Dorridge Invitational Minigolf Tournament

Report from the Dorridge Invitational Tournament.

As a warm-up to the MMGC Midlands Open competition held at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge the seven players still practicing on Saturday evening competed in the second ever Dorridge Invitational Tournament.

The Dorridge Invitational Tournament competitors, from l-r Adrian Amey, Emily Gottfried, Will Donnelly, Richard Gottfried, Steve Sturdy, Ruth Burke, Dave Donnelly

In the one-round Pro Player shootout local competitor Ruth Burke won with a score of 20(-4), two shots clear of runner-up Dave Donnelly.

D.I.T. minigolf champion Ruth Burke putting on the final hole and sealing victory

Emily Gottfried and Will Donnelly tied for third place having scored 23(-1).

Emily Gottfried playing on hole 11 at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge

Richard Gottfried was fifth on 26(+2), with Steve Sturdy in sixth place on 28(+4) and Adrian Amey in seventh spot after scoring 30(+6).

The only previous edition of the Dorridge Invitational Tournament was held in 2011 and won by Seth Thomas in an eight-player field.

Dorridge Invitational Tournament (D.I.T.) Hall of Fame
2015 - Ruth Burke
2011 - Seth Thomas

Related blog posts:
- Dorridge
- The Dorridge Invitational Minigolf Competition 2011

Links:
- Midlands Minigolf Club on Facebook
- Four Ashes Golf Centre
- British Minigolf Association

Mini Golf at Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham

Two new 18-hole Mini Golf courses now open at Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham.

The new Mini Golf centre at Birmingham's Cannon Hill Park opened this week and it looks great.

The new 36-hole Mini Golf course in Cannon Hill Park. Looking like some sort of driving game!? Photo by Paul Johnson

In brighter weather the course looks even better. Check out this post on the Golden Putter Mini Golf Facebook page for some more photos of the layout.

Photos of the course, before the downpour, by Paul Johnson are below.

Back in March our fellow Minigolf Explorers Paul 'Johnson Paul Johnson' Johnson, Owen Johnson, Steve Sturdy and Ruth Burke visited the site and got some snaps of the course being built. Check out the blog post about it at "New Mini Golf course opening soon in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham."

The mascot of the Golden Putter Minigolf Courses. 'Gordon Putter' as he's known doesn't always have a 'tache though!

Visit the Golden Putter Mini Golf website for details of the other Golden Putter Mini Golf courses at Warwick, Wroxham, Staines and Rotherham. As well as their portable course.

Emily and I have visited all of the Golden Putter courses so far, except Rotherham. We're looking forward to giving the two new ones in Birmingham a play.

Links:
- Golden Putter Mini Golf
- Greenspace Leisure Ltd

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- New Mini Golf course opening soon in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham

Crazy Golf on "Rory and Will - Champions of The World"

The "Unofficial Worlds TV Crazy Golf Championship Challenge" played in Hastings and shown on Channel 5!

Back in September 2012 the 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Champion Michael Smith and three-time Women's World Crazy Golf Champion Ruth Burke and I (ably supported by BMGA Tour Pro Steve Sturdy) filmed a piece for the lighthearted travel documentary "Rory and Will - Champions of The World" for Channel 5 at the famous 18-hole Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Hastings, East Sussex. A few photos from the day's filming are below.

Rory McGrath lines up a Putt on the tough 14th hole in Hastings as his Crazy Golf Coach Michael Smith  looks on

The British Minigolf Association's Crazy Minigolfing Team in Hastings after filming, from l-r Rory McGrath, Ruth Burke, Michael Smith, Will Mellor, and me! (pic by Steve Sturdy)

Rory & Will's Champions of the World 'Unofficial World Crazy Golf Championship' Trophy - with customary seaside 99 with a flake!

If you missed the first airing, then you can watch the episode when it's repeated on Friday 8th of February at 7pm. You can also watch the programme on Channel 5's 'Demand 5' service!

If you enjoyed watching the programme, like Crazy Golf & Minigolf and fancy giving the sport a go then why not sign-up to the British Minigolf Association - there are FREE and paid options available and you can find out more on the BMGA website's Membership page.

The Hastings Crazy Golf course is the host venue for the 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship and 2013 will see the eleventh edition of the tournament held. If that's too long to wait to take part in a Crazy Golf tournament then you can enter the first-ever BMGA British Crazy Golf Open that will be held in March!

Related Blog Post:

- Crazy Golf to feature on "Rory and Will - Champions of The World"

Links:

- Rory and Will - Champions of The World

- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)

- Hastings Adventure Golf

- British Minigolf Association Factsheet

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.