Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf and Minigolf in Manchester

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

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

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

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

On the last hole of the Wythenshawe Park Crazy Golf course

Putting at the launch event for Birdies Pop Up Golf

At the Chrizy Golf course

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

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Course Visit No. 84 - Championship MiniatureGolf@ Playgolf Manchester

- Minigolf Course Visits No. 85 & 86 - Paradise Island Adventure Golf (Tiki Hut & Temple Ruins)

- Minigolf Course Visit No. 114 - Wythenshawe Park

- Birdies Pop Up Golf - Launch Event for a New Minigolf Business in Manchester

- Revisit to Championship Miniature Golf at Trafford Golf Centre, Manchester

- Chrizy Golf in Manchester - for six weeks only!

- Minigolf Report – Richard Gottfried wins the Manchester Mini Masters tournament

- Minigolf Report – Gottfrieds finish first and second in the Manchester Miniature Open tournament

- Winning the Chrizy Golf Masters Minigolf Tournament!

- Birdies Pop Up Golf Crazy Golf Photo Competition

Today is Underdog Day

Celebrating being second best.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Links:

- Dull Men’s Club

- Dull Men's Club - Underdog Day
- Dull Men’s Club - Museums - Miniature Golf

- Underdog Nation

- Underdog Nation - Professional Minigolf
- Underdog Portland - Sports Leagues

- Wrestlecrap - Jobber of the Week
- Underdog at Wikipedia

Related Blog Posts:

- The Ham & Egger Files - An Introduction

- Check Out The Underdog (Book) and Underdog Nation (Website)

- My Minigolf Player Profile - featuring some of my  fourteen runner-up finishes

Indoor Minigolf at Magical Golf FX in Felixstowe

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

Manning's Amusement Park in Felixstowe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Felixstowe Christmassy Tournament Results 2008 to 2012

- 14/12/2012 - Richard defeated Emily 32-44

- 11/12/2010 - Richard bested Emily 36-41 

- 13/12/2009 - Richard beat Emily 39-47 

- 13/12/2008 - Richard defeated Emily 35-39

Link:

- Manning's Amusement Park

- My review of the course (from 2007) at MiniatureGolfer.com

Related Blog Posts:

- 2010: Felixstowe Minigolf Updates - and a Match at Mannings

- 2010: Minigolf course re-visit - Felixstowe's Magical Indoor Adventure Golf at Mannings

- 2009: Golf FX at Mannings Amusements now Magical Golf!

- Felixstowe-tagged posts

Gluten Free Pork Crackling!

Awfully Posh Snacks launch Gluten Free Pork Crackling! 

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

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

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

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

The Awfully Posh Pork Crackling on the shelf in Waitrose

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

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

Tentatively tucking into my first Pork Scratching in five years

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

Related Blog Posts:

- Gluten Free Ales, Beers and Lagers

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

- Gluten Free Fish & Chips that we've found on our travels

- Great Gluten Free Tea Rooms

Links:

- Awfully Posh Snacks

- Awfully Posh Snacks on Twitter

- The Awfully Posh Snack Company on Facebook

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

Save the Children UK's Christmas Jumper Day 2012

Will you be wearing a festive jumper for Christmas Jumper Day?

Tomorrow (Friday 14th December) marks the first-ever official Christmas Jumper Day and people all over the country will be dressing in (a sort of style) to support Save the Children UK's festive fundraising campaign.

You can donate to Save the Children online and do share photos of you wearing your Christmas Jumper on the Save the Children Facebook page.

You don't even need to splash out on a new Christmas Jumper - why not add a bit of tinsel and baubles to an existing one! There are some FAQs on the Save the Children website with more info.

I'll be wearing my 'lucky' Snowman Christmas Jumper on Friday :-)

Me and my Snowman Christmas Jumper

Links:
- Save the Children UK
- #xmasjumperday hashtag on Twitter
- Christmas Jumper Day on Facebook

Birdies Pop Up Golf Crazy Golf Photo Competition

Winning entry in the Birdies Pop Up Golf Crazy Golf Photo Competition.

Emily's photo of a 'spectator' at the 2012 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championship was selected as one of the winning entries in the recent Birdies Pop Up Golf Crazy Golf photo competition!

One of the spectators at the World Crazy Golf Championship! Photo by: Emily Gottfried

The prize for the best photo was a Birdies Pop Up Golf t-shirt. Although it's a bit cold to be wearing them now (unless playing Minigolf indoors)!

A pair of Birdies Pop Up Golf t-shirts

Birdies Pop Up Golf launched a year ago today and Emily and I attended the launch event in Manchester. You can check out the report from the launch here. For more information on Birdies Pop Up Golf please visit their website here.

Playing Hole 3 of the Birdies Pop Up Minigolf Course Layout at the Launch Event last year

Related Blog Posts:

- I'm friends with Birdies Pop Up Golf, are you?

- Birdies Pop Up Golf - Launch Event for a New Minigolf Business in Manchester

Links:

- Birdies Pop Up Golf

A blog post for 12/12/12

Here's a blog post for no other reason than the next repeating date won't be until 01/01/01 (I wasn't blogging at the last 01/01/01 and it's doubtful I'll be around in the next century).

Saying that I never blogged for 11/11/11, 10/10/10, 09/09/09, 08/08/08 or 07/07/07. 

I suppose the next one is actually going to be on the 2nd of February 2022 if you think about it! Depends if you leave the zeros in. Then there will be a 3/3/33, 4/4/44 etc. etc. etc.

Oh well.

I was tweeting at 12.12pm today.

Winning the Chrizy Golf Masters Minigolf Tournament!

Playing the Chrizy Golf Christmas-themed Crazy Golf course in Manchester. The course was the 313th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On Friday 30th November 2012 my fellow Minigolfer John ‘Big Al’ Moore and I headed up (or in his case down) to Manchester and the 9-hole “Chrizy Golf” Crazy Golf course that is set-up in Manchester’s Piccadilly Place until Christmas Eve!

Christmas + Crazy Golf = Chrizy Golf

I’d found out about the course via a blog post by the team at Putterfingers and as the 9-hole festive-themed course is only in place for six weeks I was really keen to get to see and play it before it was gone. And when we heard there was a Crazy Golf competition lined-up we arranged our trip.

The view of the Chrizy Golf course (and a tram) from the bridge opposite Piccadilly Place

The course is only open from private bookings made in advance so John and I were unable to have any friendly fun rounds before the Chrizy Golf Masters Championship teed-off! We did however ‘warm-up’ with some cold drinks in the bar area and had a look around the course. It looks great and each of the 9-holes is well made with most of them having a couple of different routes to the hole/ace lines.

The 313th course visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

The Chrizy Golf competition teed-off and John and I found ourselves in a right battle with me scoring a run of twos and John slightly up and down, carding a four and an ace along with a pair of twos in the first four holes.

John 'YI' Moore fires a shot on the 7th hole

Another four was to follow for John, along with a bogey three, but he finished with flair, scoring a great hole-in-one on the 9th hole to record a Chrizy Golf Masters score of 21(+3). I carded two threes and no aces for a round of 20(+2) which was enough to win the event and take the title of Chrizy Golf Champion along with the tournament trophy! Proving that wearing a festive jumper was a lucky and wise move*.

Relaxing by the 'fire' on hole 9 following my victory in the Chrizy Golf Masters minigolf competition

Following the competition we were able to have some more rounds and in the closely fought contests we each recorded scores of 22(+4) in game one. John then defeated me 25-26 in game two. We then played an 18-hole Matchplay Chrizy Golf game which saw John lead all the way until I won on the second hole of the sudden-death play-off!

The longest hole on the course!

If you’re a fan of Crazy Golf and/or Christmas the Chrizy Golf course is well worth a look.

The Christmas Crazy Golf Champion!

Related Blog Posts:
- Chrizy Golf in Manchester - for six weeks only!
- Manchester-related Blog Posts

- Christmas-related Blog Posts

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Types and Variants of Miniature Golf visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:

- Chrizy Golf on Facebook
- Chrizy Golf on Twitter
- Fluid Bars
- Putterfingers.co.uk Blog Post "Festive Crazy Golf Competition anyone?"

*Note: While it was “wise and lucky” and looked good to wear a festive jumper for a Christmas-themed Crazy Golf tournament, being the only person wearing one in a very busy Wetherspoon pub in Manchester City Centre on a Friday night in November was not lol.

I’m a Genius Gluten Free ‘Christmas Hero’!

Appearing on the Genius Gluten Free Advent Calendar!

 

I was nominated by a few people as a Christmas Hero as part of Genius Gluten Free’s ‘Christmas Hero Advent Calendar’ promotion and I appear behind today’s door (3rd December)!

What a lovely surprise it was this morning to see a tweet from the team at Genius Foods telling me I was picked as a winner.

 

You can see my nomination and photo at “Christmas Hero - 3rd December”

 

I’m looking forward to receiving the Genius Gluten Free Mince Pies and other goodies!

 

Merry Christmas :-)

 

Related Blog Posts:
- Christmas
- Seeing in the start of the 'festive season' with a gluten free Mince Pie

 

Links:
- Genius Gluten Free
- “Christmas Hero - 3rd December”

- About Gluten Free
- Coeliac UK

The World Series of Pong Slam Jam 2012 at Bounce London this Saturday

The World Series of Pong Slam Jam 2012 will be taking place at Bounce - the new Ping Pong and Cocktail Club - in Holborn, London on Saurday 8th December 2012.

 

Presented and hosted by the team at The Social Athletics Club, the 2012 edition of the event is a follow-up to the hugely successfully 2010 tournament - an event that I competed in alongside Brad 'the Fist' Shepherd and saw us ranked as the '50th best Pong team in the world'!

 

The World Series of Pong Slam Jam is running from midday until 7pm and will feature a doubles tournament, team event and a round-the-table competition for charity. You can find out all the details at the World Series of Pong Slam Jam Facebook Event Page.

 

Unfortunately Brad has since retired and I can't make the 2012 event, but if you're interested you can sign-up for tickets to compete (or spectate) at the World Series of Pong Eventbrite page.

 

Good luck to everyone competing in the event!

A Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man in Stretford

Another Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man added to my ‘collection’ in Manchester!

 

While in Manchester to play the Chrizy Golf course and various other shenanigans at the weekend I was driving from Old Trafford to the Trafford Centre via Stretford in Manchester when I spotted a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man outside Gleave Tool Centre on Chester Road!

Me and the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man at Gleave Tool Centre in Stretford

Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-men (or Airdancers to give them their technical name) are often used to help businesses in their advertising (as well as a few other things if you believe Family Guy's Al Harrington).

The Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man at Gleave Tool Centre in Stretford, Manchester

Once again the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man did its job in raising awareness of Gleave Tool Centre (founded in 1833 when it traded as "Wooden Plane Manufacturers and Dealers of Tools and Sheffield Cutlery"!).

 

Links:
- Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man Related Blog Posts
- Gleave Tool Centre

- Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tubeman on Family Guy Wiki

End of Season BMGA Tour Minigolf Rankings for 2012

Details of Richard & Emily Gottfried's End of Season British Minigolf Association Tour Rankings for 2012.

 

Luton Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried completed their sixth year as British Minigolf Association Tour Pro players at the 2012 BMGA British Club Championship.

 

The BMGA's final rankings for the 2012 season, along with the BMGA Roll of Honour have been updated and posted on the British Minigolf Association website.

 

Richard finished the season ranked in a career-high of 5th place in the 2012 BMGA Season Only Rankings. Emily was ranked 37th in the 120 player strong rankings.

 

In the BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit Rankings Richard finished in 15th place of 96 players, with Emily in 41st place.

 

In the BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit Richard was ranked 15th of 60 players, with Emily in 41st place.

 

In the BMGA 2012 Season Rankings for Clubs Emily and the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club finished in second place. Richard and the Midlands Minigolf Club finished in third place of six teams.

 

The World Minigolf Sport Federation Rankings are due to be updated in December.

 

The British Minigolf Association is the governing body for Minigolf Sport, including Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf. Formed in 1998 the BMGA organises Minigolf competitions for its members across the UK. The BMGA is a member of the World Minigolf Sport Federation and the European Minigolf Sport Federation. Two options are available for Membership of the British Minigolf Association. Further details can be found here.

 

Related Blog Posts:

- Miniature Golf Player Profile of Richard Gottfried

- Miniature Golf Player Profile of Emily Gottfried

Links:

- British Minigolf Association

- BMGA Roll of Honour 2012
- Roll of Honour for the British Minigolf Association’s 2012 Season Published
- British Minigolf Association’s End of 2012 Season Only Rankings Published
- British Minigolf Association’s Official Strokeplay Order of Merit Rankings Published
- British Minigolf Association’s Official Matchplay Order of Merit Rankings Published

Updated Miniature Golf Player Profiles for 2012

Following the end of the 2012 Minigolf Season the Miniature Golf Player Profiles for Minigolf, Adventure Golf and Crazy Golf Players Richard Gottfried, Emily Gottfried and Christopher Gottfried have been updated. Check them out at:

- Richard Gottfried's Minigolf Player Profile

- Emily Gottfried's Minigolf Player Profile

- Christopher Gottfried's Minigolf Player Profile

Links:
- British Minigolf Association
- World Minigolf Sport Federation

Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Final Results & End of Season Review

26th November 2012

Press Information

For Immediate Release

 

Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Final Results & End of Season Review

 

Luton Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried’s 2012 British Minigolf Association Tour season came to an end on the 25th November at the 9-hole Mini Golf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre in Hampshire with both player's teams reaching the semi-final stage in the BMGA British Club Championship team tournament.

 

BMGA British Club Championship

 

In the BMGA British Club Championship on Sunday 25th November Richard played for the Midlands Minigolf Club and he and this three team mates finished the event in third-place for the second year in a row. Emily and her Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club team were fourth in the twelve team event, which featured teams from seven of the BMGA’s Minigolf Clubs.

Richard Gottfried plays a shot on hole 1 of the Basingstoke Golf Centre Mini Golf course in a sudden-death play-off against the Midlands Minigolf Club B Team.

Both Richard and Emily's teams battled through to the semi-finals but were on the losing end in their games and had to face-off in the Bronze medal play-off match. In the 12-hole matchplay contest the Midlands Minigolf Club were victorious with a 2up scoreline.

CMGC Team Captain Emily Gottfried lines up a shot on hole 2 of the Basingstoke Golf Centre Mini Golf course in a match against Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club.

Emily said “The British Club Championship this year was a fantastic tournament. I was really pleased to be selected as Captain of one of the two Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club teams, and to lead them to fourth place in our first tournament as a group was a much better than I expected! We played really well as a team, and kept each other positive if we had a bad round. Hopefully next year we will achieve a podium finish!”

 

End of 2012 Minigolf Season Review

 

In the twelve full BMGA Tour events Richard entered in 2012 he achieved one BMGA Tour title victory, one third place and five other top ten finishes. The win came in July’s BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Championship.

 

Emily played in four full BMGA Tour competitions this year achieving three top ten finishes, with her best individual result coming as the runner-up in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open in October.

 

2012 was the pair’s sixth year as BMGA Tour Pro players and both Richard and Emily gained their fourth Great Britain caps when they competed in the second WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament in Hastings in May. Richard finished the event in 14th place and finishing in 11th place in the men’s competition. Emily was runner-up in the women’s event and 17th overall. The pair’s Great Britain B team finished the international championship in fourth place.

 

At October’s ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings Richard was once again a finalist and finished the tournament in 17th place of 53 players in his sixth appearance for England.

Richard finished the season ranked in a career-high of 5th place in the 2012 BMGA Season Only Rankings. Emily was ranked 37th in the 120 player strong rankings. In the BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit Rankings Richard finished in 15th place of 96 players, with Emily in 41st place. In the BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit Richard was ranked 15th of 60 players, with Emily in 41st place. The World Minigolf Sport Federation Rankings are due to be updated in December.

 

In non-ranking BMGA events Richard finished in 6th place of 30 players in the Crazy Golf Pro Championship in London, while Emily and her team were runners-up at the BMGA Oswestry Games Pro-Am Minigolf Classic.

 

Richard and Emily also competed in a number of independent Minigolf competitions in 2012 with wins coming for Richard in the Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr June Championship Playoff and overall victory in the grand final at the rooftop Crazy Golf course at Selfridges London.

 

Richard said “It’s been a great season and I was very pleased to win a BMGA Tour title event at the Oswestry Games along with two of the championship events at the Bompas & Parr rooftop Crazy Golf course at Selfridges London. My fifth place ranking in the 2012 BMGA Season Rankings was my best placing to date and apart from a couple of disappointing results this year I’ve played really well. Closing out the year with a podium finish in the national club championship was a good end to a long and successful season.”

 

Emily said “This year has gone by so fast! We’ve had some really great tournaments in some interesting and fun places. Hastings, as always, was a brilliant venue on the multitude of times we visited there and will always be one of my favourite Mini Golf destinations, especially as I managed a second place finish in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Champions this year. That was definitely my highlight.”

Doggone Minigolf!

Animal Crackers on the UK Minigolf Circuit.

2012 has been a cracking year for minigolf, but this year has seen three curious incidences of Dogs making appearances at a British Minigolf Association Tour event!

At today's BMGA British Club Championship held at the 9-hole Mini Golf course Basingstoke Golf Centre in sunny Basingstoke a small scamp of a dog interrupted proceedings by making its way onto the course, have a sniff of a few players, roll in some bushes, sit on my foot, pose for a photo and run off into the trees next to the nearby Putting Green.

The small dog gets to know Emily Gottfried from the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club as the rest of her team look quite bemused

The Basingstoke intruder makes its getaway

At last month's tenth annual Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championship the BMGA Tour welcomed it’s newest, and some might say biggest, fan in a dog that went crazy for the Minigolf action on holes 16, 17 and 18 of the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course on Hastings Seafront! Many a veteran player was enchanted by its behaviour and confusion as it marvelled at the multitude of multi-coloured Golf Balls dropping off a small ledge and disappearing down a hole.

One dog with no man at the World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

The first dog encounter of the season was at the BMGA British Masters held at the 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing's Denton Gardens back in April. The park area is popular amongst dog walkers and their pets and during the action (handily filmed by the team at the coincidentally named 2dogimaging) one 'lovable' canine called "Bonnie", perhaps looking for its own 'Fenton' moment, made itself known to the players in the tournament and the wider world by running all over the course!

There was also a cat on the course at the BMGA British Club Championships at Basingstoke. However, no photos of this feline were snapped as players were too busy shooing it off of the course.

Minigolf on the Golf Stinks Blog

Check out the latest post on the Golf Stinks Blog - it's all about Minigolf!

"There's Nothing Miniature about this Golf"

It follows on from a piece written on the site last week "Golf Through Miniature Eyes".

There's another good piece on Minigolf on the Golf Stinks Blog at "Variations on the Game of Golf - Mini Golf".

Links:
- Golfstinks
- Golf Stinks Blog

The Other Olympics

A great new book about international multi-sports competitions!

I’ve recently finished reading the new book ‘The Other Olympics’ by Matt Roebuck and must say what a great read it is.

During 2011 the author, Matt Roebuck, travelled around the world visiting thirteen international multi-sports games (the ‘Other Olympics’) and took in events such the Games of the Small States of Europe, the World Transplant Games, the Island Games, the European Masters Games, World Skills 2011 and the Pan-Armenian Games!

It was great to read about people's motivations for getting involved in different sports and multi-sport events as athletes, organisers and officials.

Whether you are involved in sport as an athlete, official, coach, media, organiser, committee member, volunteer or in any other capacity I think The Other Olympics is well worth a read.

I heard about the book after it was mentioned in a tweet by the TINTYPE Gallery when the author managed to score a hole-in-one on the very tricky (and crazy) ‘window hole’ at the Crazee Golf exhibition in London.

As someone who plays a lot of Minigolf (and a fair few other sports and games) and helps to organise and promote events on the British Minigolf Association Tour and within the World Minigolf Sport Federation I found the book interesting on a number of levels. Whether sports, associations, multi-sport events are big, small or somewhere in-between they have to deal with similar problems and issues, while there are also great opportunities to get people involved in sports.

The Other Olympics website has a comprehensive listing section of ‘Other Olympics’ from 2011, this year and for 2013.

While not featuring in the book (as it took place this year rather than last) it was great to see the World Alternative Games does appear on the Other Olympics website. I had a great time running the WFJF Finger Jousting Championships at the event and also came away as one-half of the World Egg Throwing Champion Team at the event! An excellent event in a great town (the smallest in the UK!).

This year I was also involved in bringing the sport of Minigolf to its first multi-sports games in the UK when it was included in the 2012 Oswestry Games in Shropshire. The Oswestry Games (aka The Oslympics) consisted of over 30 sports and 50 sports & cultural events over a ten-day festival of sport. It was a mammoth undertaking from the team at Oswestry Sports Council, but well worth it. You can check out the report from the British Minigolf Association activities at the Oswestry Games here.

Minigolf was also a part of the Hans Christian Andersen City Games in Denmark in July this year and back in 1989 the sport (Bahn Golf) was a demonstration event in the IWGA World Games in Karlsruhe, Germany. The World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) is also hoping to have Minigolf included in other multi-sport events in the future.

Please have a look on the links below for more about The Other Olympics and details of how you can buy a copy of The Other Olympics book.

The Other Olympics Links:
- The Other Olympics
- The Other Olympics on Twitter
- Matt Roebuck on Twitter

Other Links:
- World Alternative Games 2012

- Oswestry Games 2012
- World Finger Jousting Federation
- World Minigolf Sport Federation
- British Minigolf Association

Related Blog Posts:
- Becoming a World Champion in Egg Throwing!
- Minigolf Report - Gottfrieds win at the Oswestry Games in Shropshire
- Playing Crazee Golf at the Tintype Art Gallery in London
- Miniature Golf and the Olympic Games