Monday, August 11, 2008

Minigolf Course number 71!

Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Adventure Island Mini Golf League 2008

Week 1
Player No. Name Played Pts Rank
1 Chris Harding 3 9 1 *
4 Richard Gottfried 3 6 2 *
8 John Whitehead 2 6 2
5 Emily Gottfried 3 3 5 *
6 Jam Trubridge 2 3 4
2 Matthew Harding 3 3 5 *
7 Andy Gonsalves 2 0 7
3 Sabine Boze 2 0 7

*Includes details of one match from Week 2 (played in advance)

For more information about Adventure Island Mini Golf at Star City see:
http://www.adventureminigolf.co.uk/

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - 70 Minigolf Courses Played

All courses played between 30th September 2006 & 2nd August 2008
1. Abingdon (Abbey Meadow) – Crazy Golf
2. Abingdon (Abbey Meadow) – Pitch & Putt
3. Bedford – Putting Green
4. Birmingham (Star City) – Adventure Golf (Hidden Cove Challenge)
5. Birmingham (Star City) – Adventure Golf (Lost Hut Trail)
6. Blackpool (Pleasure Beach) – Adventure Golf (New)
7. Blackpool (Pleasure Beach) – Adventure Golf (Old)
8. Blackpool (Stanley Park) – Crazy Golf
9. Blackpool (Starr Gate) – Minigolf (Arnold Palmer)
10. Brighton (East of Palace Pier) – Crazy Golf
11. Brighton (Peter Pan's) – Adventure Golf
12. Broadstairs (Lillyputt Minigolf) – Lillyputt Minigolf (Arnold Palmer)
13. Broxbourne (Paradise Wildlife Park) – Adventure Golf
14. Coalville – Adventure Golf
15. Eastbourne (Treasure Island) – Adventure Golf
16. Felixstowe (Fantasia) – Adventure Golf
17. Felixstowe (Mannings) – Golf FX
18. Felixstowe (Sea Front) – Crazy Golf
19. Felixstowe (Sea Front) – Putting Green
20. Filey – Crazy Golf
21. Great Yarmouth (Arnold Palmer) – Minigolf 18 Hole
22. Great Yarmouth (Arnold Palmer) – Minigolf 9 Hole
23. Great Yarmouth (Hollywood Adventure Golf, Windmill Theatre) – Indoor Adventure Golf
24. Great Yarmouth (Jungle Golf at the Gardens) – Crazy Golf
25. Great Yarmouth (Pirates Cove) – Adventure Golf
26. Great Yarmouth (Pleasure Beach) – Adventure Golf
27. Hastings (Planet Hastings) – Minigolf
28. Hastings (Seafront) – Adventure Golf
29. Hastings (Seafront) – Crazy Golf
30. Hastings (Seafront) – Minigolf
31. Hayling Island – Adventure Golf
32. Letchworth Garden City – Par 3 Mini Golf/Pitch & Putt
33. Letchworth Garden City – Putting Course on Grass
34. Lowestoft – Adventure Golf
35. Luton (Stockwood Park) – Mini Golf/Pitch & Putt
36. Luton (Wardown Park) – Crazy Golf
37. Luton (Wardown Park) – Mini Golf/Pitch & Putt
38. Luton (Woodside Animal Farm) – Adventure Golf
39. Lytham St Anne’s – Crazy Golf
40. Margate (Little Oasis Crazy Golf) Cliftonville – Minigolf (Arnold Palmer)
41. Margate (Palm Bay CafĂ©) Cliftonville – Crazy Golf on Grass
42. Margate (Strokes) – Adventure Golf
43. Milton Keynes (Willen Lake) – Adventure Golf
44. Northwick Park – ‘Mini Majors’ Adventure Golf
45. Portsmouth/Southsea (Treasure Island) – Adventure Golf (Victory & Warrior Trails)
46. Ryde (Isle of Wight) – Adventure Golf
47. Rylstone Gardens (Isle of Wight) – Crazy Golf
48. Sandown (Isle of Wight) – Beton Crazy Golf
49. Sandown (Isle of Wight) – Indoor Adventure Golf
50. Scarborough – Adventure Golf
51. Shanklin (Isle of Wight) – Adventure Golf
52. Shanklin (Isle of Wight) – Beton Crazy Golf
53. Shefford, Bedfordshire (The Green Man Pub) – Crazy Golf
54. Southend-on-Sea (Adventure Island) – Adventure Golf (Aztec & Inca courses)
55. Southend-on-Sea (Arnold Palmer Minigolf) – Minigolf
56. Southsea – Crazy Golf
57. Southsea – Putting Green
58. Southsea (Golf Links) – 9 Hole Par 3/Pitch & Putt
59. St Albans, Hertfordshire (Verulamium Park) – Crazy Golf
60. Stonham, Suffolk (Stonham Barns) – Crazy Golf
61. Stratford-upon-Avon – Minigolf
62. Tampere, Finland – Beton
63. Tampere, Finland – Eternit
64. Tampere, Finland – Swedish Felt
65. Warwick (St Nicholas Park) – Adventure Golf
66. Warwick (St Nicholas Park) – Derelict Crazy Golf
67. Watford (Top Golf) – 9 Hole Putting Green
68. Watford (Top Golf) – Adventure Golf
69. West Hagbourne, Oxon (Horse & Harrow Pub) – Crazy Golf
70. Wroxham Barns – Adventure Golf

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

2008 WMF World Minigolf Rankings

2008 WMF World Minigolf Rankings (released in July 2008).

Rank/Previous Rank/Country
1. ( 1.) Germany
2. ( 3.) Sweden
3. ( 2.) Austria
4. ( 4.) Switzerland
5. ( 5.) Netherlands
6. ( 7.) Czech Republic
7. ( 8.) Finland
8. ( 6.) Italy
9. (11.) Slovakia
10. (10.) Denmark
11. ( 9.) Belgium
12. (13.) Portugal
13. (12.) Hungary
14. (17.) Slovenia
15. (18.) Latvia
16. (19.) France
17. (15.) Japan
18. (16.) United States of America
19. (20.) Great Britain
20. (21.) Russia
21. (14.) Romania
22. (23.) Poland
23. (22.) Norway
24. ( - ) Canada
25. (28.) R.O.C. (Taiwan)
26. (26.) Thailand
27. (24.) Liechtenstein
28. (25.) Ukraine
29. ( - ) China

The next edition of the WMF World Minigolf Rankings will be published in November 2008.

Finger Jousting Win-Loss Record

Finger Jousting Win-Loss Record (To 05/08/2008)

Career Win-Loss Record Stats
Played 107
Won 97
Lost 9
Tied 1
% Won 90.65%

Richard Gottfried - Minigolf Career Record 04/08/2008

Minigolf Career - BMGA & Independents (To 05/08/2008)
Minigolf Career Tournaments Played: 32
Minigolf Career Tournament Wins: 4
Minigolf Career Second Places: 0
Minigolf Career Third Places: 3
Minigolf Career Top Ten Finishes: 13
Minigolf Career Other Finishes: 12

2007-2008 BMGA Tour Career (To 05/08/2008)
BMGA Tour Tournaments Played: 21
BMGA Tour Tournament Wins: 1
BMGA Tour Second Places: 0
BMGA Tour Third Places: 1
BMGA Tour Top Ten Finishes: 7
BMGA Tour Other Finishes: 12
BMGA Tour Ranking: 15th (1,446 Ranking Points)

2008 BMGA Tour (To 05/08/2008)
BMGA Tour Tournaments Played: 10
BMGA Tour Tournament Wins: 1
BMGA Tour Second Places: 0
BMGA Tour Third Places: 1
BMGA Tour Top Ten Finishes: 2
BMGA Tour Other Finishes: 6
BMGA Tour Ranking: 15th (1,446 Ranking Points)

2008 Independent Tournaments (To 05/08/2008)
Independent Tournaments Played: 11
Independent Tournament Wins: 3
Independent Second Places: 0
Independent Third Places: 2
Independent Top Ten Finishes: 6
Independent Other Finishes: 0

Minigolf Report – Wroxham Barns, Norfolk & Star City, Birmingham

5th August 2008
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – Wroxham Barns, Norfolk & Star City, Birmingham

During the mid-season gap in BMGA Tournaments Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried accepted invitations to compete in two Minigolf tournaments at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk & a competition and league at Star City in Birmingham.

As members of the Great Britain Minigolf team Richard and Emily headed to the newly opened 18-hole Adventure Golf course at the Wroxham Barns complex on Saturday 2nd August to compete in two Tournaments against six fellow Great Britain Internationals.

The morning’s tournament saw Richard win the Wroxham Barns Strokeplay Tournament and set a new course record of 34 strokes (-2) in the process. Emily finished in 4th place with 44 (+8).

In the day’s second tournament, Richard finished in 5th place with a round of 44 (+8), while Emily scored 47 (+11) for 6th place.

Richard said, “It’s a great feeling to be the holder of a course record again. Ever since my record score of 32 at Hastings was bettered in March I’ve been looking to shoot a nice low score to hold another.”

On Monday 4th August the duo travelled to Star City’s 36-hole Adventure Golf Complex in Birmingham. On Richard’s last visit to the course he lifted the Adventure Island/Heart FM Open title; however this time he could only manage a tied third place with John Whitehead, with both players scoring 76 (+4) over two rounds in the eight-player Adventure Island Mini Golf Invitational. In her first visit to the Star City course Emily finished with a score of 84 (+12) for 7th place.

In the Adventure Island Mini Golf League 2008 which also teed off on Monday Emily is currently ranked 4th with 3 points following one win and one loss after defeating Andy Gonsalves, but losing against Jam Trubridge. Richard is currently in joint first place with 6 points after wins against Sabine Boze and Matthew Harding.

Following the matches over the past week Richard said “Emily and I have put together some good scores in these competitions and I hope that we can use the experience to gain success in the upcoming BMGA Players Championship and BMGA British Open in Margate in September.”

Ends

Monday, August 04, 2008

Wroxham Barns – Shooting Gallery

Another Shooting Gallery, another Hillbilly Theme! Great fun, but watch out for ‘Little Spitting Bull’!

Air Hockey – Minigolf Professionals

In a battle of the titans BMGA British Number 14 Steve Gow took on BMGA British Number 15 Richard Gottfried at the noble sport of Air Hockey at Wroxham Barns on 2nd August.

The outcome – a 4-4 draw!

Wroxham Barns Tournament – a new course record

At the launch of the new 18-Hole Adventure Golf Course at Wroxham Barns in Norfolk, Richard Gottfried set a new course record of 34 strokes (-2) while playing in the Wroxham Barns Strokeplay Tournament.

Wroxham Barns Strokeplay Tournament, 02.08.08
Rank/Player/Score
1. Richard Gottfried – 34*
2. Steve Gow – 43
3. Keith Kellard – 43
4. Emily Gottfried – 44
* New Course Record

In the day’s second tournament, the Wroxham Barns Invitational Tournament, Richard achieved 5th place with a round of 44 (+8), while Emily scored 47 (+11) for 6th place.

Wroxham Barns Invitational Tournament, 02.08.08
Rank/Player/Score
1. Keith Kellard – 35
2. Steve Gow – 37
2. Jon Angel – 37
4. Chris Harding – 41
5. Richard Gottfried – 44
6. Emily Gottfried – 47
7. Lionel Bender – 48
8. Madeleine Bender – 54

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Course Skellington

Spotted lurking in Captain Hook's Adventure Golf in Ryde.

Putting Interrupted

While playing a round on the Putting Green in Southsea we were treated to an awesome display by the Red Arrows.

Not a Minigolf course in Southsea, but it looked like it


Spotted on Southsea Seafront.

No Enrty!?

Spotted at Portsmouth's Ferry Port.

One of them is right though!

Great Britain's 15th Best Minigolfer

It's Official!

Jungle Adventure Golf Courses...

...always seem to feature crashed planes!

This one in Shanklin is by far the scariest!

Rylstone Gardens Scoreboard


We all scored 'Very Good'

Easy to find course!

If visiting the Isle of Wight there are no excuses for not finding the Rylstone Tea Gardens Crazy Golf Course!








Photos from the Isle of Wight Minigolf Tour

Shanklin's Beton Crazy Golf Course


Shanklin's Jungle Adventure Golf Course


The Rylstone Tea Gardens Crazy Golf Course - 50 years old and still going strong!


Captain Hook's Adventure Golf in Ryde

Two weeks in a row!

For the second week running the Ham & Eggers Sports and Social Club team won the George II Pub Quiz.

This week we beat 5 other teams, with a total of 31 points out of 50.

Monday, July 28, 2008

67 courses visited and played so far!

Since 30th September 2006 I have played a total of 67 ‘Minigolf’ courses!

These have included Minigolf, Miniature Golf, Crazy Golf, Adventure Golf, Putting Greens, Eternit, Beton, Swedish Felt and a Pitch & Putt or two.

Shooting Shacks – Hayling Island

After a fruitless search in Portsmouth, Southsea, Shanklin, Sandown and Ryde on the Isle of Wight two Shooting Shacks were found in Hayling Island’s Funland.

They were:

The Hillbilly Shooting Gallery




And The Spooky Shoot (which seems to be a Japanese Import!)

Hayling Island Scarecrow Festival

Following the completion of the Minigolf Tour of Hampshire & the Isle of Wight we explored the excellent Seaside resort of Hayling Island which was holding a Scarecrow Festival.

In our Scarecrow searching, in-between rides at Funland, Crazy Golf, Stone Skipping and Steam Train Riding, we managed to spot 30 of the potential 246 that have been created and listed in the Scarecrow Trail Sheet.

The Hayling Island Scarecrow Festival is running from 26th July to 9th August.

See www.haylingscarecrows.co.uk for more information.


Overseas Minigolf Tours

Setting off to Hayling Island or the Isle of Wight? Then don’t forget:
- Your passport
- Duty Free Allowance
- To check if your mobile phone will work
- Travel Insurance
- To check local times
- A phrase book

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Invitational Tournament 2008

Three days…
Five towns…
Two (Three?) Islands…
Nine courses…
125 holes…

…The Hampshire & Isle of Wight Invitational Tournament 2008!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

New Adventure Golf Course at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk

Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried have been invited to the launch of a brand new 18 hole Adventure Golf course at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk.

According to the organizers lots of exciting things will be going on, including a challenge match between the reigning World Crazy Golf Champion, Chris Harding, and a top local golfer!

The course has been built by UrbanCrazy, sponsors of the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team.

More details on Wroxham Barns can be found here:
www.wroxhambarns.co.uk

Full details of the event and photos of the course are to follow.

New Minigolf League!

The first 36 hole Minigolf course in the UK, at Birmingham’s Star City Leisure Complex, is due to start a League night in August, starting with a singles Invitational tournament in early August.

More details can be found here:
www.adventureminigolf.co.uk

Ham & Eggers – Quiz Champions of the George II Pub!

The Ham & Egger Sports and Social Club entered its first Pub Quiz in many years at the George II pub in Luton’s Bute Street yesterday evening and ended as the winning team.

With a total of 39 points out of 50 over five rounds, the quiz went to a tie breaker after another team gained two extra points on top of their score of 37 for having the funniest team name (CFLR).

The tie breaker question was “The author of Jeeves & Wooster is known by his initials P.G., what is his surname?” and without any hesitation the answer “Wodehouse” was given by the Ham & Eggers team to win the quiz.

One question that did outfox the Ham & Eggers was:
“LARGE FAT NOISE is an anagram of which 80’s pop star?”

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Night Crazy Golf and the Irregular Mini Golf Tour Emu Open

The Seafront Crazy Golf Complex in Hastings is open until 11pm at weekends!


Eastbourne - Treasure Island Adventure Golf

A top notch course and a true test of Putting skill.

Blackbeard's Treasure Island

Another seaside town, another Shooting Gallery!

This time in Eastbourne.
Playing the Treasure Cove shooting gallery at Blackbeard's Treasure Island in Eastbourne
Playing the Treasure Cove shooting gallery at Blackbeard's Treasure Island in Eastbourne
The Treasure Cove shooting gallery at Blackbeard's Treasure Island in Eastbourne
Related blog posts:

A quest is over

After two years and countless attempts to win an Emu hand puppet from a seaside amusement arcade 'Grabber' I finally won one last Saturday.

Here he is in 'The Smuggler's' pub on Saturday night.


And here he is guarding the Putter Bags on Day 2 of the BMGA British Championships.



Related blog posts:
- Emu

Swing and a Miss!



Quality Batting Cages at Northwick Park in Harrow.

Practice Softball or Baseball - £2.50 for 15 balls!

Also home to a BIG Golf course and a 'Mini Majors' Crazy Golf course!

"Emily is third in the country"

The Luton News and Dunstable Gazette wrote a story on 16th July about Emily's first podium place after she finished 3rd in the BMGA British Women's Minigolf Championships.

BMGA Order of Merit Rankings 14 July 2008

Monday, July 14, 2008

Ryanair Magazine follows the British Minigolf Team

http://ryanairmag.com/2008/07/01/mini-masters

Minigolf Report – BMGA British Championships 2008

14th July 2008
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – BMGA British Championships 2008

Luton Minigolfers Emily and Richard Gottfried travelled to Hastings, East Sussex on the 12th and 13th July to compete in the first Minigolf Major of the 2008 Season, the BMGA British Championships. Over two days 33 competitors played 126 holes, in seven 18-hole rounds at the Planet Hastings Minigolf Course at White Rock Gardens.

The tournament was won by Hastings own Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies who carded a new course record score of 26 (-10) to finish with a total score of 226 (-26). The 26 scored was also the best ever round of Minigolf recorded on British Soil. In second place was Andy Exall of Tunbridge Wells, who had led the tournament from round one but carded a 35 (-1) in the final round for a total of 230 (-22). Third was John McIver of Hastings with a score of 243 (-9).

Emily finished in 26th place with scores of 41, 56, 42, 46, 46, 41, 48 for a total of 320 (+68). Emily also achieved a new personal best score on the Planet Hastings course, with her pair of 41’s besting the score of 48 she recorded in March 2008.

In the BMGA Women’s Championships Emily achieved her best result to date and a spot on the podium after finishing in third place, behind five-times Women’s champion Ruth Bullin of St Leonards-on-Sea and Jo Williamson of the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club.

Emily said “I am really thrilled to be Britain’s number three Female Minigolfer. It was a really tough tournament and on a difficult course, and the competition was close right up to the final round, so it is really satisfying to achieve third place.”

In the main BMGA British Championship tournament Richard finished in 18th place with a seven round total of 284 (+32) carding scores of 37, 46, 40, 39, 42, 41, 39. His score of 37 (+1) is a new personal best on the Planet Hastings course (having previously achieved a best score of 51 (+15) in March 2008).

Richard said “I am fairly pleased with my scores, and I was happy to have set myself a new personal best. I’ll be looking to go under par when I return to this course again in March for the Hastings Open.”

Ends

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Crazy Golf spotted on Brighton Pier...

...but too good to be true!


Not a 'New' Sideshow at all! The Crazy Golf Game has been closed for two years and is now a Coconut Shy.

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

Monday, June 23, 2008

BMGA Brighton Open Report

22nd June 2008

Minigolf Tournament Report – BMGA Brighton Open

In his second tournament of the week Richard Gottfried was unable to make it three in a row after wins in the BMGA British Club Championship and Adventure Island/Heart FM Open, when he competed in the BMGA Brighton Open at Peter Pan’s 12-hole Peter Adventure Golf course on Madeira Drive, Brighton on Saturday 21st June.

In a field of 33 players, which included 9 local players, Richard finished in 19th place with a four round total of 115 (+15) after rounds of 27, 34, 28 and 26.

The competition was won for the second year in a row by Brighton’s Jacob Stevenson who held on to a wire-to-wire lead with rounds of 23, 24, 24, 25 for a four round total of 96 (-4).

Richard said of his performance in the BMGA Brighton Open “I was in 11th place after the first round but after my disastrous second round where I took a 6 on the 12th hole I couldn’t seem to make up much ground on the leaders. My problem was hitting too many threes and only managing two Aces, and they came along too late to be of any help.”

Richard has moved up one place in the BMGA Order of Merit and is now currently ranked 15th in Great Britain.

The next tournament on the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour will see Richard and Emily Gottfried heading to Hastings for the BMGA British Championships in mid-July.

End

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Gottfried wins the Adventure Island/Heart FM Open


18th June 2008

Minigolf Tournament Result – Adventure Island/Heart FM Open

On Tuesday 17th June Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried was invited to take part in the Adventure Island/Heart FM Open at the new 36-hole Indoor Adventure Minigolf Complex at Star City, Birmingham, as it played host to its first Minigolf Tournament.

The Exhibition tournament was ultimately decided in a play-off between Gottfried and reigning Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Champion Chris Harding.

In the competition both players had achieved scores of 35, with Harding setting a new course record on the Lost Hut Trail course, and Gottfried equalling the course record on the Hidden Cove Challenge course. Course owner John Whitehead presided over the tournament and decided that a play-off at the tricky 8th hole on the Hidden Cove Challenge course would decide the trophy winner.

However, after three attempts to win the hole both players were still even and so the play-off moved to the 8th hole on the Lost Hut Trail course. Here Harding played first and recorded a score of 3, which proved to be one stroke too many as Gottfried stepped up and holed out in 2 shots to take the play-off victory.

Richard Gottfried said, “It’s great to get a tournament win, and the play-off was very tense. The Adventure Island course at Star City is a top course and good fun to play, there are also some very tricky holes and I am looking forward to returning for more tournaments in the future.”

Ends

Friday, June 13, 2008

16th best Minigolfer in Great Britain

Following my tournament win in the BMGA British Club Championships and 4th place in the BMGA English Open I have moved up from 25th to 16th place in the BMGA Order of Merit rankings - my highest rank to date!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

4th in the English Open and first 1st place

Minigolf Tournaments Reports

BMGA English Open & BMGA British Club Championships

BMGA English Open


Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried competed in two BMGA Minigolf tournaments last weekend at the Recreation Ground Minigolf course in Stratford-upon-Avon.

On Saturday 7th Richard competed in the BMGA English Open tournament where he finished 4th of 36 players after rounds of 34, 33 and 36 for a three rounds total of 103 (-5).

In a very close competition that saw a number of players chasing a top three finish going into the third round, it was Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies from Hastings who lifted the English Open title with a scores of 32, 32, 35 for a three round total of 99 strokes (-9). In second place was John Moore from Newcastle who beat Birmingham’s Chris Harding in a play-off for second place after both were tied on 100 strokes (-8).

Richard was in second place after two-rounds but his third round score of Par was not enough to keep him there as both Harding and Moore moved up the field after achieving excellent third-round scores; with Moore equalling the course record at 31 strokes and then Harding shooting a 30 to break his own course record.

Richard said “I feel I put in a great performance and it was only down to two exceptional rounds from Chris and John that meant that my last round was not enough to keep me in second place.”

He added “I have no complaints though as I played my best and was only four shots off the winner. In last years English Open I came 23rd and fourth from bottom so I am showing a lot of improvement in my game, and the ranking points from the tournament will come in very handy in rising up the BMGA Order of Merit.”

BMGA British Club Championships
Following the BMGA English Open on Saturday was Sunday’s BMGA British Club Championships, which saw seven teams battling to become the champions.

Following Richard’s 3rd place finish in April’s Midland Invitational Tournament he was selected to be a member of the Midland Minigolf Club’s ‘A’ team.

Each four-player team competed in six 12-hole Matchplay matches to decide the winner, with the Midlands Minigolf Club’s ‘A’ team emerging victorious for an undisputed victory notching up 6 straight wins against the best Minigolf combinations in Great Britain including the four-time, and 2007, champions the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club.

The winning team consisted of Chris Harding (Captain), Jam Trubridge, Richard Gottfried and John Moore.

Club Captain Harding said of the win “The Midlands Minigolf Club were really pleased to be crowned British Champions on Sunday. We started the tournament as strong favourites and managed to come through by winning all of our games. As team captain it is only right that I should be congratulating my team: John, Jam and Richard for their massive contributions to an excellent team performance. I'm especially pleased for Richard who wins his first trophy after an excellent 4th place finish in The English Open on Saturday. With two other Midlands teams playing so well in the competition, both containing very promising juniors, the future looks bright for the Midlands Minigolf scene.”

Commenting on his debut BMGA Tour victory Richard said, “Our team played so well together and we made very few mistakes along the way. There were no easy teams to play against and we had to face some very tough opposition on the way to the win but we all just stayed focussed on winning the Championship. To be undefeated throughout the tournament just showed the strength in our team.”

On his overall performance over the weekend Richard said “I am so happy to have achieved my first BMGA tour win, and combined with my best finish in a major Open I am pleased that my commitment to the sport of Minigolf is paying off with good finishes and a haul of ranking points.”

Emily Gottfried was also in competition in the British Club Championships where she was a member of the Midlands ‘C’ team which finished 7th of 7 in the tournament, losing all but one match but very close to winning or drawing a number of matches throughout the competition.

Richard next competes in the BMGA Brighton Open in June and then Richard and Emily head to Hastings for the BMGA British Championships in July.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Another Seaside Shooting Shack

This time it was Cody's Cabin in Felixstowe, Suffolk.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

BMGA British Doubles Tournament

Minigolf Report – BMGA British Doubles Tournament in Warwick

On Saturday 17th May 2008 Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried joined forces to compete in the BMGA British Doubles Minigolf Tournament at the Adventure Golf course at St Nicholas Park, Warwick. In total fourteen teams competed in the event, which was won by the Tunbridge Wells Team of brothers Andy and Trevor Exall.

The format of the tournament was 12-hole Matchplay, with one member of the team taking the first shot and then alternating with their playing partner on any further shots if necessary. This format is quite different to the normal singles stroke play format used on the BMGA Tour, but made for some exciting matches.

The fourteen teams were split into two groups for the Round Robin stage of the tournament in which Richard and Emily played six matches. Here they achieved three wins, two losses and a draw, giving them a total of 10 points. This saw them in 5th place in their group and 7th overall. In the next round of knockout matches they faced the team of Alan Norman and Gareth Holmes and were defeated by three holes. This defeat saw them finish the tournament in 11th place.

Following their recent performances in tournaments both Richard and Emily have moved up the rankings in the BMGA Order of Merit. Richard has risen to 25th in Great Britain (from 34th) and Emily, who was previously unranked now lies in 44th place.

Commenting on the British Doubles Richard said “The format of the tournament was different to what we are used to playing, but it made for some interesting play and you can really see how sometimes you leave yourself a very tough second shot when you have to watch your partner playing it.”

He added “Overall I am pleased with our performance, we had some very good wins and some very close one-hole defeats in the group stage and were unfortunate in the knockout round. We took a three on the first hole of our semi-final to go one-down and then Alan and Gareth Aced the next hole, meaning we were playing catch-up all round.”

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Hesburger

The best Burgers in all of Finland can be found at Hesburger!

Hesburger in Tampere, Finland

While playing for the Great Britain Minigolf Team at the 2008 Nations Cup we enjoyed the meals at Hesburger

Link: