A view of the 'Brewmaster's' ingenious Minigolf course layout
The unique venue and course layout was a real attraction and the price of a round of Minigolf also including a pint at the end. "Lots of free beer" was the prize on offer to the winner at the end of the day, with a free case of beer to any player managing a perfect round of five holes-in-one!
Southsea's Number One Minigolfer Christopher Gottfried is impressed with the Mini Golf course
Our group of six arrived at 2pm to find the course record had been set at 10. As well as competing in the overall Brewmaster's Open we had decided to play a three-round 'Pro / Semi-Pro' event amongst our group to make a day of it. The Camden Town Brewery had a great atmosphere, with a busy bar, plenty of seating inside & out, and the Olympics on a big screen TV. It was a nice setting for a few hours of Minigolfing and Drinking.
The group of Crazy Golfing 'Pro' Players. From l-r Richard Gottfried, Christopher Gottfried, Alan Norman (seated on keg), Emily Gottfried, Seth Thomas, Simon Hall
Our group split into three groups of two for the first two-rounds, with the final round to be played in reverse leaderboard order in two groups of three players.
I play hole 5 at The Brewmaster's Open Minigolf Tournament
Having scored an 8(-2) in round one Alan 'Stormin' Norman set the new course record and had gained a two-shot lead over me and three-shots over Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas. He followed up the 8 with a 9(-1) to retain his lead heading into round three.
I celebrate yet another hole-in-one on hole 1 at The Brewmaster's Open
Following a 'refreshment break' in the bar of the brewery we headed back onto the course to complete the 'Pro' contest and also see if Alan was still at the top of the leaderboard in the overall day-long contest. Indeed he was.
The 'Pro' & 'Semi-Pro' Minigolfers take a 'refreshment break' at the Camden Town Brewery during The Brewmaster's Open tournament
The final round saw Alan score an 11(+1) to take the victory in our contest, I scored a disappointing 12(+2) and slipped to third place, with Seth Thomas shooting a 10(par) to move up one place to second.
Alan 'Stormin' Norman plays hole 2
My brother Christopher finished in fourth place, scoring rounds of 13, 11 and 11 for a total of 35(+5) and showing the experience he gained in the one and only BMGA Tour event he ever played in - the 2008 Brighton Open.
Christopher Gottfried playing hole 5 at The Brewmaster's Open
Emily and Simon 'Practice' Hall tied for fifth place with a score of 36(+6). Simon, playing in his first tournament, did manage a best round of 10(par) to earn a place on the Brewmaster's Open Leaderboard in tied third place!
The Brewmaster's Open course and competition had one of the best scorecards produced for it - a Beermat advertising the event along with a scorecard on the reverse! A really great piece of Miniature Golf ephemera.
Some pints and a beermat advertising The Brewmaster's Open
After the final round we headed back to the bar for some celebratory drinks and food. As we were leaving we had to grab a final look at the leaderboard and saw that Alan had been joined at the top of the leaderboard with another player who had scored an 8! Over 200 people played the course during the day and luckily for Alan no-one managed to better the 8 during the day, so he became the Champion of the first-ever Brewmaster's Open!
I was happy with my best round of 9 to tie for the runner-up spot along with Seth Thomas and a few other players.
Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas plays hole 3 while Luton's third best Minigolfer Simon 'Practice' Hall looks on
The Camden Town Brewery is well worth a visit and you can find it located under the railway arches of Kentish Town West Overground Station.
Following the first minigolf event of the BMGA Tour season at the Star City Open in Birmingham on Sunday 22nd January, a group of players headed to the amusement arcade attached to the Bowling Alley in the Star City Complex for an Air Hockey Tourney.
The first game to be played was on the closest table to the door and after a draw of sorts was organised by Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried play commenced with a match-up between perennial Air Hockey loser, ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried, and the Welsh Worlds Air Hockey champ and side-tournament specialist Peter ‘The Dragon’ Jones.
Peter Jones (far side) faces-off against Richard Gottfried in the longest match ever!
Unbeknownst to the players the match would create something of a record result, as the machine was a bit broken! The final result saw 31 goals scored as the match seemed to be never ending. Normally the first player who scores 7 goals is the winner and the machine keeps the puck from being returned. However in the battle between Gottfried & Jones, Richard managed to get the upset win, with a slim victory of 16-15.
With the match going on for so long Richard retired from the rest of the contest due to exhaustion and went to have a nice sit down. This meant that Peter ‘The Crazy Aced Assassin’ Jones was back in the contest and would face Seth ‘Tooting’ Thomas in the ‘first’ round.
Before that contest could take place a new table needed to be found for the match between Ruthers and The Machine. Play then commenced after Ollie had put a deposit down for half an hour’s play on the Ping Pong table. In the Air Hockey match Ollie took control and defeated Ruthers 7-5 meaning The Machine would head to the final to face either Thomas or Jones. The defeated Ruthers consoled himself by heading to the Table Tennis table to take on and beat all-comers (except Seth, who was just too good). One notable result was the ‘Squire’ (ranked 50th alongside Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd in the 2010 World Series of Pong) coming out of retirement for one more match. He was swiftly beaten 11-6 by Ruthers.
Ping Ponger Ruthers awaiting new challengers
In the highly anticipated match-up between Worlds Champ Peter ‘Toy Truck’ Jones and the sporting polymath that is Seth ‘Clockwork Orange’ Thomas the result was an unexpected win to Thomas, who managed to take down the champ and win 7-3 to line up a contest against The Machine in the Grand Final.
The Machine warms-up for the Air Hockey final with a bit of Table Tennis
Having seen the photos of the Air Hockey matches online, and on being told he had wrongly assumed that Peter 'Indoor League' Jones had been dishing out lessons, Finnish player Pasi ‘Bruiser’ Aho commented “He's just giving you that false feeling of confidence and will strike back when it matters.”
With the first Air Hockey table used in the competition set to ‘Long Play’ the players couldn’t imagine that the event would befall some other controversy, but that is exactly what happened in the big final match-up. With Seth Thomas easing to a 6-2 lead against Oliver Florence what happened next could of been taken straight from a round of ‘What happened next?’ on TV game show A Question of Sport. As Ollie hit a goal to bring his score up to 3 goals, the puck got stuck in the goal mouth and couldn’t be retrieved, nor did it register on the scoreboard!
Seth Thomas and Oliver Florence face-off in the Air Hockey Final
Luckily Emily ‘I’ll get #TheMan’ Gottfried was on hand and went and got the man to come and have a look at the machine (the table, not Ollie). With much wrenching and fiddling the technician was unable to get the puck out, so instead turned off the table and gave the players their pound back.
Pucking Hell! The Air Hockey Puck gets stuck in the goal
This caused a dilemma as the result of the match was still undecided. To decide the ultimate winner of the Star City Air Hockey Contest, Seth and Ollie decided to play one game of Ping Pong as a decider!
The result of the Air Hockey Tournament is decided on a Ping Pong Table
In the end there seemed to be only one possible result as Seth took an early and commanding lead, as he had done on the Air Hockey, and finished the match by smashing in a result of 11-2 and leaving The Machine with the runner-up spot.
Following the final of the Air Pong competition Seth declared that “the fun isn’t over if I’ve still got money left” and proceeded to challenge players to games of Pool. First up was Richard who, apart from the break and potting one ball, spent the game speaking with Peter 'PJ#2' Jones on the sidelines.
Richard Gottfried enjoys a nice sit down on his way to a Pool defeat at the hands of Seth Thomas
With the Hurricane Simulator ‘Out of Order’ a doubles Pool match was proposed, with the line-up of England (Ollie & Seth) to take on the ‘Wales’ team of Peter and Richard. England won.
And that wrapped up the fun and games at The Buttons of Star City. For a change no Laser Tag was played. The next big arcade event will no doubt be a £2 Tat Challenge at the amusement arcades of Worthing, West Sussex in April.
Seth (l) and me in our 'internet' t-shirts earlier in the BMGA Minigolf Season at Dorridge. Fellow blogger and a former doubles partner of mine, Oliver 'The Machine' Florence is also pictured lurking in the background
The BIG minigolf question now is - Who will be my next, and landmark 20th, Minigolf Doubles Team Mate?
My Many Many Many Minigolf Doubles Partners (2008-2011):
1 Emily Gottfried
2 Matt Smith
3 Andy Gonsalves
4 Owen Johnson
5 Paul Johnson
6 Kevin Moseley
7 Chris Harding
8 Simon Hall
9 Leo Kukielka
10 Christopher Gottfried
11 Alan Norman
12 Oliver Florence
13 Julio Kent
14 Richard Skeggs
15 William Collins
16 Scott Lancley
17 Michael Smith
18 Seth Thomas
19 Guy Martin
My Minigolf Doubles Record:
Click to enlarge image
*New Kid On The Blogging Block
** aka The Bloggards, aka Quantity and Quality, aka Insquired, aka Clock of the Walk, aka Sqock Won, aka Bloggy Brilliant, aka Why have I spent 8 ruddy minutes thinking up team names!?
Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd wins the 'Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships' in 14-player field
Shepherd makes it three wins in three years at Crazy Golfers Crimbo Shindigs!
Photo: The un-Bronze Bully Prize!
On Monday 19th December 2011 thirteen of the World’s best Crazy Golfers and Snooker Ace/Juggler Richard '147' Linden met under the Arrivals Board at Victoria Station (how romantic) before heading to Rileys Victoria for an evening of shenanigans in the 2011 Crazy Golfers Christmas ‘Do’.
Previous years have seen the group play Minigolf in 2009 (a busman’s holiday) and Indoor BIG Golf on a simulator & a bit of Putting in 2010. But for the 2011 Open Invitational event there were a few new options suggested, including Tenpin Bowling, Darts, Laser Tag and Table Football.
With Bowling Alleys either charging too much (read 'extortionate'), or not bothered about the potential booking from the group it was decided that Darts would be a good option and after some research on the Bachelor of Darts’ Capital Arrows website the venue for the ‘Do’ was found and a booking made for three Dart Boards at Rileys Victoria. What was even better was the Boards were free to book!
The 14 players would be vying for the Christmas Champion Title and the un-Bronze Bully in the ‘Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships’! Players got into the festive/darts spirit by donning Christmas hats and gaudy shirts for the night out.
Photo: Action from Board 3. Trevor 'The Wraith' Robertson on the oche in his match against Emily 'Ah Bristow' Gottfried. Alan 'Stormin' Norman is the scorer
At 7pm the players began practising their throws and the competitors could get an early idea of who the opposition would be. While the praccy was underway a draw/bracket/format was organised by EmilyLemonyCoach, TevorTheWraithSmeethino and Brad.
Of note is the fact that Seth ‘Zen’ Thomas had brought his own Snooker Cue, which many players thought was a Javelin in a case when they met at Victoria. Unfortunately with so much ‘arrers action going on the group never had time to play any Pool or Snooker. Perhaps next year...
Photo: Seth 'Zen' Thomas and his Pool Cue in a case at Victoria Station. Also pictured, Alan 'Stormin' Norman (l) and Steve 'F1' Gow
One of the early favourites for the tournament victory was Gareth ‘Colleen’ Holmes, who while not present on the Minigolf-scene of late (since a devastating tackle from Brad at an Air Hockey table in Hastings which put him on the disabled-list), was thought to be a challenger as someone said he’d “played a bit of Darts before.” Where he’d played, how long ago and against who is still unclear!? On the walk to Rileys ‘Oh’ Chris Jones had also stated that he’d played before and wasn’t bad, however he then said "But that was 32 years ago!"
Photo: Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd on the oche, with scorer Martin 'Smashin' Robertson
With the competition format decided a draw was then held to decide the groups for the event.
All of the matches, except the final, would be played as one-leg shoot outs of 301 straight-in, double-out games. The final of the ‘Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships’ would be played in a 501 game.
For the qualifying round the 14 players were drawn into three Pools and each assigned to a Dart Board to play round-robin matches. The top two players from each group would then qualify automatically to the last-8, with the three players who finished third in their groups meeting one another in a play-off to decide which two would qualify as players 7 & 8.
The remaining players would be placed into a Loser’s Pool to play-off in a round-robin format to decide places 9-14.
The top-8 would play in a knockout format to decide who would make the semi-finals and the losing four players would then play for positions 5-8. There would also be a 3rd/4th place match prior to the Grand Final.
Pool A / Dart Board 1
Seth ‘Zen’ Thomas
Jon ‘The Stance’ Angel
‘Oh’ Chris Jones
Gareth ‘Colleen’ Holmes
Richard ‘147' Linden
Pool B / Dart Board 2
‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried
Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd
Martin ‘Smashin’ Robertson
Lionel ‘The Spoon’ Bender
Pool C / Dart Board 3
Emily ‘Ah Bristow’ Gottfried
Trevor ‘The Wraith’ Robertson
Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman
Steve ‘The Rant’ Gow
Marc ‘The Professor’ Chapman
Due to unforeseen technical issues, the pre-prepared 'Walk-on' music for each player ahead of their matches was unavailable. It wasn't a big problem though as it would likely have been drowned out by the Christmas tunes anyway!
Automatically qualifying for the quarter-finals from Group A was Seth, with Martin and Brad joining him from Group B. Alan was the automatic qualifier from Group C.
In Group A and C there were players tied for the second and third places so a three-way 9-dart play-off was required to decide who finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th in each group. In Group A Gareth won with a score of 156 to qualify as group runner-up. Jon was third, scoring 113, and would go into the play-off pool for the third place players, joining Richard G and the third player from Group C. Richard L scored 70 and finished 4th in Group A.
In Group C Emily won the 9-dart play-off with a score of 127, with Steve qualifying for the three-way play-off against Richard G and Jon, having scored 117. Despite hitting treble-20 with one of his last three darts Marc scored 108 to finish fourth in the Group.
The highest three-dart score of the whole tournament was made by Trevor ‘The Wraith’ Robertson in a first-round match when he hit a great score of 111.
Before the matches in the last-8 could commence, the players who would be ‘seeded’ 7th and 8th needed to be decided. In the three-way play-off Richard G beat Steve, Steve lost to Jon, and Jon beat Richard G, meaning Jon qualified as number 7 and Richard as number 8. Steve would join Marc, Richard L, Chris, Trevor and Lionel in the Loser’s Pool for the ranking matches for places 9-14.
In these matches both Marc and Steve managed to complete their games before the Grand Final got underway and finished in 9th and 10th places respectively, with Marc winning four of his five round-robin games. Steve won two and lost three in the round-robin pool. Steve also managed to play the most competitive matches in the tournament, stepping up to the oche to compete in eleven matches overall!
Lionel, Chris, Trevor and Richard L did not complete all of their round-robin games and were tied in 11th place (or 11th, tied 12th and 14th to be ever so precise).
In the last-8 matches Emily lost to Richard G in a grudge match between the two Lutonians. Brad beat Martin in a re-match from the group stages. Gareth lost to Seth and Jon beat Alan.
In the games to decide the rankings from 5th to 8th place Emily lost to Martin who found some of his first-round form to get the win. Alan beat Gareth in an all-London encounter. Martin lost to Alan and Emily lost to bookies favourite Gareth.
In the semi-finals Richard G once again lost to Brad, as he had in their group match, with Brad progressing to the Grand Final. Earlier in the day the two had stumbled across a Pub in Wood Green advertising their Dart Board and had a few games, with Richard winning five-out-of-five, but he could not find the double against Brad in the semi-final.
Photo: Semi-Finalists Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd and 'Squire' Richard Gottfried
In the second semi-final Seth beat Jon to book his place in the Grand Final against Brad.
Photo: Semi-Finalists Seth 'Zen' Thomas and Jon 'The Stance' Angel
Ahead of the Grand Final Richard and Jon met, in another re-match from earlier in the evening, to decide who would finish as the Bronze medallist. In the 301 contest Richard picked up the victory to claim a place on the Podium.
Photo: The Finalists Seth 'Zen' Thomas and Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd. With scorer Gareth 'Colleen' Holmes
With the un-Bronze Bully up for grabs, a fair few drinks imbibed and hunger setting in, the atmosphere for the final saw the other twelve players reaching a sort-of mild fever-pitch.
In the 501 straight-in double-out contest Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd managed to defeat surprise finalist Seth ‘Zen’ Thomas by hitting double-2, leading to a big cheer from the crowd as Brad realised his dream of winning the competitions at three Christmas ‘Do’s’ in three years! Marc the announcer declared Brad the winner and Gareth the scorer presented him with the coveted un-Bronze Bully to shouts of “Bully! Bully! Bully!” from the uproarious audience.
Photo: 2011 Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Champion Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd
With the matches over and the promise of some sore heads & throwing arms and bruised egos the next day, the merry minigolfers made their way to all corners of London and the Home Counties (and Canterbury) all looking forward to a Merry Christmas and dreams of toppling Brad’s reign as Crazy Golf’s Crimbo Champ in 2012!
Suggestions for sporting contests for the 2012 Crimbo Contest already include:
- Draughts/Kick-boxing
- Ludo/Fencing
- Connect-4/Arm-Wrestling
- Ping-Pong/Sumo
Other ideas more than welcome, please leave comments below...
Final Rankings and Win/Loss Records for the 2011 ‘Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships’
More photos from the event:
Photo: Lionel 'The Spoon' Bender hits the Bullseye!
Photo: Snooker player and Juggler Richard '147' Linden reaches his 'perfect' score!
Photo: Marc 'The Professor' Chapman takes a closer look at Bully (censored version)
The 'Rivernear' Darts Tournament was the biggest in the history of Crazy Golf! In 2008 the first-ever (and only one to date) Links Darts tournament was contested at Planet Hastings Crazy Golf course at the end of the first day’s play of the 2008 BMGA British Minigolf Championships. That contest was won by Sean ‘The Sandman’ Homer. Perhaps the 2012 minigolf season will throw-up a meeting between Brad and Sean in a battle of the two ‘codes’ in a Grand Slam of Minigolf-Darts!
As a warm-up to the Midlands Open the Dorridge Invitational Competition was contested on the 12-hole Minigolf course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull on the evening of Friday 29th July 2011, with the eight players making up the field drawn from those still practicing.
Lewisham/Tooting/Hither Green/London/Wandsworth’s Seth ‘Clockwork Orange’ Thomas picked up the win in the 12-hole one-round event with a three shot margin over runner-up James ‘The Rocket’ Rutherford. Nick Sandqvist was third on 25.
One of my fellow BMGA Tour Minigolf Rivals Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas recently started up a new Blog - Forever Pushing Buttons.
The blog by Seth carries a sub heading of "Terrible Tatter, Mediocre Minigolfer, Pathetic Pool player but still trying…..a bit." and his first blog post was about Minigolf.
Tenth Scrap Iron Cup Minigolf Competition - Results and Report
Owen Johnson becomes a two-time Scrap Iron Cup Minigolf Champion
Owen ‘Jackpot' Johnson became a two-time Scrap Iron Cup minigolf champion on Saturday 4th June 2011 with a one-hole victory over three-time champion Seth ‘Clockwork Orange’ Thomas at the 18-hole Miniature Golf course at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk.
Round one was a 9-hole Strokeplay qualifier, with Seth ‘Clockwork Orange’ Thomas setting the pace with a score of 15. Owen 'Jackpot' Johnson shot a 17.
In the 9-hole Matchplay second round Seth took an early lead, and went two-up at the 3rd hole (the 12th). However, Owen fought back and brought the game back to level pegging at the 8th hole and forced a sudden-death play-off that would begin at hole one.
Both Thomas and Johnson scored twos on the first and second holes, but it was at the short but tricky third hole that Owen, the youngest ever Scrap Iron Cup Champion, stepped up and hit a hole-in-one. Seth was unable to score the much needed Ace and so Owen 'Jackpot' Johnson won the title and the bragging rights.
Defending champion Paul 'The Overtaker' Johnson was unable to retain the Scrap Iron Cup in the event and finished tied third alongside four-time champion 'Squire' Richard Gottfried.
New Scrap Iron Cup Champion Owen Johnson has now won the title twice, from a total of three final appearances.
Emily 'Coach' Gottfried was the other competitor at the tournament.
Scrap Iron Cup #10 04/06/2011 Venue: Wroxham Barns, Hoveton, Norfolk
Round One – Strokeplay Rank Player
1. Seth Thomas – 15
2. Owen Johnson – 17
3T. Richard Gottfried – 19
3T. Paul Johnson – 19
5. Emily Gottfried – 20
Round Two – Matchplay
Seth Thomas vs. Owen Johnson
Result – Owen Johnson wins 1up at the third extra-hole of the sudden-death play-off
Photos from the 10th Scrap Iron Cup tournament.
Scrap Iron Cup - Hall of Fame
2011 - #10 - Owen Johnson beat Seth Thomas - Wroxham Barns 2011 - #9 - Paul Johnson beat Seth Thomas - Margate 2011 - #8 - Richard Gottfried beat Peter Jones - Liverpool 2011 - #7 - Seth Thomas beat Paul Johnson - Liverpool 2011 - #6 - Seth Thomas beat Owen Johnson - Hither Green 2011 - #5 - Seth Thomas beat Richard Gottfried - Bristol 2011 - #4 - Richard Gottfried beat Cindy Kukielka - Birmingham 2010 - #3 - Owen Johnson beat Richard Gottfried - Birmingham 2010 - #2 - Richard Gottfried beat Paul Johnson - Weymouth 2010 - #1 - Richard Gottfried beat Paul Johnson - Sandbanks
Rules of the Scrap Iron Cup
• Played between members of the Midlands Minigolf Club
• Played in either groups of two, or one group, in round one
• Groups are drawn at random (often using the 'balls in a hat' technique)
• Round one is a strokeplay match played over 7, 9, 11, 12 or 18 holes
• The two players with the top scores after round one qualify for the second round/final
• Round two is a matchplay match played over 7, 9, 12 or 18 holes
• The winner of the matchplay match becomes the Scrap Iron Cup* Champion**
* The Johnson's Scrap Iron Cup (aka the 'NABBA ENGLAND 95 CLASS TWO WINNER' Trophy) remains the property of Owen and Paul Johnson
** The Reigning Scrap Iron Champion retains the cup until the next defence whereupon it is given up until the next Scrap Iron Cup tournament has been completed
.JPG "A lot of beer kegs and the tee-off area of hole 1 at Camden Town Brewery's Mini Golf course")
.JPG "A view of the 'Brewmaster's' ingenious Minigolf course layout")
.JPG "Southsea's Number One Minigolfer Christopher Gottfried is impressed with the Mini Golf course")
.JPG "The group of Crazy Golfing 'Pro' Players. From l-r Richard Gottfried, Christopher Gottfried, Alan Norman (seated on keg), Emily Gottfried, Seth Thomas, Simon Hall")
.JPG "I play hole 5 at The Brewmaster's Open Minigolf Tournament")
.JPG "I celebrate yet another hole-in-one on hole 1 at The Brewmaster's Open")
.JPG "The 'Pro' and 'Semi-Pro' Minigolfers take a 'refreshment break' at the Camden Town Brewery during The Brewmaster's Open tournament")
.JPG "Alan 'Stormin' Norman plays hole 2")
.JPG "Christopher Gottfried playing hole 5 at The Brewmaster's Open")
.JPG "Some pints and a beermat advertising The Brewmaster's Open")
.JPG "Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas plays hole 3 while Luton's third best Minigolfer Simon 'Practice' Hall looks on")
