Found on Southend Beach

A boatwreck!

Arnold Palmer in Southend...

...25 years and counting

Very wet weather = No Practice

Top Tip - Don't walk right next to the seafront on a day of high winds and driving rain!

BMGA British Masters 2008

BMGA British Masters Minigolf Tournament Report

On Saturday 29th March Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried travelled to Southend-on-Sea to compete against 29 of Great Britain ’s best Minigolfers in the first Minigolf ‘Major’ of the 2008 British Minigolf Association Season - the BMGA British Masters Tournament. Played over 36-holes at the tough Inca and Aztec themed Adventure Golf Course at Adventure Island the winner, with a score of 74, was Newcastle ’s John Moore.

Richard finished the tournament in 22nd place, only 14 shots off the winner and five shots away from a place in the top ten, after four 9-hole rounds scoring 22 – 22 – 24 – 20 for a total of 88 and an average of 2.44 shots per hole. Tournament winner John Moore averaged 2.05 shots per hole.

Pos Name R1 R2 R3 R4 Total Average
1 MOORE, John 19 19 18 18 74 18.50
2 KELLARD, Keith 19 19 18 20 76 19.00
3 HARDING, Chris* 17 20 21 19 77 19.25
22 GOTTFRIED, Richard 22 22 24 20 88 22.00

*Third/Fourth place decided after play-off.

Richard said “I made my debut in this competition last year and I scored a total of 95 and finished 24th of 28, so I have definitely improved this time around. This year my finishing was better, although I did still trip myself up with a five on the 9th hole and left myself some tricky second shots in places, but learning from mistakes is all part of Minigolf.”

Tournament organiser Ted McIver said of the competition “The BMGA British Masters tournament is now in its ninth year and is one of the key tournaments on the BMGA Tour Calendar. This year the competition was fierce as there were very good scores across the field, with a total of 19 players carding scores in the 80s.”

Saturday also saw the latest two knockout matches in the season-long BMGA British Matchplay Championships being played. In the first match Brighton & Hove Minigolf Club member Kevin Botto beat Ted McIver by one hole, while in the second match British Number 5 Andy Exall, of the Tunbridge Wells Minigolf Club, beat Richard Gottfried 4&3.

Commenting on his victory over Richard, Andy Exall said “It was a good match, unfortunately for Richard I played easily my best Minigolf of the day during the match. He did get a nice Ace on the 10th Hole and I’m going to try his line next year.”

Match Referee Trevor Robertson said “It was a great pleasure to preside over the Exall/Gottfried Matchplay tie. There was quality play all round, and the match was much closer than the final score suggested.”

Richard said “It was a great tournament and a really good Matchplay match. Unfortunately I lost, but I did so against one of the tournament favourites. It's all good practice for me and playing against highly experienced players like Andy Exall can only help me improve in the sport.”

Ends

Tenpin Bowling Summed Up

"To love bowling is to be so supremely secure or so culturally naive as to shrug off the pall of utter unhipness that shadows all who celebrate the skill of throwing a 16-pound orb at a single spot down an oiled patch of wood (or something that looks like it) 60 feet long and 42 inches wide."

Andrew Putz, The Cleveland Scene, August 10, 2000

The Running Man - Classic Quote

"WHITMAN, PRICE, AND HADDAD!!! You remember them! There they are now, BASKING under the Maui sun."

According to Damon Killian, host of "The Running Man," Whitman, Price, and Haddad are "last seasons winners" of the Running Man gameshow. According to the bounty hunter named Fireball, played by ex-NFL running back and Hall of Famer Jim Brown, Whitman, Price, and Haddad are "last season's losers." Regardless, these three contestants are found dead and severely burned by Maria Conchita Alonzo in the musky bosom of the gameshow's playing ground.

What's in a Minigolf Kitbag?

A selection of specialist Minigolf balls and a Funsports Putter!

Snow Day Crazy Golf Course

Car Park Snow Golf

“Disappointing BMGA Tour start for the Gottfrieds.”

The Luton News and Dunstable Gazette newspapers featured a story about our participation in the first event of the 2008 BMGA Tour at the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open and the tournament results on page 66 of the Sports Section in the Wednesday 19th March Edition.

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Despite coming 25th and 26th respectively, the event was a good training opportunity for the upcoming British Championships that will also be played on the Planet Hastings course - a course that until this weekend, neither of us had played before!

Minigolf Season Opener – Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open Report

On Saturday 15th March Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried entered the field of 31 competitors in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open Championship 2008to play 72-holes, across the four Minigolf courses in Hastings .

The winner was Trevor Exall from Tunbridge Wells who achieved a winning total of 144 strokes, averaging two strokes per hole – a very impressive perfect score of Par overall on the tough Hastings courses.

Emily was impressive in only her second tournament on the BMGA Tour and finished as the 3rd best female player and 26th overall with a score of 182 (2.52 strokes per hole). Emily hit five holes-in-one over the four rounds and won through to a spot-prize play-off against eventual tournament winner Trevor Exall, unfortunately Emily hit a two while Trevor ‘Aced’ the hole to win.

Richard finished his 11th BMGA Tour event in 25th place with a score of 181 (2.51 strokes per hole) and hitting 6 holes-in-one, but also scoring two sevens which put paid to his chances of finishing higher in the tournament.

The table below shows a breakdown and comparison of the scores over the four courses of the top three players and Richard & Emily Gottfried.
Pos Player Adv Cra Min PH Total Aces 7's
1 Trevor Exall 35 39 37 33 144 10 0
2 Chris Harding 39 33 36 39 147 9 0
3 Tim Davies 41 35 38 36 150 10 0
25 Richard Gottfried 48 35 47 51 181 6 2
26 Emily Gottfried 48 42 44 48 182 5 0

The table below shows a breakdown and comparison of the scores over the four courses of the top six female players.
Pos Player Adv Cra Min PH Total Aces 7's
1 Jo Williamson 44 40 37 44 165 6 0
2 Sue Forrest 43 41 46 44 174 4 0
3 Emily Gottfried 48 42 44 48 182 5 0
4 Cindy Kukielka 45 40 47 58 190 5 1
5 Marion Homer 46 40 49 65 200 2 2
6 Janette Robertson 51 42 52 56 201 3 1



During the tournament the course record at the Seafront Crazy Golf course, which was previously held by Richard Gottfried was broken by Brad Shepherd of the London Minigolf Club who scored a 28, breaking the previous record of 32 and scoring eight holes-in-one in the process.

The next tournament on the BMGA Tour sees Richard travel to Southend-on-Sea to play for the BMGA British Masters title and compete in the BMGA British Matchplay Championships against British Number 5 Andy Exall.

3rd Place Finish for Ham & Eggers Bowling Team

The Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling Team achieved a measure of success yesterday evening by striking a third place finish in the Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge held at Namco Station Luton.

New champions were also crowned with the Flecney Four out-bowling defending, and two-time, champions Plumbs DIY.

In the 2007 Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge the Ham & Eggers finished in 6th place of nine teams with a team score of 814, so the 2008 result in reaching the podium is a big improvement.

The scores within the Ham & Eggers Team were as follows:
Richard Gottfried - 109 & 111 = 220
Emily Gottfried - 111 & 119 = 230
Mike Wright - 96 & 126 = 222
Mystery Player - 88 & 75 = 163
Team Total - 404 & 431 = 835
Team MVP - Emily Gottfried (2 years running)

Ham & Eggers - New 'Star' Signings

The Ham & Eggers All-Star Tenpin Bowling Team have signed two new players to their squad in an effort to wrestle the MacMillan Shield from the hands of two-time champs Plumbs DIY.

In the line-up for the upcoming MacMillan/Namco Annual Bowling Challenge are Richard Gottfried (Captain), Emily Gottfried (EBA Star), Mike 'Five-Star' Wright and new-signing the Mystery Player.

Already signed up for a place in the squad for the 2009 tournament is Oxana Nikandrova.

Tenpin Bowling - Macmillan Shield

The countdown is on to the Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge!

15 top teams, including the Ham & Eggers, will be heading into two rounds of Tenpin Bowling action at Namco Luton to compete for the prestigious 'Macmillan Shield'.

World Crazy Golf Championships Video

Another video about the 2007 Virgin Money World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings.

Scooby Doo Crazy Golf Course

Beware playing at the old 'haunted' Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Southend on Sea!

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Essex

WHAT

3rd February 2008 - Richard Gottfried wins the Irregular Mini Golf Tour West Hertfordshire Amateur Tournament at the TopGolf Watford Game Centre.

Finishing a clear 10 shots ahead of his nearest rival, Richard also lifted the Irregular Mini Golf Tour Wenlock Cup as 'Aces' Champion.

Extra Curricular - Visit the seaside this weekend for some crazy golf

Richard Gottfried was featured in a piece about his Crazy Golf career in the 4th February 2008 edition of The Guardian (Office Hours, Page 3).

The link to the 'Visit the seaside this weekend for some crazy golf' story is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/feb/04/7

Groundhog Day 2008

Phil Says Six More Weeks of Winter!
Phil's official forecast as read 2/2/08 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Here Ye!

On Gobbler's Knob on this fabulous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008 Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators, Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.

After casting a weather eye toward thousands of his faithful followers, Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:

"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

Live draw of the BMGA British Matchplay Championships

Here is the video of the live draw of the BMGA British Matchplay Championships 2008.

http://ustream.tv/channel/british-matchplay-championships-round-1-draw

The confirmed draw for the first round is below:

Steve Gow v Rocky Bullin
Richard Penfound v Trevor Robertson
Ted McIver v Kevin Botto
Tim Davies v Brad Shepherd
Andy Exall v Richard Gottfried
Martin Robertson v Peter Emmerson
Andy Booth v Jas Kukielka
Chris Harding v Jam Trubridge
Den Exall v Marion Homer
Seve Kukielka v Phil Exall
Matthew Harding v Ruth Bullin
Sean Homer v Jane Booth
Keith Kellard v John Moore

Anthony Pope, Bill Bullin and Trevor Exall all get byes and progress straight through to the quarter finals.

All first round matches to be played before the 31st May 2008.