Adventure Golf at Watford TopGolf - 16th March 2011

I headed to the 18-hole Adventure Golf course at Watford's TopGolf Game Centre on Wednesday 16th March for a couple of rounds of minigolf.

I had been scheduled to meet with former Dodgeball UK rivals 'Rowdy' Russell Fenner, Paul 'Wobble' Harvey and Maney 'MVP' Ullah for a Dodgeball Invasion Minigolf Classic tourney. However due to unforeseen circumstances I was left having to play a match against myself.

Thankfully I won. Although I did lose the first round.

Photos from the course:

Indoors the old Putting Course has now been totally removed, as a new bar/restaurant area is under construction! When we first visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2006 the indoor Putting Course was a great little 9-hole set-up.

Interestingly the course has a Corporate Competition coming up soon, where players can WIN A VW GOLF!!!

Previous Blog Posts About Visits to Watford TopGolf.

Richard & Emily Gottfried selected for the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Squad

16th March 2011
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Luton’s Richard & Emily Gottfried selected to play for the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team in the WMF Nations Cup tournament in Stockholm, Sweden

Luton Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried have received call-ups to the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Squad for the 2011 International Minigolf Season.

They have both been selected to represent Great Britain at the highest level of International Minigolf Sport and will be competing at the 2011 WMF Nations Cup tournament in Stockholm, Sweden in June. Richard, 30, and Emily 29, play regularly on the British Minigolf Association Tour, which sees minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf competitions played at Miniature Golf courses around the UK.

This will be the pairs second appearance for the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team, having both previously played in the 2008 WMF Nations Cup competition in Tampere, Finland. The 2011 WMF Nations Cup event will be played on the two 18-hole minigolf courses at the Tantogårdens BGK Miniature Golf Club in Stockholm, Sweden.

Richard said “It’s great to have been picked for the Great Britain Squad for 2011 and brilliant news to be in the team for the Nations Cup tournament in Sweden. I can’t wait to get into international action again.”

Emily said “I am thrilled to be playing for Great Britain again. It is a real honour and I am confident that I have learnt a lot since 2008. I am hoping for a better finish and will be putting in my full effort to do as well as possible.”

In the latest World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) Rankings Great Britain has moved up from 24th position of 30 Nations, to be ranked 20th of 31 Countries in the WMF World Rankings. The top three places are taken by Sweden, Germany and Switzerland.

Great Britain’s Team Manager Marc Chapman added “National Team players have been selected on ability and performances on the British circuit over the past two seasons of competitive play. The standard of our elite players has improved dramatically over the last season, therefore, I can say with confidence that this is the strongest British squad ever assembled in this, a World Championship year.”

Sean Homer, BMGA chairman, said “The experience of playing internationally will not only benefit Richard and Emily in further developing their minigolf skills and techniques but also helps to raise the profile of our players and the Association both home and abroad, all of which is very positive and encouraging for us as an organisation. I am sure that Richard and Emily will thoroughly enjoy the experience of representing their country and in the process develop some great links with the foreign players taking part. On behalf of the BMGA and all of our members I would like to wish Richard and Emily the very best of luck at the Nations Cup competition in Sweden and look forward to following their progress this season.”

The Great Britain kit for the competition will be supplied by UrbanCrazy. Based in London, UrbanCrazy is an innovative and exciting company, designing and building permanent and portable crazy golf, mini golf and adventure golf courses. Their permanent courses are ideal for parks, leisure centres and back gardens - and their portable courses are available to rent for corporate events and parties. They also supply a wide range of high grade miniature golf equipment and accessories. UrbanCrazy have sponsored the Great Britain team in a number of International tournaments since 2007.

Jon Angel of Great Britain Minigolf Team sponsor UrbanCrazy said “We are delighted to be sponsoring the Great Britain Minigolf Team in 2011. We wish the best of luck to all our players taking part in this year’s international minigolf events.”

In 2011 the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) will be sending teams to the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings, England; and the WMF Nations Cup and WMF World Minigolf Championships in Stockholm, Sweden.

Support from local businesses would be very welcome to the players and Great Britain Team taking part in the international minigolf events in 2011. Interested parties are encouraged to make contact with the BMGA before the International season gets underway in Hastings at the World Adventure Golf Masters in May.

To date 31 BMGA Tour Players have made a total of 62 appearances representing Great Britain in World and European Championships (both Youth and Adult), Nations Cup competitions, the Asia Open and the Czech Open since 1999. Peter Parr was the first GB International and made his debut in a WMF Minigolf Tournament at the 1999 World Minigolf Championships, in Papendal, The Netherlands.

The BMGA Tour consists of Minigolf ranking events that take place at Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses across the UK. Last year there were 22 BMGA Tour competitions and a total of 15 players lifted BMGA Tour titles.

For further details about the BMGA and UK Minigolf and Crazy Golf please email mail@minigolf.org.uk, or visit http://www.minigolf.org.uk/.

Ends

Garden BBQ Minigolf

At the first BBQ of the season on Sunday 13th March 2011 we decided to have a spot of Minigolf in the Garden.

First up was a three-player minigolf course utilising a selection of obstacles from the Crazy Golf Museum archives. Unfortunately the tricky layout stumped the players (myself, Oliver 'The Machine' Florence & Simon 'Practice' Hall), with all of us scoring Unlucky Sevens!









Next up Ollie and I competed in the 6-hole IMGT Luton SS (Stewing Steak) Classic Minigolf Competition. In a tense match-up played in seasonal conditions and with fading light, I won the match with a score of 25(+13) to Ollie's 27(+15).

Visit to Redbourn Golf Club - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #211

Having been speaking to Redbourn Golf Club on twitter I found out the club had a Putting Green, so with Redbourn being only a stones-throw away from Luton we decided to head there for a look around and a bit of a Putt.


Emily and I played the Putting Green as a visit on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and also a competition venue on the Irregular Mini Golf Tour!

The 8-hole Putting Green became the 211th Minigolf Course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since 2006, and our first new course visit since the 30th December 2010 (the Q-Golf at The O2).


In the Irregular Mini Golf Tour Redbourn Classic, Emily defeated me by one-shot, scoring an 18(par) to my 19(+1). Emily had one Ace and one Three, I had all Twos and one Three. We 'added' a 9th hole by playing to the hole furthest away after completing 8-holes.









I wasn't too happy losing to Emily by one-shot.

I also had a practice round after the Irregular Mini Golf Tour match and scored a 15(-3), scoring three Holes-in-One in a row! Video below:


The Club is also home to a Driving Range, 18-hole Golf Course and a Par-3 9-hole course. We'll be heading back to play the Par-3 course in the summer.

British Tourism - Closer to Home

With yesterday being the start of British Tourism Week Emily and I had fancied taking a trip to the brilliant British seaside and were going to make a visit to Southend-on-Sea and the Party on the Pier there (it's a seaside resort we really like, and is probably the nearest to us here in Luton). However, after having a much needed lie-in we decided to have a tour around the area closer to home.

We managed to fit in a fair bit just pootling around a 20ish mile radius of Luton, Bedfordshire, and visited Dunstable, Kensworth, Whipsnade, Stanbridge, Tilsworth and Milton Keynes.

We visited the Dunstable Downs, watched some Kite Flying and the Gliders taking off and landing. And went to 'another' Isle of Wight.


We then headed to Whipsnade and saw some Bison, visited Tilsworth Golf Club and then headed to Milton Keynes, where we found some great produce at the Centre MK's Food & Craft Fair, as well as discovering another Quasar Laser Tag at the Tenpin Bowling Centre at MK's Leisure Plaza.

There is a great amount of fun and interesting stuff to do in the UK, and we love our coastal travels and roadtrips, but it's also great to have a leisurely day out close to home too.

British Tourism Week runs from the 12th to the 20th March 2011.

Not Ireland, Egypt, England or the Isle of Wight

As well as visiting the real Isle of Wight in 2008 we stopped off at Bedfordshire's version yesterday.

On our travels and roadtrips around the UK we've also spotted other 'faux' places, these include:

New England

Egypt

Ireland

Click for details of visits to the rest of the UK, and other countries and islands.

Quasar in Milton Keynes

On our trundle around Beds and Bucks yesterday we headed to Milton Keynes as I was sure there was a Laser Tag there.

I thought there was one at the Xscape centre, but we found I was wrong, there is however a Quasar Laser Tag at the Tenpin Bowling Centre at the MK Leisure Plaza.


We were going to have a game, but with a battle having just begun and the next one exclusively for a kids birthday party we would have had to wait for a while to play. We have decided to head back in the near future.


Looking at the scoreboard at the centre, the war-raging at the MK Quasar was a classic struggle between the REDS and the GREENS.

With no new battle between us taking place in Milton Keynes the Laser Tag Rankings remain the same.

Gluten Free Sausages and Black Pudding from Shaw Meats/Cumbrian Salami Company

While in Milton Keynes yesterday we were very pleased to see a stall selling Gluten Free food at the Centre MK Craft & Food Fair at Middleton Hall.

We bought four packs of the sausages from the Cumbrian Salami Company (Shaw Meats), and have already eaten the Sundried Tomato and Basil ones – they were very very tasty.

While we were chatting to Chris on the stall he was explaining the food they had and was very helpful and knowledgeable. He also pointed out the Gluten Free Black Pudding, which I couldn’t believe was available as I'd never seen anyone else selling it! Black Pudding is one meat product that I thought would be off limits to me forever, and it was such a favourite of mine in my 'pre-Coeliac' days. The one we had from Shaw's was very tasty indeed.


Shaw Meats have some great products and excellent customer service and are well worth a look, whether you're a Coeliac or not :-)

Shaw Meats/Cumbrian Salami Company website.

Coeliac UK website.

Minigolf and Crazy Golf on the Isle of Wight and a visit to Isle of Wight Lane in Bedfordshire

Back on the 26th of July 2008 we headed to the Isle of Wight to play as many of the island's Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses in one day. We managed to play six in total, skipping one additional Putting Course in Shanklin, and running out of time in Ryde before the Hovercraft departed.

The Competitors line-up at Shanklin's Beton Crazy Golf Course

Today Emily and I visited the Dunstable Downs in Bedfordshire, where there is an Isle of Wight Lane!

I couldn't find any history on Bedfordshire's Isle of Wight connections, so if anyone out there knows how this lane/road got its name please do get in touch?

Links to the Minigolf courses we visited on the real Isle of Wight:

Shanklin Crazy Golf

Shanklin Putting Course

Shanklin Jungle Adventure Golf

Rylstone Gardens Crazy Golf

Sandown Pier Indoor Adventure Golf

Sandown Sandham Gardens Crazy Golf

Ryde Adventure Golf

Results of Irregular Mini Golf Tour Minigolf Competitions played on the Isle of Wight:

Isle of Wight Championships Results
Results from the six rounds played on the Isle of Wight
1st – Richard Gottfried - 213(+39)
2nd – Emily Gottfried - 214(+40)
3rd – Christopher Gottfried - 224(+50)

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Invitational Tournament Results
1st – Richard Gottfried - 326(+76)
2nd – Emily Gottfried - 332(+82)
3rd – Christopher Gottfried - 347(+97)

More information and links to our Crazy Golf and Minigolf travels can be found at Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Another not so Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man in Dunstable

Over the road from the not so Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man advertising a Car Wash in Dunstable there is now another not so Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man advertising an ATS Euromaster Car Brake Centre! This one is different, but the old one that was over the road has gone.




More posts about Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-men on the Ham & Egger Files!

The technical name for Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-men is "Airdancer".

I've also seen you can buy a Game called Pumpaloons! It looks to be a home-based contest version of Airdancers!!!

Laser Tag Rankings - at 12th March 2011

Since January 2011 a bunch of us having been playing a fair bit of Laser Tag on our travels.

In the Eternal Laser Tag War that rages between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS(!?) we've all taken part in Laser Battles in such far-flung places as Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough and Crawley.

Currently the "Top Gun of Top Guns" is Oliver 'The Machine' Florence, with a 100% win-loss record and four-wins from his three battles as a RED and one-win as a GREEN.

In tied second place are me and Emily, with Emily picking up three wins from four appearances as a RED, and showing true loyalty to her army. I have collected three wins from my five appearances as a RED/BLUE/GREEN (but not a YELLOW).

Click to enlarge ranking list

Nobody has yet made an appearance for the YELLOWS.

Other Laser Tag Blog Posts:

Laser Tag in Birmingham and London

Laser Quest in Bristol - The Minigolfers Challenge

Harry's Buttons in Bristol and a Closed-Down Quasar!

'LaserForce' Laser Tag in Peterborough

Quasar Elite Laser Tag in Hemel Hempstead

The sport of Knokkers!

Emily recently spotted a story in Metro about the new sport of Knokkers - it's a cross between Pool and Tenpin Bowling, played on a massive pitch!

It looks like it'd be great fun, and as a fan of obscure, wierd, wonderful and strange sports I put out a tweet about the game, and had responses from some of my fellow twitterers who also wanted to play the game.

We've now, kind of unofficially, formed a Hybrid UK/USA Team - and we're open to challenges from all-comers!

The first BIG CHALLENGE is finding a 'Pitch' to play it on in the UK!

You can find out more about Knokkers on the official website.

Quasar Elite Laser Tag in Hemel Hempstead

Today Emily and I headed to Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire to play a game of Quasar Elite.


An intersting 'Laser Tag Fact' is that the Hemel Quasar centre is the world's only multi-theme Quasar Elite arena, with five different zones!


The battle between the Blue Team and the Red Team saw me and Emily face-off against each other in opposing sides in the 31 player game (comprised of two kids birthday parties and us).

The battle was won by the 15 player Red Team with a score of 1055, with Emily ranked 3rd within the team. The Blue Team scored 681 points, and I was the team's Top Gun! I was very surprised at this due to Emily and her team's tactics of sending three girls to constantly target (chase) me throughout the battle!

(The scoreboards only count up to three digits, so the score of 1055 is shown as 055!)

The centre is pretty cool, with a large arena to battle in. We will be returning for another match soon.

As a Quasar Elite Champion I treated myself to a piece of Merch - a fetching red Belt Pouch/Man-Bag. When we left Emily refused to hold it, even for a while, as she said "...it would ruin my street cred."!





Other Laser Tag Blog Posts:

Laser Tag in Birmingham and London

Laser Quest in Bristol - The Minigolfers Challenge

Harry's Buttons in Bristol and a Closed-Down Quasar!

'LaserForce' Laser Tag in Peterborough

"Go With The Flo" Minigolf Doubles Team finish 7th of 14 at the GMGC Green Doubles Minigolf Championship

28th February 2011
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report - "Go With The Flo" Minigolf Doubles Team finish 7th of 14 at the GMGC Green Doubles Minigolf Championship

Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried competed in the GMGC Green Doubles Championship at the 18-hole Minigolf course in Hither Green on Sunday 27th February. Richard teamed with Walton-on-Thames’ Oliver Florence in the six-round event and finished in 7th spot of 14 teams.

Photo: Co-Captain Oliver 'The Machine' Florence (l) and Vice-Captain 'Squire' Richard Gottfried

The tournament was played in a matchplay format over 18-holes and was split into two stages, with a draw for the round robin qualifying stage, and knockout play-offs for positions 1-8 and 9-14.

The pair finished with a win/loss record of played six, won two, drew two, lost two.

The tournament was won by Hither Green's Nick Sandqvist and James Rutherford.

Results for the "Go With The Flo" Minigolf Doubles Team - 27/02/2011
Match 1 - beat Gareth Holmes & Terry Exall 2up
Match 2 - drew with Nick Chitty & John 'Ted' McIver
Match 3 - drew with Seth Thomas & Chris Smith
Match 4 - lost to Seth Thomas & Chris Smith 4&2
Match 5 - lost to David Donnelly & William Donnelly by one-hole in a sudden-death play-off
Match 6 - beat Alan Norman & Marion Homer 2&1

Richard said “I’m very pleased with our team performance today. This was the first time we’ve competed as a pair and I thought we worked well together. It was great to be undefeated after three rounds, and we won the important 7th/8th place play-off to round off an intense day of competition at one of the toughest Miniature Golf courses in the UK.”

Ends

Photos from the event:

The GMGC Green Doubles Trophy - won by Nick Sandvist & James Rutherford

John 'Big Top Ted' McIver shares Richard and Oliver's good fortunes at the GMGC Green Doubles tourney today!?


Richard & Oliver with their winnings - and playing round one of an impromptu Rock Paper Scissors Match! Ollie goes one-up with Paper.

Richard draws level with Paper.

The duo tie on Rock.

Richard wins with Rock!

A fourth game sees Oliver win with Rock.

Oliver holds aloft the scoring table following the team's seventh place finish.

Richard Gottfried's Minigolf Doubles Career Record - at 28/02/2011 (last match 27/02/2011).

Minigolf Doubles Win/Loss Record (in all friendlies & full BMGA Tour events)
Played - 51
Won - 24
Lost - 22
Drawn - 5

Minigolf Doubles Win/Loss Record (in BMGA Tour events)
Played - 25
Won - 13
Lost - 7
Drawn - 5

Minigolf Doubles Record (in BMGA Warm-up Doubles events)
Played - 2
First - 0
Second - 1
Third - 0
Other - 1

Other Minigolf Doubles Information
12 playing partners (regular BMGA competition team mate is Kevin Moseley)
25 competitive matches
26 friendlies
35 matchplay matches
12 strokeplay format matches
1 point-play-system match
1 match decided by Coin Toss
2 BMGA Warm-up Doubles events

Minigolf Doubles Playing Partners To Date:
1 - Emily Gottfried
2 - Matt Smith
3 - Andy Gonsalves
4 - Owen Johnson
5 - Paul Johnson
6 - Kevin Moseley
7 - Chris Harding
8 - Simon Hall
9 - Leo Kukielka
10 - Christopher Gottfried
11 - Alan Norman
12 - Oliver Florence

Full Minigolf Doubles Record for Richard Gottfried - Click to Enlarge

Gottfried & Norman Team-Up, and Minigolf Doubles Record Update

Minigolf Report - Scrap Iron Cup 6 - Hither Green

Sixth Scrap Iron Cup Minigolf Competition - Results and Report

Seth ‘Clockwork Orange’ Thomas became a two-time Scrap Iron Cup Minigolf Champion as he defeated Dudley’s Owen ‘Jackpot’ Johnson, himself a former Scrap Iron Cup Champion, in the final of the sixth Scrap Iron Cup minigolf tournament in Hither Green, Lewisham on Saturday 26th February.


In the three-player field Paul ‘Rango’ Johnson was the bronze medallist.

Scrap Iron Cup
26/02/2011
Venue: The Green Indoor Mini Golf, Hither Green

Round One - Strokeplay
Rank Player Score
1. Seth Thomas - 42
2. Owen Johnson - 54
3. Paul Johnson - 58

Round Two – Matchplay

Seth Thomas vs. Owen Johnson


Result - Seth Thomas wins

Scrap Iron Cup - Hall of Fame
2011 - #6 - Seth Thomas beat Owen Johnson - Hither Green
2011 - #5 - Seth Thomas beat Richard Gottfried - Bristol
2011 - #4 - Richard Gottfried beat Cindy Kukielka - Birmingham
2010 - #3 - Owen Johnson beat Richard Gottfried - Birmingham
2010 - #2 - Richard Gottfried beat Paul Johnson - Weymouth
2010 - #1 - Richard Gottfried beat Paul Johnson - Sandbanks

Rules of the Scrap Iron Cup
• Played between members of the Midlands Minigolf Club
• Played in either groups of two, or one group, in round one
• Groups are drawn at random (often using the 'balls in a hat' technique)
• Round one is a strokeplay match played over 7, 9, 11, 12 or 18 holes
• The two players with the top scores after round one qualify for the second round/final
• Round two is a matchplay match played over 7, 9, 12 or 18 holes
• The winner of the matchplay match becomes the Scrap Iron Cup* Champion**

* The Scrap Iron Cup (aka the 'NABBA ENGLAND 95 CLASS TWO WINNER' Trophy) remains the property of Owen and Paul Johnson
** The Reigning Scrap Iron Champion retains the cup until the next defence whereupon it is given up until the next Scrap Iron Cup tournament has been completed

The Crazy Golf course in Abingdon's Abbey Meadows

A tweet from @TheCrazyGolfer highlighted a link to a news story in the Witney Gazette about £700,000 of cuts by the Vale of White Horse District Council - "Vale of White Horse District Council agrees £700,000 cuts".

Amongst the things that had been considered to be 'cut' were the crazy golf and pitch-and-putt facilities at Abingdon's Abbey Meadows! The Crazy Golf course there was the very first course I played as a child growing up in the town.

Stories in the Oxford Mail and the Oxford Times have more information about the proposed cuts and a photo.

I revisited the course as part of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in August 2007, when it became the 31st course played on the tour.


Blog Post - Crazy Golf in Abingdon, Oxfordshire

More photos of the Abbey Meadows Crazy Golf course can be found at MiniatureGolfer.com

A review of the Crazy Golf course (2007)

Gottfried third in the latest GMGC Club Tournament

25th February 2011
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – Gottfried third in the latest GMGC Club Tournament

Following the Green Doubles Warm-up Doubles Matches at Hither Green on Thursday 24th February, Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried competed in the latest GMGC Thursday night Club Tournament at the 18-hole Indoor Mini Golf.

Ten players competed in the two-round tournament and Gottfried recorded scores of 41(+5) and 49(+13) for a total of 90(+18), 74 with his +8 GMGC Handicap, and finished on the podium in third place in the handicap event, and sixth in the unhandicapped ranks. Both rounds were played on the 'hard' difficulty setting.

Chris Smith won the handicap event, with Michael Smith runner-up, and Chris and Michael tied for the lead in the unhandicapped scoring.

Each Thursday night from 7pm the Green Mini Golf Club holds GMGC Club Championship minigolf competitions, played out over two 18-hole rounds.

Richard Gottfried’s GMGC Club Tournament Record 2010/11
• GMGC Club Tournament - 1st of 11
o GMGC Club Tournament (without Handicap) - 3rd of 11
• GMGC Club Tournament - 9th of 13
o GMGC Club Tournament (without Handicap) - 8th of 13
• GMGC Club Tournament - Tied 6th of 9
o GMGC Club Tournament (without Handicap) - 7th of 9
• GMGC Club Tournament - Tied 7th of 13
o GMGC Club Tournament (without Handicap) - 7th of 13
• GMGC Club Tournament - 2nd of 6
o GMGC Club Tournament (without Handicap) - 2nd of 6
• GMGC Club Tournament - 3rd of 10
o GMGC Club Tournament (without Handicap) - 6th of 10

The GMGC are based at the Green Indoor Mini Golf course in Hither Green, Lewisham, London, and the course is well worth a visit. The Course/Club now have a presence on Facebook and you can check out the Club and Course website at http://www.thegreenminigolf.co.uk/