russ Dent hitting only his second shot in seven years

Richard Gottfried playing the Windmill and Plateau hole on the new Adventure Golf course as John Moore looks on

However, Lancley's visit to the north wasn't for nothing as he stormed to an amazing round of 38 on the Crazy Golf course to take the title and the trophy.

The top three from l-r Richard Gottfried, Scott Lancley, Russ Dent

Results of the 2017 Great Northern Minigolf Open:
1st - Scott Lancley - 49+38=87
2nd - Richard Gottfried - 49+44=93
3rd - Russ Dent - 44+51=95
4th - Emily Gottfried - 52+49=101
5th - John Moore - 54+50=104
6th - Cat Patterson - 65+59=124
7th - Ryan Lancley - 65 DNF
8th - Ethan Rottenbury - 67 DNF
9th - Zoe Lancley - 83 DNF

Speaking after his victory Scott said "I'm humbled to have won the first Great Northern Minigolf Open and put my win down to my vast experience of the second course we played today."

Scott on his way to victory on the Crazy Golf course

Players had travelled from Kent, other parts of Greater Manchester, Bedfordshire and Tyneside to compete in the tournament.

For once John Moore hadn't travelled the furthest to compete

The Aces championship for most holes-in-one was a very close contest. The first course had proven incredibly tough and no players had recorded an ace during the 18-holes. John Moore was the first to hit an ace, doing so on hole 1 of the Crazy Golf course. Richard followed this with a hole-in-one on the second. There was another drought until Russ hit a perfect shot on the 14th hole. Emily managed until the last minute to get an ace, doing so on the 18th. However, it was to be Scott taking the Aces title to go alongside the main event as he hit aces on the 16th and 18th to do the double.

Nuts! Richard playing the Adventure Golf course

Russ on his way to a clubhouse lead after round one

Scott in action during round one

Emily plays the Tank hole 16th on the Crazy Golf course

Manston Adventure Golf in Kent

New Adventure Golf course opening at Manston Golf Centre in Kent.

This month sees a new Adventure Golf course opening in Thanet, Kent. This new 18-hole layout will feature cannons, pirates, dinosaurs and a volcano!

For more information and photos of the new minigolf course as it nears completion check out the Manston Adventure Golf Facebook page.

My fellow pro minigolfer, friend, rival, sometimes doubles team-mate, and local lad Scott 'Donkey Gringo' Lancley has been along for a sneaky peek and enjoyed his first look and play of the half-pirate/half-jurassic course.

The Adventure Golf course is due to open on Saturday 27th June and you'll be able to find it at Manston Golf Centre, Manston Road, Manston, Kent, CT12 5BE.

Links:
- Manston Adventure Golf on Facebook
- Manston Golf Centre website

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Kent

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

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.

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

Minigolfer's Bar Billiards side-tournament in Worthing

Bar Billiards at The Swan pub in Worthing

Following the conclusion of the practice session for the BMGA British Masters minigolf tournament at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing, attention turned to the evening’s side-game entertainment.

‘Traditional’ events for us to play while away on tour include Air Hockey & Tat Challenges, but in Worthing a group of us decided to hunt out a Bar Billiards table for a mini-competition.

I had used the excellent Bar Billiards table map resource at AEBBA to locate a number of pubs and tables in the area and we decided to pay The Swan Inn on the High Street a visit.

Bar Billiards at The Swan in Worthing - The well lit and nicely positioned table

We arrived and immediately saw the table in a good location to the left of the entrance. We ordered our drinks and decided on a format for the matches. The pub is a competition table and according to the notice board next to the table it's a location for matches in the Worthing & District Bar Billiards League.

Bar Billiards at The Swan in Worthing - the rules & league information

In the first match-up Chris ‘Who’ Harding of the Midlands Minigolf Club took on Scott ‘Donkey Gringo’ Lancley of the Kent Minigolf Club. Both players had played the game before, but neither had picked up a Bar Billiards cue in a number of years. After a quick rules reminder the game was underway and Chris built-up an early lead against Scott. The final result of the match was a 1,550 to 460 win to Chris, cleaning up the last two balls so no sudden-death shot was required.

Chris lines-up a shot in his match against Scott

My opponent was Paul ‘Johnson Paul Johnson’ Johnson who would be playing his first-ever game of Bar Billiards. In a very closely fought match-up there were quite a few white pegs knocked over by me before the final shoot-out. The final ball available was the red, but unfortunately for Paul the scores stood at 870 to 460 at the shoot-out stage and even if he had sunk the red he’d have only managed to reach 860.

Scott in action as Paul looks on

The third/fourth place play-off match saw Donkey Gringo take on The Johnson. Paul did manage to score 200 with his last shot, but it wasn’t enough to win and the game ended with a score-line of 710 to 520 in Scott’s favour.

Chris takes on a sudden-death shoot-out shot

Paul 'Johnson Paul Johnson' Johnson takes on a sudden-death shoot-out shot

The final match was a battle between me and Chris and saw me receive a new Bar Billiards nickname – The Black Peg – due to my innate ability to wipe out a half-decent break by knocking over the dreaded black peg. The final was won by Chris 840 to 700 to make him the side-tourney champion of Worthing.

The evening also saw the official handing over of the Midlands Minigolf ClubCaptain’s armband to Paul ‘The Overtaker’ Johnson who takes charge of the MMGC from departing Captain Chris ‘Who’ Harding, who has led the team for a number of years and captained the MMGC to national tournament victory in the 2008 BMGA British Club Championships in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Captaincy Handover for the Midlands Minigolf Club

A shell-shocked Paul 'The Capitan' Johnson with his new MMGC Captain's armband

Following the Singles contest a Doubles match saw me and Scott reprise our team from last year's BMGA British Doubles Championships as ‘Team Sqonkey’ to face-off against Paul and Chris, who were known as ‘The Capitans’.

With Scott carrying our team we picked up the win 560 to nil after The Capitans had wiped-out a score of 350 in the sudden-death shoot-out at the 200-hole. In this match we had decided that each team had to go for the 200-hole on the final shot.

I play a shot

The Swan Inn was a nice spot to spend a Saturday night and there was a DJ and Disco going on, which provided a nice soundtrack to the competition. It’s also the first time I’ve played a game (of Bar Billiards, or anything) to the song “Nellie the Elephant”!!!

Links:

- All Bar Billiards-related Blog Posts on the Ham & Egger Files

- The All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA)

- Worthing & District Bar Billiards League

- The Swan Inn

The Sqonkey Classic minigolf competition in Dorridge

Following the 2011 BMGA British Doubles Championships on Sunday 31st July, team mates ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried and Scott ‘Donkey Gringo’ Lancley faced-off in a 12-hole match for the Sqonkey Classic minigolf title at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull.

In an exciting tussle the ‘Sq’ (but no ‘u’) portion of the team defeated the ‘onkey’ 24-26.

Photo: From l-r, Sq and onkey

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 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.