Minigolf Report – 2014 BMGA British Masters in Worthing

14th April 2014

Press Information

For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – BMGA British Masters in Worthing

Richard Gottfried 5th and Emily Gottfried 11th in national Miniature Golf tournament. 

Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried competed in the BMGA British Masters tournament that took place at the 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course at Denton Gardens in Worthing, West Sussex on Sunday 13th April. In the four-round, 72-hole tournament Richard finished in 5th place overall in the 30-player field. Emily finished in 11th place overall, and was the winner in the Category 3 event contested by six players.

Richard and Emily Gottfried receive their medals from the Mayor of Worthing, Bob Smytherman

Richard scored a three-round total of 149(+5) after rounds of 37, 36, 39 and 37. With twelve holes-in-one across the four rounds he won the Category 1 player Aces title.

Richard Gottfried playing hole 4 during the Hole-in-One Charity Challenge at the 2014 BMGA British Masters tournament at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing

Emily scored a total 168(+24) with rounds of 44, 41, 41 and 42. For the second year in a row Emily had to face a play-off to win Category 3. In the sudden-death play-off Emily defeated Kent’s Adrian Amey at the first extra-hole to take the title.

Emily Gottfried in her sudden-death play-off on hole 10 at the BMGA British Masters competition at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing 

Richard said "Splash Point Mini Golf is a course that seems to get tougher each and every year, but I relish the chance to visit Worthing and tackle it. I dropped a few more shots this year but was very happy to finish fifth overall, as well as pick up the medal as the Aces Champion. I’m really pleased for Emily too as she improved by one place overall from last year and did really well to retain the Category 3 title.”

Emily said “I’m really happy to finish 11th overall! Splash Point is a really tough course with couple of horror holes for me, so I’m really delighted with this result. I’m also pleased to come first in my Category, despite making it harder for myself by making a few silly mistakes which meant I had to play-off for the title, but it was great victory for me. I’m looking forward to the next event in Margate now, even though that’s another tricky course.” 

The winner of the 2014 BMGA British Masters was Oxford’s Michael Smith with a score of 135(-9) who became a two-time champion. Newcastle’s John Moore, a former champion, was runner-up on 141(-3), with Portugal’s Nuno Cunha third on 144(par) and defending champion, Cambridgeshire’s Adam Kelly, fourth on 146(+2).

Ends

Bar Billiards at the Marine View Hotel in Worthing

An evening playing Bar Billiards at the Marine View Hotel in Worthing.

While in sunny Worthing for the recent BMGA British Masters Minigolf tournament played at the town's Splash Point Mini Golf we decided to seek out a Bar Billiards table near the seafront for the evening's entertainment.

The Bar Billiards league table at the Marine View Hotel in Worthing

Last year a group of us had played Bar Billiards at The Swan and having looked again on the excellent Bar Billiards table map we spotted that the Marine View Bed & Breakfast on the promenade had a table.

Richard plays a shot in an attempt to score 400-points!

We arrived to a nice welcome and a warm venue to spend the evening playing one of our favourite games. The Marin View hotel bar also has a Dartboard and there is plenty of space around the Bar Billiards to play, little wonder as it's a tournament quality table and part of the Worthing & District Bar Billiards League.

John Moore fires a rocket of a shot against Richard

We had some great matches amongst ourselves and it was all good preparation for the upcoming Minigolfer's Bar Billiards competition and 'do' in London! There were some nice high scores (for us) of over a thousand points and a few really good breaks. These were however unfortunately followed by some calamatous wipe-outs! It's still a great fun pub game and if you've never played it then I do suggest you find your nearest table and give it a go.

Emily begins a game against John Moore

If you're in Worthing then you should definitely give the Marine View hotel bar a visit, it's very close to the town centre, the Bar Billiards table is in great condition and plays very nicely. We'll be heading back for another game there in the future.

Links:
- Bar Billiards-related Blog Posts on the Ham & Egger Files
- The All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA)
- Worthing & District Bar Billiards League
- Marine View B&B
- Worthing Blog Posts

Film of the 2013 BMGA British Masters Minigolf Championship in Worthing

Film of the 2013 BMGA British Masters competition by the team behind 'A Year In The Life Of Worthing'.

The 2013 BMGA British Masters national miniature golf tournament won by Adam Kelly and held at Worthing's Splash Point Mini Golf course in the town's Denton Gardens was filmed by the team at 2 Dog Imaging.

Check out the brilliant film of a great event.



Did you see (and hear) my holes-in-one ;-)

Links:

- "British Masters Mini Golf 2013" video
- "British Masters Mini Golf 2012 Worthing" video

- 2 Dog Imaging

- 'A Year In The Life Of Worthing' Facebook page

- Splash Point Mini Golf

- British Minigolf Association
- BMGA British Masters 2013 event page & results

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Report – 2013 BMGA British Masters in Worthing
- Video of the 2012 BMGA British Masters in Worthing
- Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour course visit #181

Minigolf Report – 2013 BMGA British Masters in Worthing

15th April 2013

Press Information

For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – BMGA British Masters in Worthing

Richard Gottfried 4th and Emily Gottfried 12th in national Miniature Golf tournament. 

Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried competed in the BMGA British Masters tournament that took place at the 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course at Denton Gardens in Worthing, West Sussex on Sunday 14th April. In the four-round, 72-hole tournament Richard finished in 4th place overall in the 27-player field. Emily finished in 12th place overall, and was the winner in the Category 3 event contested by 13 players.

Richard scored a three-round total of 143(-1), having shot a new personal best of 32(-4), followed by rounds of 40(+4), 34(-2) and 37(+1).

Richard Gottfried plays the 12th hole at Splash Point Mini Golf 

Emily scored a total 174(+30) after rounds of 41(+5), 50(+14), 41(+5) and 42(+6). To win Category 3 Emily defeated Wales’ Paul Godding in a sudden-death play-off at the third extra-hole to take the title.

Emily Gottfried in her play-off against Paul Godding at Splash Point Mini Golf 

The winner of the 2013 BMGA British Masters was Cambridgeshire’s Adam Kelly with a score of 132(-12). Splash Point’s Peter Emmerson was runner-up on 135(-9) and Oxford’s Michael Smith 3rd on 142(-2).

Richard said "I was pleased to be in the mix in the British Masters this year and fairly happy to have finished fourth. To score three sub-40 rounds at Splash Point Mini Golf is great as it’s recognised as one of the country’s hardest courses and I only had two bad holes out of 72 during the day which was a massive improvement on my last performance in Worthing. Well done to the new champion Adam Kelly and thanks to the team at Splash Point for hosting a brilliant tournament."

Emily said “My 12th place finish was higher than I anticipated before the tournament, so I was really pleased! I played really well in all but one round and I’m happy with my performance overall. The play-off against Paul was tough, so I was ecstatic to win it and be the top Category 3 player at the British Masters.” 

Richard made his debut in the 2007 BMGA British Masters in Southend-on-Sea, finishing in 24th place. Until his 4th place in Worthing his previous best in the event was a 9th place finish when the competition was held in Margate in 2011.

Ends

Doggone Minigolf!

Animal Crackers on the UK Minigolf Circuit.

2012 has been a cracking year for minigolf, but this year has seen three curious incidences of Dogs making appearances at a British Minigolf Association Tour event!

At today's BMGA British Club Championship held at the 9-hole Mini Golf course Basingstoke Golf Centre in sunny Basingstoke a small scamp of a dog interrupted proceedings by making its way onto the course, have a sniff of a few players, roll in some bushes, sit on my foot, pose for a photo and run off into the trees next to the nearby Putting Green.

The small dog gets to know Emily Gottfried from the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club as the rest of her team look quite bemused

The Basingstoke intruder makes its getaway

At last month's tenth annual Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championship the BMGA Tour welcomed it’s newest, and some might say biggest, fan in a dog that went crazy for the Minigolf action on holes 16, 17 and 18 of the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course on Hastings Seafront! Many a veteran player was enchanted by its behaviour and confusion as it marvelled at the multitude of multi-coloured Golf Balls dropping off a small ledge and disappearing down a hole.

One dog with no man at the World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

The first dog encounter of the season was at the BMGA British Masters held at the 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing's Denton Gardens back in April. The park area is popular amongst dog walkers and their pets and during the action (handily filmed by the team at the coincidentally named 2dogimaging) one 'lovable' canine called "Bonnie", perhaps looking for its own 'Fenton' moment, made itself known to the players in the tournament and the wider world by running all over the course!

There was also a cat on the course at the BMGA British Club Championships at Basingstoke. However, no photos of this feline were snapped as players were too busy shooing it off of the course.

Two more Minigolf courses visited in Worthing

A mini-golf Putting Course and a Krazy Golf course visited, but not played.

While in Worthing, West Sussex for the 2012 BMGA British Masters competition at Splash Point Mini Golf course I visited two other Minigolf courses in the town.

Both are at the Lancing-end of Worthing. The first was at Brooklands Par-3 Golf Centre where I found a Putting Course, the other was at Brooklands Pleasure Park where there is a Krazy Golf course.

The Brooklands Par-3 Golf Centre Putting Green had just closed when I arrived.

Brooklands Par-3 Golf Centre Putting Green

Brooklands Pleasure Park has no entrance fee and is open all year round from 11am-5pm, but I arrived after 5pm so couldn't play the course.

Sign for the Brooklands Pleasure Park Krazy Golf course in Worthing

Related Blog Posts:

- Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #181

- Marine Gardens in Worthing - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit - Course Closed for the Day

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Five years as a 'Pro' Minigolfer

Playing on the British Minigolf Association Tour since 2007.

Back on the 28th April 2007 I made my BMGA Tour debut in the BMGA British Masters minigolf competition at the Adventure Golf course at Adventure Island in Southend-on-Sea. Last weekend I played in my fourth BMGA British Masters event in five years at the Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing.

At the Adventure Island courses in Southend-on-Sea ahead of my BMGA Tour debut in 2007

I officially joined the British Minigolf Association on Monday 22nd January 2007 and made my first appearance in the third tournament of the season (I missed the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open and the Irish Open).

In the 2007 BMGA British Masters I finished in 24th place in the 28 player field, earned one ranking point and was second in the novice category behind Alan Norman and ahead of Ian Barrett. Of the three of us, Alan and I have continued to regularly play on the Tour, while Ian was never seen again! You can read a report and see the results of the 2007 BMGA British Masters - won by Keith Kellard - at MiniatureGolfer.com. In fact my rival Alan 'Stormin' Norman and I were on the same score and paired together for the final round of the 2012 BMGA British Masters in Worthing. In that mini-contest I defeated Alan and finished 16th (I scored a 43 while he shot a 50).

Since that first appearance on the BMGA Tour I have competed in 76 BMGA competitions, winning five of them. I've had six runner-up finishes, three third-places and 23 other top ten finishes. In the five years as a BMGA player I have had the honour of representing Great Britain in two international minigolf tournaments overseas (the 2008 WMF Nations Cup in Finland and the 2011 WMF Nations Cup in Sweden) and at the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings. I have also represented England in five World Crazy Golf Championships, reaching the finals on three occasions.

Emily made her BMGA Tour debut on the biggest stage in Crazy Golf at the 2007 Virgin Money World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings where she finished 54th overall and 6th in the Virgin Money Women's World Crazy Golf Championships.

Related Blog Posts:

- My fourth blog post at The Ham & Egger Files - "The Crazy World of Miniature Golf"
- Richard Gottfried - Minigolf Player Profile
- Emily Gottfried - Minigolf Player Profile

- Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf in Southend-on-Sea - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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

Video of the 2012 BMGA British Masters in Worthing

Film of BMGA tournament at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing.

Last Sunday's BMGA British Masters competition was filmed by the team at 2 Dog Imaging. The great video can be seen below. Watch for me making a nice shot from 1m 20s onwards, it's a shame it was only a recovery shot for a score of 4 on the very tough 16th hole!

Links:

- "British Masters Mini Golf 2012 Worthing" video

- 2 Dog Imaging

- 'A Year In The Life Of Worthing' Facebook page

- Splash Point Mini Golf

- British Minigolf Association

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Report - Richard Gottfried 16th at the BMGA British Masters at Splash Point Mini Golf, Worthing

Meeting Worthing's Mr Seafood

A visit to the new seafood stall on Worthing’s seafront.

One of the great things about me and Emily’s travels around the UK’s seasides is that we get to buy some lovely seafood. We’re very often in Hastings, East Sussex for minigolf competitions and we always make sure to visit The Net Shop Jellied Eel Bar on Rock-A-Nore Road for the excellent Oysters they serve there.

My latest trip to the coast for the BMGA British Masters minigolf tournament took me to Worthing, West Sussex, where I had heard via the very useful Splash Point Mini Golf Twitter account that there was a new seafood seller located next to the pier.

Mr Seafood's stall next to Worthing Pier

Mr. Seafood was a very nice chap and has a good selection of seafood on offer, including Oysters, Prawns, Crayfish Tails and more. He’s also on Twitter (@_mrseafood) and has posted some humorous updates including this one that made me chuckle.

We’ve visited 170 seaside resorts and towns to date, but not nearly enough of them have seafood stalls like Worthing and Hastings. We have had great seafood at Osborne Brothers in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, and its neighbouring town Southend-on-Sea has some good seafood stalls too.

Oddly, the other place we’ve always found to have great seafood is in Las Vegas where we’ve eaten excellent Oysters at Big Al's Oyster Bar at The Orleans Hotel & Casino and the Penazzi Oyster Bar in Harrah’s Hotel & Casino.

Related Blog Post:

- Gluten Free and Coeliac/Celiac Friendly Places to Eat in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Worthing's Splash Point Mini Golf Course Becomes a Temporary Seagull-Free Zone!

Seagulls at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing and on Twitter, but not at the BMGA British Masters

Prior to the 2012 BMGA British Masters miniature golf tournament in Worthing on Sunday there had been some chat and worry on twitter about whether the Seagulls of the town (and its neighbouring town of Lancing) would be attacking the players of the British Minigolf Association Tour and the prized champion's jacket!

Richard Gottfried on the Seagull-free Splash Point Mini Golf course first thing on Saturday morning

Some Twitter chatter on the 14th and 16th of April had led to concerns that players competing in the BMGA British Masters could be divebombed off of Seagulls in the area!

A very active Seagull on Twitter is @Top_Gull. In fact he claims to be "Lancing, Worthing & Brighton's Premier Seagull"!

Some of Top Gull's friends gather on the perimeter of the Splash Point Mini Golf course during the practice day

Through the Splash Point Mini Golf course Twitter account (@Worthing_Golf) a request for @Top_Gull to not poop on the players as they played in Sunday’s tournament, or on the coveted BMGA British Masters Jacket that was eventually won by Michael Smith, was put out.

A pair of Seagulls squabble over who gets to eat what I believe to be a toasted cheese sandwich!?

Luckily a ‘No Fly Zone’ was declared by Top Gull and his #gullmafia and the players and the tweed jacket all escaped attack which Splash Point Mini Golf very much appreciated.

Is this @Top_Gull at the Splash Point Mini Golf course on Saturday???

The Seagulls stayed away from Splash Point Mini Golf course on tournament Sunday and could be found on the beach instead!

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Report - Richard Gottfried 16th at the BMGA British Masters at Splash Point Mini Golf, Worthing

- Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #181

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date

Seagull Related Video:

- Minigolfer 'Squire' Richard Gottfried practices ahead of the 2009 BMGA British Championships on the Sea Front Minigolf course at Hastings, watched by a crowd of Seagulls

Links:

- Top Gull on Twitter

- Splash Point Mini Golf website

- Splash Point Mini Golf on Twitter

- "Crazy Golf, Public Toilets and seagulls - this story has it all! "Sullied Skeggs sees off seagulls to seal Minches win"" - blog post about a blog post by Oliver 'The Machine' Florence

- "Sullied Skeggs sees off seagulls to seal Minches win" - the blog post by Oliver 'The Machine' Florence

- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)

Minigolf Report - Richard Gottfried 16th at the BMGA British Masters at Splash Point Mini Golf, Worthing

23rd April 2012

Press Information

For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – BMGA British Masters

Richard Gottfried 16th at the BMGA British Masters at Splash Point Mini Golf, Worthing

Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried competed in the first outdoor event of the 2012 British Minigolf Association Tour season as he finished 16th of 28 players in the BMGA British Masters tournament that took place at the Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing, West Sussex on Sunday 22nd April.

In excellent weather conditions at the 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing Richard scored rounds of 42(+6), 41(+5), 42(+6) and 43(+7) for a 72-hole total of 168(+24).

Richard Gottfried playing the 9th hole at the BMGA British Masters at the Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing
- photo by Marion Homer of the KMGC

The 2012 British Masters was Richard’s 76th official BMGA Tour competition appearance since he made his debut in the BMGA British Masters tournament in Southend-on-Sea in 2007 when he finished in 24th spot of 28 players. His three other previous results in the event have seen him finish in 22nd and 23rd places in 30 player fields and 9th in the 2011 event.

The tournament was won by Oxford’s Michael Smith with a score of 137(-7). Cambridge’s James Rutherford was runner-up after defeating Brighton’s Peter Emmerson at the fourth hole of a sudden-death play-off after both players had tied on 144(par).

Richard said “Worthing’s Splash Point Mini Golf is recognised as one of the toughest courses on the BMGA Tour, but it’s always a pleasure to visit. I had hoped to repeat my play from the 2010 British Matchplay Championships at the course with a good finish, but it wasn’t to be. I was pleased with my consistency though, with a difference of only two shots between my rounds I just seemed to have one bad hole per round.”

Ends

Worthing Splash Point Minigolf - Course Revisit - May 2011

On our mini-tour of the South Coast between Hastings and Worthing on Sunday 15th May 2011 we made a revisit to the excellent 18-hole Splash Point Minigolf Course in Worthing, West Sussex.

Unfortunately we were just a little too late to have a round, but we did have a nice chat to course co-owner (and fellow BMGA Tour Pro) Peter Emmerson.

The course has had a few changes/additions made since it opened last year, including:
- A loop-the-loop has been added to hole 5
- Hole 12 now has two new rocks and a new ace line
- The rock on hole 15 has now moved to make the tee shot harder
- Hole 18 has a new rock making the direct route to the hole extremely hard.

The course record stands at 29.

When we played the course last year it became the 181st played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

Last July I was runner-up in the BMGA British Matchplay Championships held at the course.

Photos of the course (after hours) - May 2011.

2011 Splash Point Open

The Splash Point Minigolf Club are hosting a two round evening minigolf competition on Saturday 18th June.

Entry to the event will be £20 and will include all-day practice on the 18th plus two rounds of strokeplay competition in the evening. There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and for 2nd to last place!

For more information on the course and to contact Peter or Anthony for tournament entry please visit http://www.splashpointminigolf.co.uk/