2011 Worlds £2 Tat Challenge at the Old Town Amusements in Hastings

Results of the 2011 'Worlds £2 Tat Challenge' at the Old Town Amusements in Hastings

Following the completion of the first day's play in the 2011 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships a group of Seaside Amusements fans made the now traditional and ceremonial walk to The Old Town Amusement Arcade to compete in the second-annual '£2 Tat Challenge'.

Photo: Vice-Chairman of the PTA Scott Lancley runs through the rules of the £2 Tat Challenge 

This Amusements Challenge Tournament saw a total of 26 participants compete for the title on Saturday 29th October 2011. The field was double that of the 2010 event when ‘Johnson’ Paul Johnson took the win with a haul of nine pieces of tat. This year the title was not to be Paul Johnson’s again, as the man now known as Paul ‘Johnson Paul Johnson’ Johnson only managed to win one bit of tat with his stake money.

Photo: Defending champion Paul 'Johnson Paul Johnson' Johnson crashes out of the 2011 £2 Tat Challenge with just one piece of tat. Note Jam Trubridge continuing to play-on in his debut Tat Challenge 

The brains behind the £2 Tat Challenge are Scott ‘Donkey Gringo’ Lancley (the International Worlds Crazy Air Squash Champion) and Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried. The rules of the £2 Tat Challenge are simple – the aim is to win the most amount of 2p falls prizes with a stake of £2. The overall winner then gets to bag up all of the tat as their prize!

The 2011 Honours went to newcomer and junior Polly who managed to bag a grand total of eleven pieces of tat with her £2!

Photo: New Worlds £2 Tat Challenge Champion Polly receives her prize of all the tat. Last year's Champion Paul 'Johnson Paul Johnson' Johnson manages to get in on the photo 

In total 127 pieces of tat were won this year with the players spending £52 in total to compete. In the 2010 event the thirteen players won 36 pieces of tat between them.

Photo: The motley crew of Tatters, Ratters and Sharks assemble for the obligatory Group Photo at the 2011 Worlds £2 Tat Challenge Competition

The Full Rankings for the 2011 £2 Tat Challenge can be seen below:

Rank Player Country Tat Won
1 Polly ENG 11
2 Richard Gottfried ENG 10
2 Stu Bowker ENG 10
4 Chris Harding ENG 9
4 James Rutherford ENG 9
6 Pasi Aho FIN 8
7 Alex Exall ENG 7
7 Chris Jones ENG 7
9 Phil Exall ENG 5
9 Terry Exall ENG 5
9 Emily Gottfried ENG 5
12 Anna Green ENG 4
12 Jam Trubridge ENG 4
12 Jes ENG 4
12 Keith Kellard ENG 4
12 Seth Thomas ENG 4
12 Trevor Exall ENG 4
18 Brad Shepherd ENG 3
18 Leo Kukielka ENG 3
18 Marc Chapman ENG 3
18 Peter Jones WAL 3
22 Denis Exall ENG 2
23 Adam Kelly ENG 1
23 Paul Johnson ENG 1
23 Scott Lancley ENG 1
26 Albert ENG 0

Photos from the event:

Photo: Two Crazy Golf World Champions and an Exall line-up at the 2p pusher for a crack at Worlds Tat Challenge Glory. From l-r Keith Kellard, Terry Exall and Chris Harding

Photo: From l-r Jam Trubridge and Seth 'Wandsworth' Thomas tackle The Buttons

Photo: Peter 'Toy Jeep' Jones having a rare old time at the amusements

Photo: From l-r Tat Challenge Rookie Trevor Exall and last year's loser Marc Chapman wait for the prize to drop. Chapman managed to win three pieces of tat this year, beating his total haul of zero last year

Photo: Denis 'I'll bring the bell' Exall pumps the 2p pusher full of money. His tactic and motto was simple - "It's quality of the prizes, not quantity that counts." Not in this game it's not Den ;-)

Photo: From l-r Anna Green, Adam 'ASBO' Kelly and Scott Lancley tackle The Pushers

Photo: Brad Shepherd, Terry Exall, Alex Exall and Phil Exall take a gander at Chris Harding's last push for the win

Photo: The mighty haul of 127 pieces of Tat won by the 26 players!!!

Photo: From l-r Chris Harding and James Rutherford collect a prize each for finishing in tied third place. Peter Jones finished in tied 18th place and just happens to be in the photo

Photo: From l-r Richard 'The Town Crier' Gottfried and Stu 'Stewy' Bowker take their prize each for finishing as tied runners-up. Stu chose the quality prize that Denis Exall had won

Photo: Squire the Town Crier invites one and all to join in the fun at the 2011 Worlds £2 Tat Challenge

The '£2 Tat Challenge' was an open invitation competition and featured in the Unofficial Booklet of the 2011 World Crazy Golf Championships.

Anticipation for the 2012 event is growing already!

Following the inaugural £2 Tat Challenge in Hastings last October there were also two tat Challenges in May 2011 which saw Richard Gottfried and Alan Norman crowned as interim champions. Controversially Alan subsequently exchanged 37 pieces of Tat from the overall winner’s swag-bag that he won for one Pingu Teddy Bear that he promptly called 'Penny'!?

£2 Tat Challenge Hall of Fame
#1 - Paul Johnson - 9 pieces of Tat
#2 - Richard Gottfried - 10 pieces of Tat
#3 - Alan Norman - 6 pieces of Tat +1
#4 - Polly - 11 pieces of Tat

Links:
- £2 Tat Challenges at 'The Buttons' in Hastings - May 2011
- 'The £2 Tat Challenge' at 'The Buttons' in Hastings - October 2010

Zombie Apocalypse in Hastings!

Attempting to survive a Zombie outbreak in East Sussex!

Last Friday night we took part in the Zombie Apocalypse outdoor Laser Tag game at Battle Zone in Hastings!

The Zombie Apocalypse scenario saw our two teams being led through the Zombie-infested Battle Zone arena by a group of Special Ops soldiers.

Most of us were down in Hastings getting ready for the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships, but Christopher was super-excited about the event and had travelled to Hastings with his mate Anthony from Southsea.

I wore my Zombie Slayers Association (ZSA) t-shirt to the event.

Emily looks a little nervous, Anthony looks petrified. And this was before we started!

Jam Trubridge bearing arms in the fightback against the zombies!

Christopher Gottfried gearing up for action

Emily is all tooled up

John 'Big Top Zombie Ted' McIver, chief organiser for our excursion, and zombie-a-like, tries to get to grips with his weapon

In our group me and Jam were the last players to 'die' and so were the top two survivors, although Jam had spent much of our pitiful five-minute fightback against the zombie hordes hiding in a hedge.

Our group of survivors after the Zombie Apocalypse.

Christopher and two of his zombie 'friends'. So inspired was Christopher by the night out that he put together a great Zombie outfit himself for Halloween. George Romero would be proud.

Me, looking far too happy stood next to a Zombie! It also appears that I am holding my gun the wrong way round!?

We were told that our group were the worst to ever play and so in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse we can all now rest easy in the knowledge that we would make better Zombies than survivors.

Two of the best moments for me were when everyone fired at Ted as they thought he was a Zombie, the other was the fact that despite being told that only headshots against the Zombies would count (and having watched countless Zombie films) we all still just fired wildly at the ensuing Zombies!?

The Battle Zone Zombie Apocalypse was a really great event, slightly spoiled by the fact that Christopher and his friend were almost denied entry as his surname had been written down incorrectly by a staff member when he made his booking. Thankfully common sense prevailed and he and Anthony were eventually allowed to join in.

Where Battle Zone is now used to be a great 18-hole Minigolf course that we played many times in BMGA Tour competitions. It was the 43rd course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

When the area was still a minigolf course it was also the setting for "The Minigolf Welly Boot Swamp Ball Incident in Hastings"!

Links:
- Battle Zone website
- Photos of the Zombies at the Battle Zone Facebook Page

Great Gluten Free Tea Rooms

Details of the excellent Tea Rooms we've found that can cater for Coeliacs by providing Gluten Free options.

On our travels around the country to visit seasides and play minigolf we're always keen to find new places to eat out at. This can often be a problem as I am a Coeliac so must only eat Gluten Free food. However, we have found some excellent restaurants, cafes, takeaways and tea rooms on our journeys.

The latest great Tea Room we visited was the Post Office Tea Rooms in St Leonards, East Sussex. The food, service and prices are great. We were visiting the area for three days and we ate at the Tea Room on each of them as there was so much variety on offer.

On my first lunchtime visit I opted for a dish from the Breakfast menu (served all day), this was the Scotch woodcock. I'd never heard of it before, but it was delicious. It consists of scrambled eggs on toast topped with anchovies and capers. It's a must try meal. I finished off with a dessert of the Lemon Sponge Cake.

On our second visit I tried one of the special, the Lamb Hot Pot with Vegetables. My wife chose the Bubble & Squeak as we had seen a fellow diner order this the day before. The Hot Pot was a big portion full of lamb and potatoes and was very filling and very tasty.

On our third visit I opted for the Bubble & Squeak, which comes topped with two fried eggs. Again it's a big portion of very tasty food, well prepared and at a great price. My wife chose the Cream Tea which looked very good. I also found out that GF Cheese Scones are always stocked so I'll be trying those next time too.

The team at the Post Office Tea Rooms offer so many great dishes and events and are very keen that customers are well catered for. The Post Office Tea Rooms is not only a great example of a Tea Room from a bygone era, but is also a blueprint of how Coeliacs/Gluten Free can be catered for. I can't wait to go back again!

Emily and a Lamb Hotpot

 

Me and my Scotch Woodcock at the Post Office Tea Room!

 

Crabtree & Evelyn, Stratford-upon-Avon - When in Stratford-upon-Avon I always make a visit to the excellent Tea Room at Crabtree & Evelyn. They have some great Gluten Free cakes, which I normally buy two of! They also have savoury dishes on offer that can be Gluten free too.

Oaks Tea Room in Felixstowe, Suffolk - The Oaks Tea Room has a great range of Gluten Free options. On our visit I chose the Chicken Liver Pate, which came served with new potatoes, salad and GF toast. it was a very tasty and filling meal. The staff at the Oaks Tea Room also delivered excellent service and make a variety of specials, many of which are Gluten Free. A must-visit if you're in Felixstowe.

Merrivale in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk - Model Village, Crazy Golf, Gluten Free Food and an Old Arcade Museum! - The menu itself shows lots of items marked 'GF' and when ordering we found out that other dishes could be adapted if necessary. The cakes, pies and pastries etc. were home made, and all of the cooking was done in separate cookers/fryers, meaning I was able to have Fish & Chips (which was also served with a good side-salad and lots of peas), it was a very big portion indeed. As there were so many GF options available I was greedy and also ordered the Mushroom, Potato, Tomato and Onion Pasty, which was very well made and very very tasty. After our food had settled we headed off for a paddle in the sea and a wander around the Pleasure Beach and then went back to Merrivale for a Cake. The choice again was huge and I opted for the Chocolate Cake.

Cooks Collection, Ampthill, Beds - The Tea Room at the Cooks Collection cookware shop serves Gluten Free options. On my flying visit I had a chat with the staff who showed me the Gluten Free Cupcakes, Cookies and Cake. They also have Gluten Free Rolls, and the soup was GF too. The Tea Room is open seven days a week too. I had a Cupcake which was very tasty indeed.

 

Charlies Cafe Bar, Worcester, Worcestershire - While travelling to Wales we stopped off in Worcester and spotted that Charlies Cafe Bar served Gluten Free options. We didn't have a full meal, but instead bought a couple of cakes. I managed to get the last piece of Marble Cake and upon eating it could see why it had sold out.

 

Other tea Rooms that we've spotted that offer Gluten Free options, but haven't had time (or hunger) to eat at include:

- Bonnets in Felixstowe, Suffolk

- Otto Cafe Regent, Cambridge

- Love Cafe, St Leonards, East Sussex

- Smith's Real Food, St Leonards, East Sussex

You can also get a "Nice Cup of Tea" at 5js Cafe at Lodmoor Country Park in Weymouth, Dorset.

We're also big fans of Fish & Chips and have also found a number of Fish & Chip Shops catering to the Gluten Free market. You can check out a blog post on some of our top finds at - "Gluten Free Fish & Chips that we've found on our travels"

I also regularly contribute reviews of places that we find that are able to cater for Coeliacs at the Travel Gluten Free website.

Link:

- Coeliac UK - The charity working for people with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH).

Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt - The Results Are In - Your Help Is Needed!

After over two months of hunting for points on the 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt the points have been totalled and the result is - a tie for first place between me and Australia's Allan Cox!!!

Both of us gained a total of 820 PKSCAVHUNT points in our quest for the title and trophy. Our Minigolf friend and Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt rival Pat Sheridan of the USA was the bronze medallist with a very impressive haul of 585 points.

To decide the ultimate winner of the competition the Putter King has set one final task - "Get the most votes for your trick shot video."

The Putter King has posted a Facebook Question asking for fans worldwide to vote on their favourite trick shot (mine or Allan's) and the contestant with the most votes as of Sunday, November 13th at 11:59 P.M. JST will be deemed the winner of the 1st Annual Putter King Scavenger Hunt.

Please vote for my video of a Blindfolded Hole-in-One, that was filmed at Tea Green Golf Club near Luton, at the following link - Choose your favorite trick shot and help decide the winner of the 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt.

Please check out the Putter King Facebook page too.

Previous Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Blog Posts:
- My Entry for the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt 2011
- The 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt

Putter King Related Blog Posts:
- The Jewel in the Crown - Minigolf Hole Design at the Putter King - Your Votes Needed
- Photos of the The Putter King Team at the BMGA English Open at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk
- Part III of the Putter King Interview Series - An Interview with UK Minigolfer Richard Gottfried

Videos of the 2011 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

Videos of the final hole and sudden-death play-off that Emily and I took at the 2011 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings are now online on my YouTube Channel.

Please feel free to like/comment/share/link to/embed them etc. etc.

Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships 2011 - Final Group play the 18th Hole v.1

Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships 2011 - Final Group play the 18th Hole v.2

Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships 2011 - Final Sudden-Death Play-off - Holes 1-4



Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships 2011 - Final Play-off - Hole 1

Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships 2011 - Final Play-off - Hole 2 - Michael Smith Wins!

Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships 2011 - Final Play-off - Hole 3

Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships 2011 - Final Play-off - Hole 4

Minigolf Report – Gottfrieds play in Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships

31st October 2011
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – Gottfrieds play in Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships

Luton Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried represented England at the ninth-annual Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships at the Sea Front Adventure Golf Complex in Hastings on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October. It was the fifth time Richard has played in the tournament and Emily’s fourth appearance.

In the 74 player field Richard finished in 25th place with a six round total score of 210(-6). Emily finished in 51st place with a score of 233(+17) on the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course. Emily also finished 5th in the Castle Golf Women’s World Crazy Golf Championships.

The overall winner of the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships was Oxford’s Michael Smith, who defeated Andy Exall and James Rutherford in a sudden-death play-off. Olivia Prokopova from the Czech Republic won the Castle Golf Women’s World Crazy Golf Championships.

Richard scored rounds of 36, 37, 33, 35, 33 and 36 for his 210(-6) total and said “This year’s World Crazy Golf Championships was the closest yet, there were so many players battling to make it into the top 18 and despite my best efforts I couldn’t seem to score enough Aces. Most of my shots were tap-ins for two this weekend so it’s frustrating that more of them didn’t drop in first time. I’ll be back for another crack at the World title next year and can’t wait for it.”

Emily scored rounds of 40, 39, 38, 39, 37 and 40 for her 233(+17) total and said “I was a little disappointed with my performance, although I don’t think the scores accurately represented how I was playing. But it was a fantastic tournament with a nail-biting final round and play-off”.

Ends

My Entry for the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt 2011

On the 26th of August 2011 the Putter King Minigolf Company in Japan announced the first-ever Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt. The contest, which closes on the 1st of November 2011, has been taking place on Miniature Golf courses worldwide and people were invited to track down and record items and achievements related to all forms of Minigolf.

In total 17 tasks were set, with some activities also carrying bonus points. Altogether I have managed to complete 15 of the 17 tasks. The activities in the 2011 Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt have had the hunting players designing new holes, playing new courses, showing off their minigolf ball collections, (re)learning Maths & Physics (in a fun way), doing arts & crafts, autograph hunting, scoring holes-in-one, creating minigolf trick shots and a whole lot more!

Details of the tasks, and links to photos and videos of the activities I have completed are below.

1) Autographs of 2 professional miniature golfers, each from a different country. (45 points; 5 bonus points if the professional miniature golfers are also from 2 different continents).
- One from five-time World Crazy Golf Champion Tim 'Ace Man' Davies (WAL/FRA) and one from Pat Sheridan (USA)

2) Picture of yourself next to each obstacle in our list of the Top 10 Nostalgic Miniature Golf Obstacles. (120 points; 20 bonus points for each obstacle that exactly matches the one pictured in the article)
Obstacle 1 - The Windmill
Obstacle 2 - The Loop a.k.a “The Loop de Loop”
Obstacle 3 - The 19th Hole a.k.a “The Free Game Shot” (#2)
Obstacle 4 - The Barn
Obstacle 5 - The Toboggan Trap Obstacle a.k.a “The Ball Return Trap" (#2)
Obstacle 6 - The Trestle Bridge Obstacle
Obstacle 7 - The Hanging Bowling Pins
Obstacle 8 - The Lighthouse
Obstacle 9 - The Traffic Light (#2, 3, 4)
Obstacle 10 - The Cannon

3) Build your own full-size miniature golf hole. (75 points; up to 100 bonus points available depending on the craftsmanship, playability, creativity and fun factor of your hole)
- On the 24th and 25th October I built "PK Island" - a full-size minigolf hole with a plateau and ramp obstacle. Photos - 1, 2, 3, 4. Videos - 1, 2

4) Video of yourself making a hole-in-one on two consecutive miniature golf holes. The video must be one continuous shot with no editing. (60 points)
- I managed to score two Aces in a row during a round of Minigolf on the 9-hole course at Tea Green Golf Club on Tuesday 27th September 2011

5) Picture of yourself with the Putter King mascot. (50 points; 15 bonus points if you are wearing a Putter King t-shirt)

6) Picture of yourself with the completed Putter King wobblehead. (15 points; 15 bonus points if the picture is taken at a miniature golf course)
- Photos of me with Wobblehead; the Wobblehead on Table Top Minigolf Course; making the Wobblehead on the 3rd October; and a video of the Wobblehead wobbling (a bit)

7) Picture of a completed scorecard from a round of miniature golf. The round of golf must have taken place after the start of this scavenger hunt. (10 points)
- From The Swingers Club Miniature Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on the 8th September 2011

8) Picture of completed scorecards from 5 different miniature golf courses. Each round of golf must have taken place after the start of this scavenger hunt. (35 points)
- The Swingers Club, Las Vegas - 08/09/11; Circus Circus, Las Vegas 09/09/11; The Putt Park, Las Vegas 10/09/11; Treasure Island, Southsea 30/09/11; Solent Springs, Gosport 01/10/11

9) Submit an entry to the 2011 Putter King Hole Design Contest. (60 points; 40 bonus points if your entry gets more than 100 votes)
- The Jewel in the Crown Minigolf Hole Design submitted on the 17th October 2011 - currently with 112 votes

10) Screenshot from the Putter King app showing a 9-hole score below par. (10 points)
- Did not complete

11) Screenshot from the Putter King app showing that you have successfully unlocked all of the holes in the game. (45 points)
- Did not complete

12) Picture of the Putter King wobblehead at a World Heritage Site. (55 points)
I took the Putter King Wobblehead along to The Jurassic Coast in Weymouth, Dorset, England on Saturday 9th October 2011

13) Complete and submit the Putter King ‘Practice Activity’ and ‘Final Project’ for any one of the Putter King math or physics lessons. (40 points; 20 bonus points if you complete two lessons)
- Completed Level 1 (Prince) in both Math & Physics.
- Practice Activity - Math
- Final Project - Math
- Practice Activity - Physics
- Final Project - Physics

14) Picture of yourself with at least 6 different colored miniature golf balls. (10 points; 2 bonus points for each additional color {limit of 10 bonus points})
- Me and 11 different coloured Minifold Balls

15) Picture of yourself with a famous golfer or miniature golfer. (15 points; 150 bonus points if the golfer is on the PGA tour AND you are wearing a Putter King t-shirt in the picture)
- Me and two-time World Crazy Golf Champion Chris Harding at Weymouth Adventure Golf on Sunday 10th October 2011

16) Video of yourself making a hole-in-one on a miniature golf hole with a loop-de-loop obstacle. (30 points)
- Filmed on Hole 18 at Hastings Sea Front Adventure Golf course on Thursday 27th October 2011

17) Video of yourself successfully making a trick miniature golf shot. (40 points; up to 100 bonus points available depending on the difficulty and complexity of the trick shot)
- For this task I made a Blindfolded Hole-in-One shot!



My main two rivals in the international chase for the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Trophy are Pat Sheridan of The Putting Penguin Minigolf Team (USA) and Allan Cox of the Ermington Putters Club (AUS).

Many thanks to my PKSCAVHUNT helper Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried for her help in photographing my endeavours on the 2011 Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt.

Links:
- The Putter King
- Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt
- The Putting Penguin
- Ermington Putters Club

Putter King Related Blog Posts:
- The Jewel in the Crown - Minigolf Hole Design at the Putter King - Your Votes Needed
- The 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt
- Photos of the The Putter King Team at the BMGA English Open at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk
- Part III of the Putter King Interview Series - An Interview with UK Minigolfer Richard Gottfried

Minigolf Doubles Match - Oxfordshire Mini Golf Club vs. Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club

Minigolf Doubles Match - Oxfordshire Mini Golf Club vs. Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club

Battleground - Neutral Territory (All Three of the Minigolf Courses at Hastings Sea Front Adventure Golf)

Teams

Oxfordshire Mini Golf Club

- 'Squire' Richard Gottfried

- Michael 'Hole in One Kenobi' Smith

Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club

- James 'The Rocket' Rutherford

- Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried



Format - Three-Round Doubles Strokeplay Competition with Combined Cumulative Scores

On Saturday 15th October 2011 a new Minigolf alliance was formed for one-match only as 'Squire' Richard Gottfried of the Midlands Minigolf Club (MMGC) and Michael 'HIOK' Smith of the Kent Minigolf Club (KMGC) joined up as the Oxfordshire Mini Golf Club (OMGC) to take on James 'The Rocket' Rutherford  and Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried of the recently-formed Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club (CMGC).

The 54-hole Doubles Match-up saw play begin on the Crazy Golf Course with Michael scoring a 33 and Richard a 34 for a combined score of 67. Emily and James could only manage scores of 42 and 35 for a combined 77.

Play then moved onto the Pirate Adventure Golf course, the newest of the three Sea Front courses in Hastings, and saw Michael hit a 31 and Richard a 37 for a 68 total. Emily scored a 40 and James a 34 for a team score of 74.

With the CMGC trailing the OMGC by 16 shots the deciding round was played on the Adventure Golf course, a course where 16 shots could be made up.

That wasn't to be the case though as Michael scored a great 37, with Richard scoring 42 for a combined 79. Emily also scored 42 but with James scoring 48 for a combined round of 90 the overall victory was to go Oxfordshire's way with a total of 214 to the CMGC's 241.

Photos: Emily and James of the CMGC see their chances of a win against the OMGC go up in smoke as they play into the mist on the Hastings Adventure Golf course

Link - The Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club's website

The 59th Annual National Town Criers Championships in Hastings

On Saturday 15th October 2011 we were in Hastings practicing for the following days Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open tournament and decided to take a break to spectate at the 59th Annual National Town Criers Championships that was taking place in the town's Queens Square.

The event saw Town Criers from all over the UK competing to be crowned the National Champion and entrants were judged on 'volume, diction, clarity and inflection'.

The event was MC'd by Hastings' Town Crier Jon Bartholomew and as well as keeping the event rolling, he also let the audience know about the Hastings Beer and Battle Cider available from Hastings Brewery - which I have since found out is planning to launch a Gluten Free Beer soon!

Photo: Richard enjoys a Battle Cider while listening to the Town Criers Championships in Hastings

During the event the MC also asked the crowd to shout out 'Yay' if they were from Hastings, and 'Nay' if they were from elsewhere. With my stentorian voice I gave an almighty "Nay" to which one of the Town Criers stood nearby commented "You should be a Town Crier with that voice"!

Link - The Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers

Mini Golf on a Roof Terrace at The Portobello Gold Hotel & Crazy Golf at Alexandra Palace

Ahead of our trip to London last Saturday for the UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships I had a quick look online to see if London is home to any new Minigolf courses since my last visit and online search. I found out it is!

In fact I spotted two new Miniature Golf courses in London.

According to the eventful website the Portobello Gold Hotel has a Mini Golf course on its roof and calls it an 'eccentric touch'.

We headed along to the Portobello Gold pub and hotel and asked about the Mini Golf at the bar, only to be told that the course is on one of the hotel room balconies, so unfortunately we couldn't have a play of it. We did however get warmed-up with a few lunchtime drinks ahead of the evening's big sporting event at the RPS Championships!

The other course I found on my web search is at Alexandra Palace and is an 18-hole Crazy Golf course. We didn't have time to get along to have a game there, but have added it to our 'to visit' list.

Alexandra Palace is also home to what I have heard is a very good Pitch & Putt course, and a Putting Green. both of which are run by Golfwise, a company which runs a number of Pitch & Putt courses around the country. We've visited their site in Chelmsford, in 2009, and we had time to play a few of the holes on the course, which was in great condition and very testing. Back in 2010 we also visited the site in Upminster which is still currently closed. On our roadtrip to Lincolnshire earlier this year we ran out of time and didn't manage to play their other Pitch & Putt course on South Parade in Skegness.

Rleated blog posts:
- Miniature Golf & Crazy Golf Courses in London
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Emily bakes a BIG Golf Ball cake for Tea Green Golf Club - and wins the 'silver medal' in Cake Tasting Contest!

Emily recently baked a BIG Golf Ball (gluten free) cake for Tea Green Golf Club's MacMillan Cancer Support Coffee Morning.

Part of the event included a cake-tasting and in the contest Emily's cake was runner-up!

Photo: The Tea Green 'Range Ball' Golf cake

Photo: Emily shows off the silver medal winning Tea Green 'Range Ball' Golf cake

Links:
- Tea Green Golf Club
- MacMillan Cancer Support

Report from the Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships 2011

Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships 2011

On Saturday 22nd October the 2011 Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships took place at The Knights Templar Pub on Chancery Lane, London. Over 200 people took part in the Individual and Team Competitions at the event organised by the team at Wacky Nation, with 128 players battling to become the 2011 UK RPS Champion. For the third year running the winner came from Woking! With the 2011 honours going to Max Deeley.

Photo: From l-r Oliver 'The Machine' Florence, Paul 'The Terminator' Jones, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried, Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley - note Richard & Marc throwing the illegal RPS move of 'Sausage'

Our group of six players had a mixed bag of results in the individual competition, with Oliver 'The Machine' Florence doing the best of the bunch and reaching the Semi-Finals, having had to face-off against, and defeat, team-mate Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried in the third round. The third round loss for Emily was the same stage she exited the 2010 UK RPS Championships. Of note was the fact that both Ollie and Emily received 'Byes' in the first round of the contest as their opponents were in no condition to perform!

Photo: 2011 UK RPS Contender Oliver 'The Machine' Florence shows off his t-shirt prize for reaching the Semi-Finals

The 2011 tournament used a knockout format rather than the round-robin system employed last year, this meant that players were only guaranteed one match and Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd was the first of our group to fall, losing in the first round. I followed soon after with a straight 2-nil defeat. Brad and I were in good company in our losing efforts, as the 2010 UK RPS Champion - Paul Lewis - also fell at the first hurdle.

Photo: Richard shows that three hands are not better than two

Photo: Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd (bottom right) cuts a lonely figure having crashed out in the first round

Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley was the only member of our troupe to be drawn on the rowdier Table One, but despite nerves on his debut won through round one. However, in round two he was drawn to face a giant of a man who almost dislocated 'The Roller's' shoulder in the opening handshake! This obviously impaired Bazeley who unfortunately lost the match and decided to make the long journey back to Wellingborough, but not before he gave a post-match interview.

In the Team contest 16 teams of four players lined-up to be crowned Champions. Our team - The Guild of Rock Paper Scissors - finished in tied 5th/6th place, alongside longtime Dodgeball rivals the WDW, following a win in the first round, but a loss in the Quarter Finals. The team consisted of myself, Emily, Ollie and Paul 'The Terminator' Jones, who didn't enter the individual event but instead spent his time sharking people in Challenge RPS matches.

Photo: The Guild of Rock Paper Scissors (GoRPS) in their lair before the team tournament. From l-r 'Squire' Richard Gottfried, Paul 'The Terminator' Jones, Oliver 'The Machine' Florence, Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried - once again note the players throwing the illegal RPS manouvre of 'Sausage'!

Ahead of the tournament the competition sponsor Sportingbet had a betting special running with a number of different markets priced up. Emily and I managed to recoup some of our spending with a win on the winning hand combination.

Photo: The Guild of Rock Paper Scissors (GoRPS) team. From l-r Paul 'The Terminator' Jones, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried, Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried, Oliver 'The Machine' Florence

You can view a number of videos from the 2011 (and 2010) UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships on my YouTube Channel.

You can also register your interest to compete in the 2012 UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships on the UK RPS website.

Links:
- Wacky Nation Website
- UK RPS Official Website
- The Rules of Rock Paper Scissors
- GoRPS Rock Paper Scissors Championships in Birmingham
- Rock Paper Scissors Tournament at The Crown in Bristol
- The Weymouth Preliminaries Rock Paper Scissors Contest
- RPS-101
- Sportingbet
- UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships 2010 - Report, Photos and Videos from the Event!

Minigolf Report - Emily Gottfried ties for 6th at Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open. Richard Gottfried tied in 10th.

23rd October 2011
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report - Emily Gottfried ties for 6th at Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open. Richard Gottfried tied in 10th

On Sunday 16th October Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried competed in the eleventh-annual Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open. The three-round tournament was played out over 54-holes on the three seafront miniature golf courses in Hastings, East Sussex.

23 players competed in the event, with Emily finishing in tied sixth place with fellow Great Britain International, Scotland’s Freddie Blackburn-Shaw, after both players scored 112. Richard finished four shots back in tied 10th place alongside 2008 PHCGC Open Champion Trevor Exall and Richard Stevenson. The tournament was won by Oxford’s Michael Smith with a score of 98.

Photo: Emily plays the 16th hole of the Crazy Golf course in Hastings

Following the tournament Emily said “This was a great tournament. Playing on three courses in one go is a challenge, as all three are so different, but that does even out the field, because no-one player is the best on all three courses. So I was really pleased with how well I played and very happy with 6th place. It was also really good fun as the courses and the people of Hastings are always a pleasure.”

Photo: Richard plays the 4th hole of the Crazy Golf course in Hastings

Richard said “I had a nightmare round on the Adventure Golf course and couldn’t buy a hole-in-one on the Pirate course. My round of 34 on the Crazy Golf course wasn’t too bad and was good preparation for the upcoming World Crazy Golf Championships, let’s hope the weather then is as good as it was for the Planet Hastings Open.”

Ends

Minigolf News - A Gottfried visits a closed Crazy Golf course!

In a theme that Emily and I have come to be very familiar with on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, my brother and minigolf rival Christopher Gottfried recently made a spontaneous visit to Brighton one evening, only to find the Sea Front Crazy Golf course to be closed.

Other Brighton Blog Posts:
- From the Archives - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Course Visit #12 - Brighton - East of Palace Pier
- Crazy Golf, Mini Golf and Adventure Golf course visits in Brighton

Greenhill Gardens in Weymouth

Last October the Putting Course at Greenhill Gardens in Weymouth became the 204th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. It's a brilliant course, with excellent views. While we didn't have time to replay the course on our visit to Weymouth this year we did spend some time looking around the very well maintained gardens.

According to the signs around Greenhill Gardens, the Putting Green is open every day from 10am (weather permitting).

Blog Post - Greenhill Putting at Greenhill Gardens in Weymouth, Dorset - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course played 204

Countdown to the Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships 2011

The countdown to the Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships 2011 is well and truly on, with the deadline for registration for the tournament closing at 10pm tonight (21st October).

Even if you aren't able to enter the event itself, you can still enjoy a flutter on the Sportingbet website as a number of different markets for the competition have been priced up - UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships Betting Special.

According to the chat on twitter I'm at odds of 4/1.

The "Buttons Committee" Mini-Golf-Gold-Fish Classic at Weymouth

Video - The Buttons Committee at Weymouth Pirate Adventure Mini Golf - Feeding the Fishes



The 'Buttons Committee' had their First (Impromptu) Meeting at Reading Services on the M4 back in February 2011!