Minigolf Report from the Surrey Invitational Tournament

Woking’s Matt Dodd wins the inaugural Surrey Invitational Minigolf Tournament.

Surrey Invitational Tournament Minigolf Champion Matt 'The Don' Dodd with the S.I.T. trophy in Epsom

On Sunday 16 November 2014 five semi-pro minigolfers competed in the first-ever Surrey Invitational Tournament in a two-round, two-course, 36-hole contest.

The Surrey Invitational Tournament competitors at the Pirate Island Adventure Golf course in Woking, from l-r Richard Gottfried, Emily Gottfried, Oliver Florence, Matt Dodd, Helen Dodd

The competition was played at two 18-hole Adventure Golf courses, with Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Hoebridge Golf Centre in Woking first up to test the players, followed by a visit to the Jungle Island Adventure Golf course at Horton Park Golf Club in Epsom.

Matt 'The Don' Dodd in action on one of the two Pirate Ship holes at the Pirate Island Adventure Golf course in Woking 

The champion after 36-holes of play was Matt ‘The Don’ Dodd, the current British number 30, who triumphed with a score of 94(+22), having shot rounds of 48 and 46.

Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried holing-out a long second putt at the Jungle Island Adventure Golf course at Horton Park Golf Club in Epsom

Speaking after his maiden victory, new Surrey Invitational Tournament champion Dodd said “Thanks to everyone who took part. The competition was strong and it went to the final hole. I look forward to defending my title next year.”

Helen 'Hells Bells' Dodd easily handling a water hazard hole at the Jungle Island Adventure Golf course in Epsom

The first stage of the S.I.T. was won by Burpham’s Oliver ‘The Machine’ Florence with a score of 45. However, the British International and veteran of tournaments including the 2010 AMF Asian Open Championships, was unable to compete in the second round due to prior commitments.

S.I.T. first round winner Oliver 'The Machine' Florence in action on the Pirate Island Adventure Golf course at Hoebridge Golf Centre in Woking

The scores and first-round rankings from the Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Hoebridge Golf Centre were:
1. Oliver Florence – 45 (+9)
2. Matt Dodd – 48 (+12)
3. Richard Gottfried – 50 (+14)
4. Emily Gottfried – 52 (+16)
5. Helen Dodd – 58 (+22)

Each round winner of the Surrey Invitational Tournament gets to lift the trophy, but only the overall winner gets to keep it for the year. First-round winner Oliver 'The Machine' Florence holds the S.I.T. cup at Hoebridge Golf Centre

Play moved to the Jungle Island Adventure Golf course where Luton’s ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried collected the round victory with a score of 45.

'Squire' Richard Gottfried putts through the remnants of a dinosaur at the Jungle Island Adventure Golf course in Epsom

The scores and second-round rankings from Jungle Island Adventure Golf course at Horton Park Golf Club were:
1. Richard Gottfried – 45 (+9)
2. Matt Dodd – 46 (+10)
3. Emily Gottfried – 47 (+11)
4. Helen Dodd – 50 (+14)
5. Oliver Florence – DNS / DNQ

Second-round winner of the Surrey Invitational Tournament 'Squire' Richard Gottfried holds the S.I.T. cup at Horton Park Golf Club

However, this wasn’t enough to take the overall title as Matt Dodd’s score of 46 saw him take a one-shot victory and claim the Surrey Invitational Tournament title and trophy for 2014.

Overall S.I.T. champion Matt 'The Don' Dodd in action on the Jungle Island Adventure Golf course at Horton Park Golf Club in Epsom

The final rankings and two-round totals from the Surrey Invitational Tournament (S.I.T.) 2014 were:
1. Matt Dodd – 94 (+22)
2. Richard Gottfried – 95 (+23)
3. Emily Gottfried – 99 (+27)
4. Helen Dodd – 108 (+36)
5. Oliver Florence – DNF

The Surrey Invitational Tournament 2015 will be played in Guildford.

GFree Radio - gluten free drinks special

A discussion of gluten free drinks on GFree Radio.

Listen to the latest episode of GFree Radio, with an appearance from me discussing gluten free drinks, suitability for coeliacs, pub snacks, and dreaded cross-contamination.



GFree Radio is the world's only weekly free podcast for people with coeliac (celiac) disease and the gluten free community. Hosted and produced by Peter Stewart each episode offers content ranging from news items and comment, food updates, reviews and interviews with coeliacs and food & drink producers. It's well worth a listen and if you've got a coeliac / gluten free topic you'd like to discuss then check out the GFree Radio Show website and get in touch with Peter.

Richard Gottfried - coeliac, gluten free blogger and fan of alcoholic beverages

One of my most popular blog posts is on Gluten free Ale, Beer and Lager and I've been lucky to find a fair few on my travels.

GFree Radio Links:
- GFree Radio website
- GFree Radio on Spreaker
- GFree Radio on Twitter
- GFree Radio on Facebook
- GFree Radio episode 80 - GF Drinks Special

Other gluten free links:
- Coeliac UK
- Gluten Free For Men
- Gluten Free Survival Guide
- Gluten Free Guerrillas
- Free-From.com

Related blog posts:
- Gluten free Ale, Beer and Lager
- Coeliac
- Gluten Free

BMGA minigolf rankings update after the Kent Open

National Strokeplay Order of Merit and Season Only ranking updates from the British Minigolf Association.

The official British minigolf rankings have been updated following the KMGC Kent Open tournament held at the Lost Island Encounter Adventure Golf Course in Chislehurst.

Neither Emily or I could play in this year's Kent Open, so here's a photo from the 2010 Kent Open minigolf competition at the Lost Island Encounter Adventure Golf course in Chiselhurst

Richard Gottfried's rankings in the Strokeplay Order of Merit for the 2013/14 season:
- Following the BMGA Star City Open - 12th of 74 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA Star City Open & AGM changes - 11th of 79 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA British Masters - 7th of 84 places (137 players)
- Following the BMGA British Championships - 10th of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Splash Point Open - 11th of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Midlands Open - 10th of 86 places (140 players)
- Following the BMGA Players Championship and BMGA British Open - 8th of 88 places (142 players)
- Following the BMGA English Open - 8th of 91 places (147 players)
- Following the World Crazy Golf Championships - 11th of 101 places (157 players)
- Following the Kent Open - 12th of 104 places (160 players)

Emily Gottfried's rankings in the Strokeplay Order of Merit for the 2013/14 season:
- Following the BMGA Star City Open - 42nd of 74 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA Star City Open & AGM changes - 34th of 79 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA British Masters - 26th of 84 places (137 players)
- Following the BMGA British Championships - 21st of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Splash Point Open - 21st of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Midlands Open - 21st of 86 places (140 players)
- Following the BMGA Players Championship and BMGA British Open - 26th of 88 places (142 players)
- Following the BMGA English Open - 26th of 91 places (147 players)
- Following the World Crazy Golf Championships - 28th of 101 places (157 players)
- Following the Kent Open - 29th of 104 places (160 players)

In the BMGA Season Only Rankings for 2014 Emily is 19th of 89 players, I am in 27th position.

In the BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit Rankings Emily is tied in 20th place of 55 players, I am 38th.

We are both ranked in the World Minigolf Sport Federation's General Class ranking lists. In the women's rankings Emily is in tied 120th position of 128 places (132 players). In the men's rankings I am ranked in tied 397th place of 413 places (419 players).

Related blog posts:
- Richard Gottfried's Minigolf Player Profile
- Emily Gottfried's Minigolf Player Profile
- World Minigolf Rankings for 2014
- Rankings

Links:
- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)
- BMGA on Facebook
- BMGA on Twitter

'Free From' Festive Chocolate Yule Log from Tesco

New festive free from products at Tesco.

While on Facebook this morning a photo from the coeliac blogger Little Missed Gluten was in my feed showing the new Festive Chocolate Yule Log from Tesco's Free From range!

The Tesco Free From Festive Chocolate Yule Log is gluten, wheat, dairy and milk free

I had to go and get one!

The new Festive Chocolate Yule Log added to the Free From range at Tesco

I had a slice of the yule log for dessert tonight and it was delicious - you'd never know it was a free from product!

Little Missed Gluten had been tipped-off about the new product by another gluten free blogger - Coeliac Delight. Check out their sites for more gluten free news, reviews and recipes.

Luckily Tesco currently has a 3 for 2 promotion running so I was able to pick up one of the gluten and wheat free Yule Logs, as well as some Christmas Cakes. The Festive Chocolate Yule Log isn't cheap - it costs £4.75, but I thought it was worth a try, Christmas comes but once a year after all.

A Red Christmas! Estrella Damm Daura gluten free beer is also in the 3 for 2 offer at Tesco - twelve bottles for £12 is far more reasonable than the £7.50 for four that it usually sells for!

This year my gluten free purchases for Christmas started earlier than ever before as I found some gluten free mince pies on sale in Hastings on 20 September! I bought my advent calendar (my first in years) a week later.

Links:
- Tesco Free From
- Little Missed Gluten
- Little Missed Gluten on Facebook
- Coeliac Delight
- Coeliac Delight on Facebook
- Estrella Damm Daura

Related blog posts:
- Christmas
- Gluten free and ready for Christmas
- The first gluten free Mince Pie of the season
- Gluten free Ale, Beer and Lager
- Coeliac
- Gluten Free

Derelict tennis courts

On our travels around the UK searching for Mini, Crazy and Adventure Golf courses to play we've visited almost 600. Some however have been in a right old state.

These derelict, abandoned and unplayable courses are always a sad sight indeed. But on a recent trip to Ipswich we noticed it's not just facilities in 'minor' sports like Minigolf that suffer from neglect.

At Murray Park recreation ground in the Suffolk county town we found a row of tennis courts in a terrible post-apocalyptic condition.

Derick may be 'sexy', but the tennis courts definitely aren't

It's unfathomable that sports facilities can be left to go to ruin

Related blog post:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

UrbanCrazy Minigolf at the London Golf Show 2014

UrbanCrazy minigolf will be at the London Golf Show 2014 held at Glow, Bluewater.

The team at UrbanCrazy will once again be at the 2014 London Golf Show with their innovative miniature golf layout and the PongCrazy table tennis game!

Taking place at Glow, Bluewater from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 November the 2014 edition is the 10th London Golf Show and features all things golf.

UrbanCrazy make a lot of great portable and permanent minigolf courses. They also stock a lot of balls and other crazy golf essentials

UrbanCrazy will have the 'Serpentine' minigolf course at the event - it's the newest addition to the portable course range they have. We're yet to play the Serpentine set-up on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, but have played many of the others they have.

I've attended the event for the last two years and enjoyed playing the UrbanCrazy games and having a look around the 'big' golf stuff too. Last year I also had a go of the puttup indoor putting game.

Playing UrbanCrazy's minigolf course at the 2012 London Golf Show

For more information on the London Golf Show check out the event website.

Bluewater is also home to two permanent 18-hole minigolf courses that make up Pirate Cove Adventure Golf (it used to be the site of an artificial putting minigolf course).

Links:
- UrbanCrazy
- London Golf Show 2014
- Glow Bluewater
- Bluewater

Related blog posts:
- UrbanCrazy
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- UrbanCrazy Minigolf at the 2013 London Golf Show
- Playing the new UrbanCrazy Minigolf course at the London Golf Show
- PongCrazy – the brand new game from UrbanCrazy
- Playing the puttup Indoor Golf Putting Game

Christmas Tree Maze at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens

Ice Skate Vauxhall to set up a unique Christmas Tree Maze at the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in London.

Researching ideas for a Christmas 'Do' Emily spotted that this year there'll be a Christmas Tree Maze at the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in London!

Set up by Ice Skate Vauxhall, the Christmas Tree Maze will cover almost half a square kilometre and consist of hundreds of lit trees.

As well as the maze the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens will be home to an Ice Rink, a Christmas Street Food Market, family entertainment rides and stalls.

It sounds great.

Back in the summer of 2012 I competed in a Christmas Tree Throwing Competition and the Christmas Tree Maze sounds like great festive fun

Hopefully we'll get along to the Christmas Tree Maze this festive season.

Link:
- Ice Skate Vauxhall Christmas Tree Maze

Related blog posts:
- Christmas
- Maze
- Fun and Games at the Yattendon & Frilsham Village Fete

British Minigolf Rankings update from the BMGA

National Strokeplay Order of Merit and Season Only ranking list updates from the British Minigolf Association.

The official British minigolf rankings have been updated following the 2014 World Crazy Golf Championships held at the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Hastings, East Sussex.

Richard Gottfried playing hole 2 at the 2014 World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

Richard Gottfried's rankings in the Strokeplay Order of Merit for the 2013/14 season:
- Following the BMGA Star City Open - 12th of 74 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA Star City Open & AGM changes - 11th of 79 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA British Masters - 7th of 84 places (137 players)
- Following the BMGA British Championships - 10th of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Splash Point Open - 11th of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Midlands Open - 10th of 86 places (140 players)
- Following the BMGA Players Championship and BMGA British Open - 8th of 88 places (142 players)
- Following the BMGA English Open - 8th of 91 places (147 players)
- Following the World Crazy Golf Championships - 11th of 101 places (157 players)

Emily Gottfried with The Gommery Trophy for most holes-in-one at the 2014 World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

Emily Gottfried's rankings in the Strokeplay Order of Merit for the 2013/14 season:
- Following the BMGA Star City Open - 42nd of 74 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA Star City Open & AGM changes - 34th of 79 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA British Masters - 26th of 84 places (137 players)
- Following the BMGA British Championships - 21st of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Splash Point Open - 21st of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Midlands Open - 21st of 86 places (140 players)
- Following the BMGA Players Championship and BMGA British Open - 26th of 88 places (142 players)
- Following the BMGA English Open - 26th of 91 places (147 players)
- Following the World Crazy Golf Championships - 28th of 101 places (157 players)

In the BMGA Season Only Rankings for 2014 Emily is in 16th place of 84 players, I am in 26th position.

In the BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit Rankings Emily is in tied 20th place of 55 players, I am in 38th position.

We are both ranked in the World Minigolf Sport Federation's General Class ranking lists. In the women's rankings Emily is in tied 120th position of 128 places (132 players). In the men's rankings I am ranked in tied 397th place of 413 places (419 players).

Related blog posts:
- World Crazy Golf Championships Report from Hastings
- World Crazy Golf Championships 2014 Videos
- World Minigolf Rankings for 2014
- Rankings
- Richard Gottfried's Minigolf Player Profile
- Emily Gottfried's Minigolf Player Profile

Links:
- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)
- BMGA on Facebook
- BMGA on Twitter

New gluten free products at Marks & Spencer

More new gluten free products in the M&S 'Made Without Wheat' range.

While shopping in Ipswich and Felixstowe we noticed that Marks and Spencer has introduced some new products to the Made Without Wheat range of gluten free items.

We're looking forward to trying them all out!

M&S sell gluten free Pork Cocktail Sausages that are very tasty. They've now introduced them in packs of ten, rather than the large tubs of 30 (and more)

Chicken Chunks and Chicken Breast Fillets are now part of the Made Without Wheat Range at Marks and Spencer

There are now Salmon Fillet Fishcakes and Cod Fillet Fishcakes in the Made Without Wheat Range at M&S

A lot of the Party Food at M&S is marked as gluten free too - as fans of Pork Cracklings and Scratchings we really liked the look and sound of the Crunchy Crackling Straws!

Check out the M&S website for details of the Made Without Wheat range and the other Gluten Free items they offer.

Links:
- Marks & Spencer website
- Marks & Spencer Made Without Wheat page
- Coeliac UK website

Related blog posts:
- New Gluten Free Beer and Cakes at M&S
- Gluten Free blog posts on The Ham & Egger Files
- Gluten Free Finds in London (and beyond) - October 2010

Arnold Palmer Putting Courses Crazy Golf pencils

Receiving some Arnold Palmer Putting Courses pencils in the post.

Pencils from the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Prestatyn

I'm a big fan of Crazy Golf and I love collecting ephemera and merchandise from the game. Together Tim 'Ace Man' Davies and I have built up quite the collection of stuff. Among the items in The Crazy Golf Museum are a range of pens and pencils from courses around the world. While most Minigolf courses have plain pencils for players to mark the scores on their rounds, others have created branded ones.

After our recent visit to the excellent 18-hole Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course at Central Beach in Prestatyn, Wales I received a lovely gift in the post from the course owner. The two 'Arnold Palmer Putting Courses' pencils are very rare items indeed and only recently uncovered at the course.

The Crazy Golf course on Bastion Road in Prestatyn is a marvellous attraction and well worth a visit

The team at The Putting Penguin have also found some great pencils at miniature golf courses in the USA over the years.

Links:
- The Crazy Golf Museum
- Miniature Golf and Crazy Golf Pens and Pencils
- The Putting Penguin

Related blog posts:
- Crazy Golf in Prestatyn
- Crazy Golf Museum
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Ephemera

Indoor Crazy Golf in Felixstowe

Playing the Indoor Magical Golf Adventure course at Manning's Amusements in Felixstowe, Suffolk.

Hole 1 at the indoor Adventure Golf course in Felixstowe

Over the years we've visited the seaside resort of Felixstowe a lot. It's so close to Ipswich that when we're there to visit family and friends we'll pretty much always make the short drive to the coast for a bit of a wander and a game of miniature golf.

At the indoor Magical Adventure Golf at Manning's Amusements in Felixstowe

The 5th course we ever played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the indoor Golf FX course at Manning's Amusement Arcade on the sea front. The course was refurbished a few years ago and renamed 'Magical Golf'.

Playing hole 2 of the indoor Adventure Golf in Felixstowe

Having had a quick look around the Sunday market at Manning's we dashed into the arcade for a round on the 12-hole indoor Crazy Golf course (13-holes if you count the tricky lucky last hole) to escape the rain and have a fun competitive round.

Emily on hole 11 at Manning's - a very tough hole

Matching scores for the first six holes Emily took the lead on the 7th with a four to my five, but a five on the 9th let me back in the game and a disastrous six on the 12th hole with it's multitude of tunnels to aim your putt at meant that I picked up the win 39 to 41.

Emily playing on hole 12 - a killer hole this time round

Looking on the Manning's Amusements website 2015 is the 70th year of the entertainment venue!

How I can often look after playing a round of Crazy Golf

Walking to the town centre we also had a look at the outdoor 9-hole Fantasia Adventure Golf on Sea Road. Unfortunately (and luckily because of the weather) it was closed for the day. The course was the 7th played on our Tour.

Fantasia Adventure Golf on Sea Road in Felixstowe

Links:
- Manning's Amusements website
- Manning's Amusements on Twitter
- Manning's Amusements on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Felixstowe
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour List
- Indoor Mini, Crazy and Adventure Golf courses
- Indoor Adventure Golf at Mannings Amusements in Felixstowe

Jackpots Crisps are Gluten Free

Finding a new range of gluten free crisps.

While in Ipswich, Suffolk at the weekend we popped to the large Asda for supplies as I knew I'd struggle to dine out safely while in the area. Perusing the aisles we spotted a brand of crisps we hadn't seen before and had a read of the ingredients / caveats / allergy advice etc. and were very pleased to see that three of the four flavours of Jackpots Crisps on sale in the store were gluten free.

Jackpots Crisps - Sweet Thai Chilli, Mature English Cheddar & Spring Onion and Sea Salt & Cyder Vinegar flavours

We munched our way through the tasty mature English cheddar and spring onion flavour and when we were heading home from East Anglia we went back to Asda to pick up some more bags for our cupboard in our flat in West Anglia.

Jackpots Crisps are made from potatoes grown at Fairfields Farm Wormingford, Colchester, Essex. Hopefully we'll see Jackpots Crisps on our travels. It looks like they're stocked in quite a few places.

I also managed to pick up some of the great Scott's Gluten Free Raspberry Butterfly Cakes on our two trips to the Asda supermarket.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac

Links:

- Jackpots Crisps
- Asda

- Coeliac UK

3,000 pumpkins for Halloween!

3,000 candlelit pumpkins are lining the Canalside Steps in King's Cross, London for Halloween.

Pumpkins at KX - 3,000 of them for Halloween 2014!

Walking home along the towpath of the Regent's Canal last night I was amazed to see 3,000 pumpkins lined up on the Canalside Steps!

A grand total of 3,000 pumpkins line the Canalside Steps of the Regent's Canal in King's Cross, London ready for Halloween

They are there all day today and tomorrow and worth a look if you're in the King's Cross area.

The pumpkins must look brilliant by candlelight

There were some really well carved and fun looking pumpkins.

Some of the brilliantly carved pumpkins for Halloween

Everywhere seems to going Halloween-mad this year. On my walk to work I also had a go at a 'Guess the weight of a giant pumpkin' competition that Sourced Market in St Pancras International Station were running.

I guessed the big pumpkin weighed 18Ib, 11oz, but on reflection I think that may be a little light

Find out more about the Pumpkins at KX on the King's Cross Halloween website.

That's a lot of pumpkins!

Happy Halloween!

Links:

- King's Cross

- King's Cross Halloween

- King's Cross N1C on Twitter

- Sourced Market

The old Crazy Golf course in Camber Sands

A revisit to the site of an old Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Camber Sands.

After playing the fun Crazy Golf course at Pontins Camber Sands Holiday Park and before we headed to Hastings for a weekend playing in the World Crazy Golf Championships, Emily and I had a drive down the Old Lydd Road in Camber to have a look at what had become of the old Crazy Golf course.

Not a lot to be honest.

The site of an old Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Camber Sands. Now just a patch of dusty gravelly land used as a car park. A real shame

Back in September 2010 we'd visited the site and found that the course had been ripped up to make way for a new Car Park. At least the old hut/kiosk was still there then.

You can see photos of the course as it was in 2002 on the excellent minigolf website MiniatureGolfer.com.

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf course location visited but no course to play - Camber Sands (Old Lydd Road)
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Link:
- Camber Sands Crazy Golf course on Miniature Golfer

Watermelon specialists

That's quite the specialist area to open up a business in!

Logman Ltd - a business on Caledonian Road in London that specialises in watermelons

I haven't seen the shop unshuttered yet. Specialising in watermelons must be a very secretive business.