Welcome to Margate

Before we played in the BMGA Kent Open on Sunday 2nd November we had planned to practice at Strokes Adventure Golf Course, however seeing the somewhat stormy conditions on the Seafront course (below) we decided to visit Margate's mysterious Shell Grotto.




According to Shellgrotto.co.uk "The Grotto’s discovery in 1835 came as a complete surprise to the people of Margate; it had never been marked on any map and there had been no tales of its construction told around the town."

If you're in, or around the Margate it's well worth a visit (as is Strokes Adventure Golf Course).



More information about the Shell Grotto can be found here.

Not Minigolf Course 74 Or 79!

It wasn't Minigolf course visited number 74, and it's not Minigolf course visited 79 - the second of the two Arnold Palmer courses at Cliftonville, Margate was not open (again) on my second visit of the year (1st November 2008).


For the look of disappointment back in September click here: http://hamandeggerfiles.blogspot.com/2008/09/not-course-number-74.html

Not playing Minigolf in Broadstairs

On our visit to Broadstairs on Halloween we found the LillyPutt Mini Golf course to be closed.

Fortunately we have played there before (and very good it is too), hopefully we'll get back to play there again next summer.





Links:
- LillyPutt Mini Golf in Broadstairs
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Bowlingo in Broadstairs

A hard fought contest which was won by Emily 103-97.

Minigolf Course Visit No. 78 - Herne Bay

A visit to the 18-hole sea front minigolf course in Herne Bay.

On our way to play in the season-closing 2008 BMGA Kent Open in Margate Emily and I made a few seaside stops at Whitstable, Herne Bay, Westgate-on-Sea and Ramsgate.

Ahead of our road trip I had heard a whisper that Herne Bay was home to a new Minigolf course and upon our arrival the rumour was found to be true, as there is an 18-Hole Mini Golf course on the sea front.

Deciding the time was right to host an irregular minigolf event our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Herne Bay Classic was staged. Emily shot a 44 (+8) and I scored 40 (+4) to take the win.





Related blog posts:
- Herne Bay Revisit - Minigolf and the Pier
- Visits to the Mini Golf course in Herne Bay
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date

Link:
- Herne Bay Mini Golf website

Photos from the 2008 World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

Photos from the 2008 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships.

Emily practices.




Richard playing the Minigolf course.


Richard sitting in second place after three rounds of play - one shot off the lead.


A shot of Richard through the crowds during the final - Ace'ing the first.


Ranked 17th in the world.

Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships 2008

28th October 2008
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report - Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships

Luton Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried competed in the sixth annual Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships at the Sea Front Adventure Golf Complex in Hastings on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th October.

Both Richard & Emily made significant improvements to their world rankings with Richard qualifying for the final and eventually finishing in 17th place (up from 39th in 2007). Emily finished in 43rd place (up from 54th in 2007), and was also the third ranked player (of nine) in the Women’s World Crazy Golf Championships that was played in parallel with the main tournament.

All 68 competitors played six qualifying rounds (three on Saturday, two on Sunday) on two 18-hole courses, with the top ranked 18 players making the cut to take part in the final round.

The overall winner was Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies from Hastings who lifted his fifth title, last year’s winner Chris Harding was second and Andy Exall was third. Finland’s Pasi Aho just missed out on a podium place after finishing in fourth place. Davies won with a seven round total of 250 (-2), an average of 1.98 shots per hole.

Richard’s seven round total was 268 (+16), an average of 2.12 shots per hole, after rounds of 35, 37, 35, 40, 50, 34 and 37. He said “I am incredibly happy with being ranked 17th in the world, but I can’t help but think what could have been if it wasn’t for my dreadful fifth round where I shot a 50. Three of my other rounds were under par and I dropped 14 shots in that one round. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, if it wasn’t for that I could have won the title.”

Emily finished with a six round total of 265 (+49), an average of 2.45 shots per hole, after rounds of 42, 37, 49, 46, 47 and 44. She said “I was pleased with my performance, as I started off the tournament strongly and improved on last years’ position. The tournament was tougher than usual, with a strong local contingent and some extreme weather conditions, but I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to go back again next year.”

Ends

The calm before the storm.


The 18 finalists line up before the 7th round.


Richard & Emily Gottfried at the end of the tournament.

Crazy Air Squash

Following the Air Hockey battle at Wroxham Barns (see link below), Richard Gottfried and Steve Gow once again took to the Amusement Arcade, this time for an Air Hockey variant - Crazy Air Squash.


This time out Steve Gow won 9-6.



http://hamandeggerfiles.blogspot.com/2008/08/air-hockey-minigolf-professionals.html

Gottfried wins the Weymouth Open

13th October 2008
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report
Gottfried wins Pirate Adventure Mini Golf Weymouth Open

Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried won the Pirate Adventure Mini Golf Weymouth Open, held at the Sea Life Centre at Lodmoor Country Park in Weymouth on Sunday 12th October.


On the 18-hole course and with 18 players competing Gottfried won the title by five shots with a three round total of 131 (44, 43 and 44).

Gottfried said “I had a great weekend and am proud to be the first-ever Pirate Adventure Mini Golf Weymouth Open Champion. The course and competition was tough so I’m very happy to have won it and I'm looking forward to defending my title in 2009.”

The tournament was the first to be held at the Sea Life Centre and the Course Manager David Picksley said “Congratulations to Richard on his victory. It was a thrilling competition and I would like to thank Richard and the other competitors for supporting the event.”

Ends

Richard Gottfried with his Weymouth Open Prizes.
Course Manager David Picksley presents Richard with his winnings.

Minigolf Course Number 77 - Bowleaze Cove

The Fantasy Island Amusement Park at Bowleaze Cove, Weymouth is home to the Flintstones Crazy Golf Course.

Minigolf Course Number 76 - Weymouth Sea Life Centre

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour called into Weymouth, Dorset on the 11th October 2008 where I was competing in the Pirate Adventure Mini Golf Weymouth Open tournament at the Sea Life Centre in Lodmoor Country Park.

Photos of the course are below:





I also spotted an interesting 'obstacle' on this hole!

Related blog posts:
- Weymouth
- Dorset
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Dorset

Minigolf Doubles Matchplay - Results & Stats

Results from 6th October 2008:
Jam Trubridge & Fraser Cameron beat Richard Gottfried & Andy Gonsalves 2&1 in a 36-Hole Doubles Matchplay Match at Star City, Birmingham.

Richard Gottfried's Career Doubles Matchplay Stats:
Played – 10*
Won – 5
Drawn – 1
Lost – 4

* Seven matches at the 2008 BMGA British Doubles Championship, Warwick (with Emily Gottfried) and three matches at Star City, Birmingham (with Andy Gonsalves x 2 & Matt Smith).

AIMG Winter League - Week 1

Results for Richard Gottfried from week 1 of the Adventure Island Mini Golf Winter League 2008 that teed off on 6th October.

Week 1
Beat Jam Trubridge (35-37) HC*
Drew with Fraser Cameron (34-34) LH
Beat Owen Johnson (37-49) LH
Played 3, Won 2, Lost 0, Drawn 1, Points 7, Rank – 1st

* Richard wins the Nayland HP Singles Title

Key:
HC = Hidden Cove Challenge Course
LH = Lost Hut Trail Course

From the Vault - Southsea Minigolf 2006

Mini Golf blog post about the visit to the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course in Southsea, Hampshire and what would become the very first miniature golf course visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Back in September 2006 I had not yet made my debut in the professional world of competitive minigolf, in fact the trip to the Treasure Island course in Southsea would be the beginning of the journey of the Irregular Mini Golf Tour and led to me, Emily & Christopher Gottfried joining the British Minigolf Association (BMGA).

On a wet and windy weekend of Saturday 30th September and Sunday 1st October 2006, four hardy souls played 18 holes of Crazy Golf on the Victory and Warrior Trails of Southsea's Treasure Island course (Scorecard outer below).



As you will see from the Scorecard below our scores were quite below-par.



And from reviewing the video of us playing on the 4th Hole (Hangman's Rope) of the Warrior Trail (below) you can also see we were not playing to Official BMGA Minigolf Rules (which we did not know about at the time). In fact we had:
- No six shot limit
- A form of 'seaside' Crazy Golf rules in play, each of us playing our first shots and subsequent shots in order of player (rather than Minigolf rules of each player holing out first, or even 'proper' Crazy Golf rules where the player furthest from the hole plays their second shot first)
- No movement of the ball to allow for backswing when up against an obstacle



These two rounds constituted the first ever Irregular Mini Golf Tour event - The Southsea Invitational Tournament. Before the advent of play-offs the competition had joint winners, tied on 69 (+27)* were myself and Christopher Gottfried, with Emily Gottfried in third place and Zoe Bates in fourth.

* The course Par for each 9 Holes was given as 21 shots, whereas in a BMGA tournament each hole has a Par of 2 shots, regardless of the course scorecard/local rules. Therefore an 18 Hole Course would have a Par of 36. So for example, re-scoring my rounds to BMGA Standards I would have scored 63 (changing my scores of 10, to Sevens) but would still have been 27 over the Par of 36.

In an interesting note, despite my many Minigolfing travels around the country and all of the 'Lucky' 19th holes played, I have only managed to win one Free Game Pass/Token, and that was on the 30th September 2006 when I managed to 'Fire the Cannon' on the 19th Hole in Southsea - a prize I still treasure (below).



So the visit to Southsea was the beginning of my travels to Minigolf courses around the UK, playing in BMGA tournaments, winning the BMGA British Club Championship and representing Great Britain in the Nations Cup in Finland.

And there's still lots more of the adventures in the world of Minigolf (and other obscure and minority sports) to follow.

See the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour blog page for more.

Irregular Mini Golf Tour - End of Season 07/08 Rankings

During the second season of the Irregular Mini Golf Tour, held between 6th October 2007 and 29th September 2008, 92 Tour events took place with 10 players competing for Ranking Points. The final table is below.

Irregular Mini Golf Tour Rankings 2007/2008
Rank Player Wins 2nd 3rd Points Move
1 Richard Gottfried 68 21 1 8425 NM
2 Emily Gottfried 22 55 7 6675 NM
3 Christopher Gottfried 4 6 6 1150 NM
4 Daniel Marsh 1 3 2 425 NE
5 Mystery Man 0 2 2 250 Down 1
6 Dave Ronchetti 1 0 0 100 NM
7 John Moore 1 0 0 100 NE
8 Richard Hopkins 0 1 0 75 NE
9 John Peace 0 1 0 75 NE
10 Janie Peace 0 0 1 50 NE

Key
NM Non-Mover
NE New Entry

Irregular Mini Golf Tour Ranking Points Calculations 2007/2008:
1st place = 100 points
2nd place = 75 points
3rd place = 50 points

Gottfried Rankings in the BMGA

As at 2nd October 2008 the three Minigolfing Gottfrieds are ranked as follows.

2007-2008 BMGA Order of Merit Rankings
Richard Gottfried - 15th of 68
Emily Gottfried - 49th of 68
Christopher Gottfried - Unranked

2008 BMGA Season-Only Rankings
Richard Gottfried - 10th of 98
Emily Gottfried - 49th of 98
Christopher Gottfried - 85th of 98

For more information about the BMGA please visit www.minigolf.org.uk

2008 Minigolf Rankings & Results To Date

BMGA Order of Merit Ranking 2007-2008
Ranked 15th (18/06/08-Present)

BMGA Season-Only Ranking 2008
Ranked 10th (15/09/2008–Present)

Adventure Island Mini Golf League 2008
2nd Place

2008 BMGA Tour Tournament Results (To 14/09/08)
Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open
25th
BMGA British Masters
22nd
Pleasure Beach Open
6th
Midland Invitational Tournament
3rd
Nations Cup
51st
Viking Horn
5th
BMGA British Doubles Championship
11th
BMGA English Open
4th
BMGA British Club Championship
1st
Brighton Open
19th
BMGA British Championships
18th
BMGA Players Championship
16th
BMGA British Open
28th

Other Minigolf Tournament Result 2008
Adventure Island/Heart FM Open
1st

Minigolf Report - Adventure Island Minigolf League – Final Result

30th September 2008
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report - Adventure Island Minigolf League – Final Result

Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried finished in 2nd place in the Adventure Island Minigolf League held at Star City in Birmingham after being beaten to the title by one point. After nine weeks of play the final rankings in the League were decided on Monday 29th September with reigning World Crazy Golf Champion Chris Harding taking the league title with 31 points, with Richard on 30 points.

Richard had faced a week long wait to confirm his final ranking position having finished his matches with a total of 30 points from 14 matches. He was guaranteed a place in the top two and had been the league leader for four of the league’s nine weeks.

Only Chris Harding posed a threat to the number one spot having three games in hand. Chris needed to gain six points in his three final matches to overhaul Richard. In his matches on Monday Harding achieved two wins and a loss in order to lift the trophy. Jam Trubridge finished in third place.

Gottfried said “Congratulations to Chris who managed to hold it together just enough to beat me in his penultimate game. It was very close at the top of the table and to be beaten by just one point is a bit disappointing, but I’m proud of my win/loss record in the league and I’m looking forward to the challenge of the Winter League starting soon.”

Adventure Island Minigolf League – Richard Gottfried’s final win/loss record
Played 14*, Won 10, Lost 4, Drawn 0, Points 30, Rank – 2nd
(Overall results Weeks 1-9, Played 16, Won 12, Lost 4, Drawn 0, Points 36)
* Due to two players dropping out of the league the results of matches against them do not count in the final rankings (this is adjusted for all remaining players).

Ends


Photo: The Adventure Island Mini Golf League Trophy and final leaderboard

AIMG League 2008 - Final Results of Richard Gottfried

Adventure Island Mini Golf League 2008

Week 1
Beat Sabine Boze (40-43), HC
Beat Matthew Harding (36-38), HC
Played 2, Won 2, Lost 0, Drawn 0, Points 6, Rank – 1st (Tied)

Extra Match Played in Advance
Lost to Chris Harding (35-34) HC
Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Drawn 0, Points 6, Rank – 2nd (Tied)

Week 2
DNP
Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Drawn 0, Points 6, Rank – 3rd (Tied)

Week 3
Beat Matt Smith (36-39) HC
Lost to Jam Trubridge (39-34) LH
Lost to Fraser Cameron (39-37) LH
Beat Mystery Player (39-46) LH
Played 7, Won 4, Lost 3, Drawn 0, Points 12, Rank – 3rd

Week 4
Void week – Bank Holiday

Week 5
Beat John Whitehead (35-41) LH
Beat Andy Gonsalves (38-50) LH
Beat Jam Trubridge (33-37) HC
Played 10, Won 7, Lost 3, Drawn 0, Points 21, Rank – 1st (Tied)

Week 6
Beat Matt Smith (38-41) LH
Beat Fraser Cameron (33-36) HC
Lost to Chris Harding (41-38) LH
Beat Andy Gonsalves (33-41) HC
Played 14, Won 10, Lost 4, Drawn 0, Points 30, Rank – 1st

Week 7
DNP

Week 8
Beat John Whitehead (35-41) HC
Beat Matthew Harding (38-41), LH
Played 16, Won 12, Lost 4, Drawn 0, Points 36, Rank – 1st

Adventure Island Minigolf League – Richard Gottfried’s final win/loss record
Played 14*, Won 10, Lost 4, Drawn 0, Points 30
(Overall results Weeks 1-8, Played 16, Won 12, Lost 4, Drawn 0, Points 36)
* Due to two players dropping out of the league the results of matches against them do not count in the final rankings (this is adjusted for all remaining players).

Week 9
Final Adventure Island Mini Golf League Table decided (see below)

Name Played Pts Rank
Chris Harding 14 31 1
Richard Gottfried 14 30 2
Jam Trubridge 13 21 3
Matthew Harding 14 18 4
Fraser Cameron 14 18 4
Andy Gonsalves 14 17 6
John Whitehead 13 16 7
Matthew Smith 14 12 7

Key:
HC = Hidden Cove Challenge Course
LH = Lost Hut Trail Course

More information on Adventure Island Mini Golf can be found here: www.adventureislandminigolf.co.uk

The Thrilla Near the Villa

A three team, 36-hole Strokeplay Doubles tournament dubbed 'The Thrilla Near the Villa' took place at Adventure Island Minigolf in Birmingham on the 29th September.

The team of Richard Gottfried & Andy Gonsalves took on Fraser Cameron & Matthew Harding and Matt Smith & Chris Harding. After two 18-hole rounds Richard & Andy finished in second spot with a total of 78(+6)

Results:
Rank/Team/Round 1 (HC)/Round 2 (LH)/Total
1. Matt Smith & Chris Harding - 35 - 39 = 74(+2)
2. Richard Gottfried & Andy Gonsalves - 38 - 40 = 78(+6)
3. Fraser Cameron & Matthew Harding - 38 - 53 = 91(+19)


From left to right - Chris H, Matthew H, Matt S, Richard G, Fraser C, Andy G.


Matt Smith & Chris Harding receive the SP* Trophy from Emily Gottfried.


Richard Gottfried Putts while his team-mate Andy Gonsalves looks on.


Richard Gottfried Putts on the 7th Hole of the Hidden Cove Challenge course.

*SP - Smuggler's Point or Slush Puppie!