Friday, January 04, 2013

Winning some Pirates Adventure Golf 'Treasure'

Winning a Pirates Adventure Golf Facebook Competition!

The team at Pirates Adventure Golf in Dundonald, Belfast, Northern Ireland have recently been running a number of online competitions to win Pirates Adventure Golf Goodies and I won the competition on Tuesday 11th December :-)

My prizes from the 'Guess the Number of Golf Balls Captain Jack Frost Fired at the Fort' Contest were three pin badges and a t-shirt. Some more great Minigolf items for my collection!

Pirates Adventure Golf Belfast Pin Badge #1


Pirates Adventure Golf Belfast Pin Badge #2

Back in August 2010 Emily and I visited and played at Pirates Adventure Golf. There are two 18-hole Adventure Golf courses there - Blackbeard's Adventure and The Captain's Challenge - and they became the 188th and 189th courses we played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Very good fun and testing courses they are too. While in Northern Ireland we played a Minigolf Challenge Tournament (the NIBBAL-IT) against Northern Ireland's top Minigolfers - Mark 'The Horse Whisperer' Swain and Craig 'Kamikaze' McCallister, with the Bangor Minigolf Club members winning the contest.

The courses have played host to two British Minigolf Association tournaments when Pirates Adventure Golf was the venue for the BMGA Irish Open in 2006 and 2007.

Links:

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Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Crazy Golf sessions at Fairwater Leisure Centre with the Cwmbran Minigolf Club

"Crazy Family Fridays at Fairwater Leisure Centre in January!"

The team at Portaputt Crazy Golf are beginning the New Year with fun Crazy Golf sessions on Friday evenings starting from the 4th of January 2013.

Portaputt Mini Golf course, Cwmbran
The Portaputt Crazy Golf layout at the World Alternative Games 2014

The Portaputt Crazy Golf course will be set-up at Fairwater Leisure Centre from 7pm and players can play multiple rounds between 7 and 8pm. From 8pm there will be a weekly Crazy Golf Challenge competition in adult and junior categories, with prizes up for grabs! 

Portaputt has also started-up the Cwmbran Minigolf Club and players can become members of the latest Miniature Golf Club in the UK, and the first in Wales, when they attend the Crazy Golf fun nights. 

Check out the Portaputt Crazy Golf website for more information.

Links:

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Tuesday, January 01, 2013

2013 Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament - New Year's Day Crazy Golf at Woodside Animal Farm

Results and photos from the 2013 Luton Invitational New Year's Day Minigolf Competition at Woodside Animal Farm, Slip End Village near Luton.

A double thumbs (and putters!) up from the 2013 champ

On New Year's Day Emily and I headed to Woodside Animal Farm near Luton for a round of Crazy Golf on the 18-hole course and a look at the animals. In our Crazy Golf match Emily was looking to make it three wins in a row in the 'Luton Invitational Tournament', but was unable to achieve the feat, losing to me by two shots in a match that saw us score 48(+12) and 50(+14) on the stony course!

Some rock steady play led Richard to victory

Since 2010 the Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament has been the traditional opening Miniature Golf event of the year on the 'Irregular Mini Golf Tour'. In 2010 the players faced-off in arctic cold weather conditions, while 2011 was played in heavy drizzle and last year's weather was mild, but drizzly.

Emily 'Lemony Lemster' Gottfried tired towards the end of the round and was unable to retain her title for a threepeat

New Luton Invitational Tournament minigolf champion 'Squire' Richard Gottfried with the 2012 LIT prize of a Fudge bar

The fifth staging of the event saw only two players compete as Simon 'Practice' Hall was otherwise engaged.

The animals at Woodside were in high spirits once again this year, with a couple of goats squaring off in a head-butt fight!

Two of the fighty goats fighting, while another one looks on

Luton Invitational Tournament Honours Board:
2013 - Richard Gottfried
2012 - Emily Gottfried
2011 - Emily Gottfried
2010 - Richard Gottfried
2006 - Joanne Tubby

On the 1st of January each year Woodside Animal Farm opens for a New Year's Day Party to raise money for the Keech Cottage Children's Hospice.


Luton Invitational Tournament Minigolf Results 2006-2013:

2013 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:
1. Richard Gottfried - 48 (+12)
2. Emily Gottfried - 50 (+14)

1. Emily Gottfried - 47 (+11)
2. Richard Gottfried - 49 (+13)

1. Emily Gottfried - 43 (+7)
2. Richard Gottfried - 51 (+15)
3. Simon Hall - 54 (+18)
4. Mystery Player - 57 (+21)

1. Richard Gottfried - 46 (+10)
2T. Emily Gottfried - 54 (+18)
2T. Mystery Player - 54 (+18)
4. Simon Hall - 57 (+21)

2007-2009 - Luton Invitational Tournament:
Not Played

1. Jo Tubby - 54 (par)
2. Emily Gottfried - 56 (+2)
3. Richard Gottfried - 62 (+8)
* Note: Par used was 'Course Par' of 3 shots per hole, rather than 'BMGA Par' of 2 shots per hole.

The Crazy Golf course at Woodside Animal Farm course was the fourth course ever to be played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back on the 27th October 2006. As of January 1st 2013 we have visited 523 Miniature Golf courses on the Tour.

A new sport or game for 2013?

What sport or game that we haven't tried already should we give a go in 2013?

As well as playing lots of Minigolf on our travels around on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, Emily and I also regularly compete in British Minigolf Association competitions at Crazy Golf, Miniature Golf and Adventure Golf courses. We also enjoy participating in 'side-tournaments' and trying out new sports and games.

2012 was the year of Bar Billiards and 2011 saw us play a fair bit of Laser Tag, but what sport or game shall we take-up in 2013?

Related Blog Post:

Happy New Year!


Happy New Year!

All the very best and have a great 2013.

Cheers,

Richard & Emily

Friday, December 28, 2012

2012 - A Big Year of Sport

A jam-packed year of playing, spectating and organising sporting events!

2012 has been a very full year of sporting events large, small and everything in-between. As a player, spectator, visitor and organiser I have been involved in a lot of contests during 2012.

2012 has been a GIANT year of sport

Player/Competitor
Twelve British Minigolf Association Tour Events, winning a BMGA Tour title at the BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Championship
Luton Community Games – Petanque and Pitch & Putt
Twelve other Miniature Golf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf competitions including victory at the Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr Championships at Selfridges London

Spectator/Visitor
London 2012 Olympic Games – Handball, Archery & BMX
London 2012 Paralympic Games – Wheelchair Fencing, Powerlifting & Boccia
PDC Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship 2013
Olympic Torch Evening Celebration Event in Luton
Olympic Torch Relay Event in Luton
Olympex 2012 at the British Library
Jigfest

Organiser/Volunteer
Eight WMF & EMF International Minigolf Championship Events
Paralympic Flame Celebration Event in Luton – Paralympic Flame Assistant as part of Sport Makers


Related Blog Posts:

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

Having a look at the Crazy Golf and Grass Putting Miniature Golf courses at Haigh Country Park in Wigan.

On a recent visit to Wigan, on a bitterly cold & snowy day, I checked out the Crazy Golf course that I had heard had been refurbished by the Friends of Haigh Country Park.

Nine of the 18-holes have been cleaned up and are open for play during school holidays and the team of volunteers behind the clean-up are looking to develop and renew the course over the coming months and years as it is a work in progress.

Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

From my brief look at the course it appears to have a mixture of playing surfaces. Some of the holes and obstacles appear to be 'eternit' style Miniature Golf, while others are more unique felt on concrete holes.

Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

The Play Haigh Golf Complex is home to a regular golf course and also a Putting Green called the 'Himalayas'!

Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

The undulating Putting Green looked very good and it was a shame it wasn't warmer as I would have definitely given it a play.

Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

I've played two other courses named 'The Himalayas' - one is in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire and replaced an old Crazy Golf course, the other is at St Andrews and was the world's first-ever Miniature Golf course!

The courses were the 521st and 522nd courses visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Links:
- Haigh Country Park
- Friends of Haigh Country Park
- Play Haigh Golf Complex

Related Blog Post:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

All the best for the festive season and have a happy New Year in 2013.

Cheers,

Richard & Emily


Monday, December 24, 2012

Results from the Minigolfer’s Annual Christmas Darts ‘Do’ in London

Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd makes it four Christmas competition wins in-a-row!

Gravesend’s Brad ‘Norovirus’ Shepherd won the annual Christmas ‘Do’ for the fourth year in-a-row with victory in the “Riverclose Worlds UnProfessional Minigolfer's Darts Championship” held at Rileys Victoria in London on Sunday 23rd December 2012.
Brad Shepherd 'takes' the cup
The tournament saw eight dartists step up to the oche on the evening and after a quick warm-up and a few swift pints the format for the event was decided and the draw was made.

The eight players were drawn into two groups for a round-robin stage, with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals along with the two group stage runners-up. As the reigning Christmas Champion Brad was the seeded player in Group 2, with BMGA Darts Champion Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman drawn into Group 1.
The players inaction. Lots of mental arithmetic in full flow
Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman qualified as the top player in Group 1 after beating Jon ‘The Stance’ Angel in a play-off to decide the group winner after both players had won 2 and lost one game.

Richard ‘Squire’ Gottfried was the winner of Group 2 with three wins from his three matches. Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd was the group runner-up.
Steve 'What's the Skinny?' Gow draws quite a crowd
Results from Group 1 all matches one-leg 301-straight-in, double-out
Chris Jones beat Alan Norman
Jon Angel beat Steve Gow
Alan Norman beat Jon Angel
Steve Gow beat Chris Jones
Jon Angel beat Chris Jones
Steve Gow lost to Alan Norman

Rankings from Group 1
1. Alan Norman – won 2, lost 1 Q*
2. Jon Angel – won 2, lost 1 q
3. Chris Jones – won 1, lost 2
3. Steve Gow – won 1, lost 2
* Alan beat Jon in a play-off to determine who would qualify as the group winner to face the group runner-up from Group 2

Results from Group 2all matches one-leg 301-straight-in, double-out
Richard Gottfried beat Emily Gottfried
Seth Thomas lost to Brad Shepherd
Richard Gottfried beat Brad Shepherd
Emily Gottfried beat Seth Thomas
Seth Thomas lost to Richard Gottfried
Brad Shepherd beat Emily Gottfried

Rankings from Group 2
1. Richard Gottfried – won 3, lost 0 Q
2. Brad Shepherd – won 2, lost 1 q
3. Emily Gottfried – won 1, lost 2
4. Seth Thomas – won 0, lost 3 

The semi-finals saw Squire face The Stance in a 501 match, eventually finishing on double one. In the other match The Fist picked up the win against Stormin to advance to yet another Christmas Final. 

Semi-Finalsone-leg 501-straight-in, double-out
Richard Gottfried beat Jon Angel
Alan Norman lost to Brad Shepherd

Classification Matches for places 5-8all one-leg 301-straight-in, double-out
Steve ‘F1’ Gow lost to Emily ‘Ah Bristow’ Gottfried
Chris ‘Stretch’ Jones lost to Seth ‘Sethers’ Thomas
Emily ‘Lemony Lemster’ Gottfried lost to Seth ‘Wandsworth’ Thomas – Seth finished in 5th place to win ‘the shield’
Steve ‘Stevie Gow’ Gow beat Chris ‘Stretch’ Jones to finish in 7th place

Before the final Norman & Angel faced-off for the third time in the evening in a one-leg 501 game to decide who would take the last spot on the podium. The BMGA Darts Champion showed his class and took the win against Jon ‘Safe Darts’ Angel.

3rd/4th place play-off one-leg 501-straight-in, double-out
Alan Norman beat Jon Angel

The final match was played in a best of three-legs format on one of the ‘fancy’ boards with electronic scoring. The referee/scorer for the contest was Emily ‘Dagenham Dan’ Gottfried. The first leg was won by The Fist after innumerable chances were squandered by both players. The second leg was clinched by Squire to mild interest from the spectators.

With the crowd growing restless and eager to head off for a curry in Bayswater Brad nailed his finish to take the win and his fourth Christmas ‘Do’ title victory in four years! An amazing achievement indeed.

Finalbest of three-legs 301-straight-in, double-out
Brad Shepherd beat Richard Gottfried 2-1
The ever-popular Brad Shepherd receives congratulations from his fellow competitors
Ranking Table
1. Brad Shepherd
2. Richard Gottfried
3. Alan Norman
4. Jon Angel
5. Seth Thomas
6. Emily Gottfried
7. Steve Gow
8. Chris Jones

Following the main-event Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman organised a game of ‘Halve-It’ between the eight contestants. With three lives each the players attempted to best the previous player’s score, with any failure to exceed the target meaning a life was lost. Guess who won? Alan was the runner-up though.
Alan 'Halve-It' Norman and another player at the Darts Tournament 
Brad ‘Mr Christmas’ Shepherd picked up yet another victory on the night as he was on the winning team, along with Seth Thomas & Steve Gow in the three-a-side Table Football match.
The three-a-side Table Football match-up
Crazy Golfers Christmas Do/Shenanigans Hall of Fame
2012 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Riverclose Worlds UnProfessional Minigolfer's Darts Championship
2011 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships
2010 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Christmas Minigolf 9-Hole Putting Green Sudden Death Challenge
2010 – Keith Kellard & Jon Angel (Team KJ Choice) – Sim BIG Golf Par-3's of the World Doubles Challenge
2009 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Christmas-themed Crazy Golf at Devonshire Square
Before Records Began – Lionel ‘The Spoon’ Bender – Crazy Golf Contest

The Christmas Club Committee will be convening in early 2013 to confirm the contest for next Christmas. If any readers know of Brad’s sporting weaknesses do let them know. Suggestions on a postcard...

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Friday, December 21, 2012

Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf and Minigolf in Manchester

Details of the Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf and Minigolf courses played in Manchester since April 2009.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Emily and I have visited a number of Miniature Golf courses in Manchester. The city has some great courses that are worth a look.

At the Championship Miniature Golf designed 9-hole course at the Trafford Golf Centre

Emily on one of the holes of the two course, 36-hole Paradise Island indoor Adventure Golf course at the Trafford Centre

On the last hole of the Wythenshawe Park Crazy Golf course

Putting at the launch event for Birdies Pop Up Golf

At the Chrizy Golf course

I've had some good fortune when competing in Minigolf tournaments in Manchester and have won the Miniature MastersMiniature Open and Chrizy Golf Masters there!

Related Blog Posts:
- Minigolf Course Visit No. 84 - Championship MiniatureGolf@ Playgolf Manchester

Today is Underdog Day

Celebrating being second best.

I heard in the latest newsletter of the Dull Men’s Club that today is “Underdog Day”.

Friday 21st December is the day to celebrate and honour unsung heroes, the second best among us and life’s runners-up. Not to forget those people that have made a name for themselves against the odds.

Check out the Dull Men's Club page for Underdog Day for more info and the origin of the word "underdog".

I'm a big fan of underdog's and always give them a cheer and my support. During the Olympic Games I met San Marino's Olympic Archer Emanuele Guidi in the Olympic Park, got his autograph and had a photo with him. I'd seen his match against Im Dong Hyun on TV earlier in the week and was cheering him on throughout. Unfortunately the 'wildcard' was eliminated from the competition but gave a good account of himself and had the crowd chanting for "San Marino" by the end of the match.

The moment that made the Olympic Games for me - meeting San Marino's top Archer Emanuele Guidi while walking through the Olympic Park!!!

Last night Emily and I attended the 2013 Ladbrokes PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace and amongst the first round proper matches, got to see a Preliminary Round clash between the USA's Paul Lim and Mohd Latif Sapup from Malaysia. Both were underdogs in the tournament, but Lim was the favourite with his history of being the first player to hit a 9-dart finish in a World Championship back in 1990. Mohd Latif Sapup aka 'The Jerker' was making his debut in a major darts tournament and was the 2000-1 rank outsider, so he's the man I had my money on. Unfortunately despite his best efforst he was on the losing end of a 4-1 result.

I also play two of the world's biggest underdog sports - Minigolf and Dodgeball. Both are great fun and easily accessible to play.

Also, have a look at the excellent Underdog Nation website for details of a number of interesting sports & games and the quest of Joshua Davis to be a sporting champion.

There is also an organisation called Underdog Portland, based in Portland, Oregon, that runs a number of sports leagues, including Mini-Golf and a Dodgeball.

Happy Underdog Day to Underdogs, Ham n’ Eggers, Jobbers, Palookas, Mr Nobodies, Wildcards, Average Joes & Journeymen everywhere and all the best to them in their attempts to score an upset victory!

Links:

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Indoor Minigolf at Magical Golf FX in Felixstowe

Results from our match at Felixstowe's Magical Golf FX indoor Miniature Golf course at Manning's Amusement Park.

Manning's Amusement Park in Felixstowe

On Friday 14th December Emily and I made another revisit to Felixstowe, Suffolk and had a game of the 13-hole indoor Adventure Golf course at Manning's Amusement Park.

Playing hole 4 of the Magical Golf FX course. Often a good chance  for a hole-in-one

The Magical Golf FX Minigolf course is located within the amusement arcade and is an interesting course to play, with a variety of themes and obstacles. It's always a tricky course to tackle too.

Emily with a choice of cups to putt into on the the revolving first green

In our match-up I defeated Emily with a score of 32 to her 44 over the 13-holes. Once again neither of us managed to win a free game on the 'lucky' 13th hole. My round of 32 was, as far as I can remember, my best round on the course in all the times we've played there. And we've played there a lot over the years! 

The uphill 5th hole caused some problems for Emily this time around, while I just missed out on a nice two

The course was the 5th we ever played when we first started out touring the UK's seasides. At that point we never thought we'd go on to visit over 500 courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

The tricky 11th at Manning's. I managed to score a bit of a fluky ace on my go

Felixstowe Christmassy Tournament Results 2008 to 2012
- 14/12/2012 - Richard defeated Emily 32-44
- 11/12/2010 - Richard bested Emily 36-41 
- 13/12/2009 - Richard beat Emily 39-47 
- 13/12/2008 - Richard defeated Emily 35-39

Link:

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Monday, December 17, 2012

Gluten Free Pork Crackling!

Awfully Posh Snacks launch Gluten Free Pork Crackling! 

As a Coeliac of some five years I sometimes still hanker after items of food I used to be able to eat when I was ‘normal’. One of the snacks I’ve fancied having on more than one occasion is Pork Scratchings/Crackling. Not the healthiest of foods, but a very nice accompaniment to an alcoholic beverage (now normally Cider, unless I’m lucky to have found a Gluten Free beer, ale or lager).

When you’ve got Coeliac Disease a simple act such as buying a bag of crisps, a sandwich, or a chocolate bar is a pain. You either have to study the labels intently which is annoying and will always remind you of the fact you are a Coeliac, or you opt for the same old item of food – I like to have a variety.

So when I read an article in the Daily Mirror about the launch of Awfully Posh Pork Crackling and that it was also OK for Coeliacs I was especially pleased as it was a type of food I hadn’t eaten for over five years!

Via Twitter I found out that Awfully Posh Pork Crackling is available at branches of Waitrose and online at Waitrose and Amazon. Not having a Waitrose in Luton and no other need to travel to my nearest branches in Harpenden or Hitchin I had to wait until last weekend and a revisit to Ipswich where we’d heard that a new Waitrose store had opened.

The Awfully Posh Pork Crackling on the shelf in Waitrose

We had to hunt around a few different aisles and sections of the store, but eventually found the Awfully Posh Pork Crackling in the Free From section itself, rather than with other snacks. This is a good thing for Coeliacs/people on a Gluten Free diet, but it means that people looking for a Pork Crackling snack in the conventional snack section may miss out!

There are currently two flavours of the Awfully Posh Pork Crackling snacks available. One is Anglesey Sea Salt and the other is Scorchingly Hot Chilli. I bought both, but have so far only tried the Anglesey Sea Salt flavour. I bought two bags of the Anglesey Sea Salt flavour and have scoffed them both. The packs are crammed with Pork Crackling, are well priced and most importantly they are delicious.

Tentatively tucking into my first Pork Scratching in five years

The Awfully Posh Pork Crackling can also be found in Whole Foods Markets, Cook shops, Harrods and Harvey Nichols. Fingers crossed Awfully Posh Snacks will be stocked in pubs and bars in the future, I know I’d definitely scoff them if I saw them for sale alongside other pub staples such as crisps and nuts.

Related Blog Posts:
- Gluten Free & Coeliac related Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files
Links:

For more information about Coeliac Disease please visit the Coeliac UK website.