Bar Billiards in Baldock & Knebworth

Playing Bar Billiards at two pubs in Hertfordshire.

On Saturday 11th February 2012 me and two friends visited a couple of pubs in Hertfordshire for a few games of Bar Billiards.

Having rung round the pubs in Herts & Beds that are listed on the AEBBA map of Bar Billiards tables earlier in the day I had found out that The Red Lion in Studham, Beds no longer has a table. Nor does the Bedford Arms in Hitchin, having changed to a standard Pool table. We'd also found The Bucks Head pub in Little Wymondley has also removed their Bar Billiards table, but does offer free Dominoes, Cards and Cribbage to customers.

I did find that The Chequers Inn at Knebworth still had a table and I'd heard via twitter that The Orange Tree in Baldock also had one, so off we headed.



The Bar Billiards table at The Orange Tree in Baldock

First up was a visit to The Orange Tree, where we spotted the table positioned in the 'public bar', quite nicely near to a real log fire to keep punters and players warm. After a quick run through of the rules I took on Simon in a game.



The Orange Tree Bar Billiards Rules

To decide who would break we played a hand of Rock Paper Scissors. I lost.



Simon 'Practice' Hall takes a shot

Simon may have won the break, but when the match came to the closing stages the score was 800 to nil, with Simon having wiped out his score by knocking down the dreaded black peg! He did however manage to score 200 points by sinking the last white ball to make the result 800-200.


Lining up a shot

As the table at The Orange Tree was positioned against a wall/under a window it was only possible to play shots at the 200 & 100 holes from the left hand side of the table. Not a major obstacle really. I did like the fact that there were three sizes of cue available to use. As the pub was busy and there was a door behind the baulk line end I opted to use the 'baby' cue which was only about two and a half foot long.

Having had two games at The Orange Tree we decided to head over to Knebworth and The Chequers Inn for a game or two.

When I had phoned ahead earlier in the day the man at the pub had confirmed they still had a table and said that the baize on it had been relaid. The table did look and play nicely indeed, with the balls rolling very smoothly indeed. But unfortunately in the second game a lot of the balls kept getting 'stuck' in the pockets after being potted!? This meant for much of our second 'three-way-dance' match we were not playing with a full deck!

Simon picked up wins at The Chequers Inn. Both games once again went to a shootout on the 200 hole.

Interestingly the table at The Chequers Inn had a different layout to the table in The Orange Tree and was also different to the only other table I'd actually played, at The Strathmore Arms in St Paul's Walden. Both of those tables had three obstacles (one with 'mushrooms' the other with 'pegs'), but the table at The Chequers Inn had four mushrooms, with one guarding the 200 hole, one at the 100 hole (which was not marked as a scoring hole) and the other two were in front of each of the 50 holes. It certainly made the table a lot harder to score points on. The positioning of the table at The Chequers Inn also meant that shots at the 200 hole in the last ball shootout could only be made from the right hand side of the table.



The Bar Billiards table at The Chequers Inn at Knebworth - this one had four spots and four 'mushrooms'! Shooting for the 50s was very difficult

There was a nice old rules sheet/poster on display next to the table at The Chequers Inn. it was originally revised in 1973 and reprinted in 1976 and described "The Game of Bar Billiards - sometimes called Russian Bagatelle, Skittle Billiards or Snookerette etc."

This rule sheet had the rules laid out for playing the game using the 'first arrangement' and 'second arrangement' and it was this second type of rules the table had been set up for, with the previously mentioned four peg/skittle marks. There was also a good section on the sheet on 'How to Promote Interest' in the game.

The nice old Bar Billiards rule sheet at The Chequers Inn

An enjoyable day out at two different pubs, playing a fun and very tricky game. On an incredibly cold day it was nice to be in two very warm pubs.

Related Blog Posts:
- Another new game played – Bar Billiards
- Snow causes blog post in Guildford

Link:
- The All England Bar Billiards Association
- The AEBBA Rules of Bar Billiards

Luton Sports Awards - Deadline Reminder

The deadline to send in nominations for this year's Luton Sports Network 'Luton Sports Awards' is Tuesday 21st February.

Emily and I would really appreciate nominations. Entry forms (with a deadline date of the 21st February) can be downloaded from the link here. A news item in the latest Luton Herald & Post, p.55 also mentions that entries can now be emailed in, but lists the deadline as Monday 13th of February.

Emily & Richard at the 2011 WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden

Related Blog Post:
- Nominate Richard & Emily Gottfried for the Luton Sports Awards!

Links:
- Ham & Egger Files Year in Review
- Richard Gottfried Player Profile
- Emily Gottfried Player Profile
- Luton Sports Network homepage
- Luton Sports Awards
- Luton Sports Awards Nomination Form
- British Minigolf Association
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Bad Postcards - a Tyrannosaurus Rex at a 1960's Goofy Golf Miniature Golf Course

Via the Viz comic facebook page I saw a link to the BAD POSTCARDS tumblr page. I decided to have a look at what other 'Bad Postcards' would be on there and noticed that this excellent website of vintage American postcards from 1950 to 1975 featured a minigolf postcard!

In fact the first postcard shown on the site is of a “Tyrannosaurus Rex; King of Prehistoric Giants” at the 'Goofy Golf. Magic World at Panama City Beach, Florida.' The Postcard is postally unused, looks to be in great condition and they guess it is from the 1960's.

An excellent website that's well worth a look. There are some great old 'bad' Postcards on there - including one of a Cigar Smoking Alligator!

Links:

- Bad Postcards
- Reflections of a Bygone Age
- Chimes Publishing & Postcards / Picture Postcard Monthly

Related blog posts:
- Postcard
- Postcards

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Fake Crocodiles! Or are they Alligators?

Snow causes blog post in Guildford

My mate, fellow blogger, former minigolf doubles partner and "sometime adversary" Oliver 'The Machine' Florence has blogged about the snowy weather getting in the way of some Guildford-based activities today.

I had been scheduled to visit the town for some Bar Billiards and a walk around the castle, but snow and heavy traffic on the M1 put paid to that idea.

You can check out the excellent blog post at Ollie's brilliant blog at "Snow luck for Gottfried as Guildford curse strikes again".

Other Guildford Blog Posts at The Ham & Egger Files:

- Not course number 75! Guildford Lido

- Actual Minigolf Course 75 - Guildford

- Swedish Felt - A-run in Finland & B-run in Guildford

Links:

- The Minigolfer - Oliver 'The Machine' Florence's blog

- The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Minigolf Zebra Thefts!?

A very odd minigolf news story!

Our friends over at The Putting Penguin minigolf team spotted a very bizarre minigolf news story about the theft of a fibreglass Zebra from the Tropical Gardens Mini Golf on Patton Avenue in Asheville, North Carolina, USA and shared it via their facebook page. Very crazy indeed.

The Putting Penguin team regularly shares interesting news items about Miniature Golf on their twitter profile.

Back in October 2010 we started up #MinigolfMonday and continue to try to get Minigolf 'trending' on twitter by using the hash tag #Minigolf on our tweets!

Blog Link:

- Let's get Minigolf 'trending' - Twitter, Minigolf and #MinigolfMonday

Putter Fingers Crazy Golf Competition for February 2012 - Where's Spike?

The Putter Fingers Crazy Golf team have launched their third online competition!

Visitors to the Putter Fingers website are being asked to look for Spike, the mascot for Putter Fingers.

To enter the 'Where's Spike?' online competition you’ll need to search the Putter Fingers website (high and low) before Friday 10th of February!

I had a go and found there may be a Red Herring thrown in for good measure!

Link:

- Putter Fingers website
- Putter Fingers Blog Post - Crazy Golf Competition – Where’s Spike?

World of Bun Throwing: A new ‘Royal Bun Throwing Championships’ to be held

Check out my recent Bun Throwing blog post over at The World of Bun Throwing blog:

"A new ‘Royal Bun Throwing Championships’ to be held at Abingdon Vale Cricket Club"

Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf's new blog

I recently noticed that Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf has recently created a blog. You can check it out at "Jungle Rumble THE BLOG"

There are two Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf sites, each containing two 18-hole indoor miniature golf courses. One is in Bristol at the Cabot Circus Shopping Centre. When Emily and I visited the courses back in February 2010 they became the 161st and 162nd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We were in Bristol preparing for the British Minigolf Association's BMGA English Open tournament that was taking place at Jungle Rumble.

The other Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf is at the Liverpool ONE Shopping Centre in Liverpool. The courses at this site were the 212th and 213th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in March 2011. Once again we were visiting the courses ahead of a BMGA Tour event. This time it was the BMGA National Open tournament.

For details of other minigolf blogs (and links to other websites of interest) please check out the 'links' on the right hand side of the Ham & Egger Files web page.

Minigolfnews.com - Minigolf Photo of the Year Competition!

One of Emily’s photos has been selected for the Minigolfnews.com Minigolf Photo of the Year Competition!

The Minigolfnews.com team selected the top 20 snaps from 116 submitted photos taken by 30 photographers at Minigolf events and courses throughout 2011.

Emily took the photo of me playing the 16th hole at the Hastings Pirate Adventure Golf course at the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament last May.

Richard Gottfried at the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament in Hastings

You can read the news item and view the photo shortlist at:

"Vote now: Minigolf Photo of the Year 2011"

Minigolf Info - "An Introduction to the British Minigolf Association" & "Starting Out In Minigolf"

Two of the Minigolf Sport Governing Bodies that I play competitive minigolf in have information available online about the sport of Minigolf, the rules of the game and the associations that administrate them.

You can check out the British Minigolf Assocations information flyer 'An Introduction to the British Minigolf Association' which has details about the BMGA, its competitions, benefits of membership and the (Abridged) Rules of Minigolf.

The World Minigolf Sport Federation has a brochure called 'Starting Out In Minigolf' and gives a background to the sport, basic rules and information on the four systems of Minigolf the WMF uses for their competitions.

You can join the BMGA as either a 'Tour Pro', or for free as a 'Standard' member. Full details can be found on the BMGA's Membership Page.


Links:
- The BMGA
- The WMF
- An Introduction to the British Minigolf Association (BMGA)
- Starting Out In Minigolf brochure by the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF)

Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Pub Beer Gardens

Details of Pub Miniature Golf courses we've found on our travels

On our travels around the UK we've found Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses at a few Pubs along the way. Though not as many as we'd have liked!

Here are the links to the Pub Miniature Golf courses we've visited and played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour to date:

#10 Horse & Harrow Pub, West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire - Crazy Golf - Re-visited 2011

One of the holes at The Horse & Harrow Pub Crazy Golf in 2006

#11 The Green Man Pub, Stanford, Bedfordshire - Crazy Golf

A view of the now long-gone Crazy Golf course at The Green Man Pub

#110 Tudor Rose Inn, Fordingbridge, Hampshire - Miniature Golf - Update: October 2012 - the beer garden has had a makeover and the course is no longer there.

Playing a hole on the very good Miniature Golf course at The Tudor Rose Inn

#168 Maldon Grey Pub, Sudbury, Suffolk - Crazy Golf

A double-humped hole at The Maldon Grey Pub in Sudbury

#249 The Sutton Staithe Hotel, near Stalham, Norfolk - Moosey's Miniature Golf

Playing on the course in the beer garden of The Sutton Staithe Hotel

- The Pitch & Putt Inn - North Shore Holiday Centre, Skegness, Lincolnshire - Pitch & Putt Course (did not play) and a Miniature Golf Course (#233)

- Not played (visit #223 overall) - The Dolphin Pub, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire - Derelict 4-hole Crazy Golf - Re-visit 2011

- Not played (Pub under reconstruction) - Aber Falls Tavern, Abergwyngregyn, Wales - Crazy Golf

- Not played (too early, Pub not open) - The Woolpack Inn, Smeeth, Kent - Crazy Golf

- Not played (no course there any more) - The Bell Pub, Wendens Ambo, Saffron Walden, Essex - Mini Golf

- Not played (hotel guests only) - The Portobello Gold Pub & Hotel, London - Mini Golf on a Roof Terrace

- A visit to the Smallest Pub on the Planet - now has a Mini-Minigolf Course in the 'Games Area' - see "A Miniature Golf course at the Smallest Pub on the Planet"

In June 2011 Uncle Stuart's Brewery at Wroxham Barns in Norfolk brewed a special commemorative beer for the BMGA English Open - it was called the 19th Hole!

In February 2016 we played the Plonk Golf course in the beer garden at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Brixton, London.

Link to other courses we've visited and played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Looking at the course lists on the excellent MiniatureGolfer.com website there are a few other Pub courses in England too.

Our friends at The Putting Penguin in the USA have also played some Mini-Golf courses in pubs and have set up courses at the Cambridge House Brew Pub in Connecticut!

Other Pub-related Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files:

- 2011 UK Thumb Wrestling Championships at The Triangle Tavern in Lowestoft, Suffolk

- 2011 UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships at The Knights Templar Pub on Chancery Lane, London

- 2010 UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships at The Durell Arms Pub in Fulham, London

- Darts in London - The Jolly Anglers Pub in Wood Green, London

- Another new game played – Bar Billiards

2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Teaser Video Released!

2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Teaser Video Released!




Links:
- The Putter King
- Early Details of the 2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Released!
- Richard Gottfried runner-up in the 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt
- Minigolf Trick Shot Video - Blindfolded Hole-in-One - Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt  - filmed at Tea Green Golf Club
- Full Results of the 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt 
- Putter King Results News Release
- Photo of Richard Gottfried with the Putter King Mascot
- My Entry for the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt 2011
- Ermington Putters Club - home of 1st Putter King Champion Allan Cox
- The Putting Penguin - home of 3rd placed Pat Sheridan

Olympic Rings at St Pancras - 180 Days to Go to the start of London 2012!

Emily and I have managed to get tickets to watch some of the Handball at the 2012 Olympic Games!

Another new game played – Bar Billiards

At the recent Star City Open weekend in Birmingham my fellow Crazy Golfer and BMGA Tour minigolf rival Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd pointed me in the direction of the 1970’s Yorkshire TV show ‘Indoor League’. As a fellow fan of odd and obscure sports he knew I would appreciate the games on offer on the programme, he wasn’t wrong.

Bar Billiards sign at The Strathmore Arms Pub

Indoor League was a show that ran from 1972-1977 on Yorkshire Television/ITV and was presented by Cricket legend Fred Trueman. The games played on the show include Darts (using a Yorkshire board, which has no ‘trebles’!), Skittles, Shove Ha’penny, Table Football and a game that took my fancy – Bar Billiards.

In all my years frequenting pubs I had never played the game and have only ever seen a glimpse of a table before – at The White Horse Pub in Southsea. With Indoor League whetting my appetite for a play of the game I took to the web to search out information on the game and whether there were any tables near to us in Luton...?

First of all I found that there is an ‘All England Bar Billiards Association’ that governs the game and organises tournaments in 18 counties, which are mostly in southern England and Jersey.

A link on the All England Bar Billiards Association (AEBBA) website shows the location of Bar Billiard tables in the UK. Checking this out I saw that the closest ones to us were at The Strathmore Arms pub in St Paul’s Walden (near Hitchin, Herts), The Red Lion at Studham (near Dunstable, Beds), Bedford Arms in Hitchin and at The Bucks Head in Little Wymondley (near Hitchin, Herts). Also on the list and fairly nearby were The White Lion in Hemel Hempstead, The Goat Inn in St Albans, The Chequers Inn in Knebworth, Our Mutual Friend in Stevenage and The Unicorn in Cublington, Bucks. I have also found out via twitter that The Orange Tree in Baldock, Herts does have a table (and also sells Gluten Free food and Beer).

* Location updates (4th &11th Feb and 24th March 2012)
- The Bucks Head in Little Wymondley no longer has a table
- The Red Lion in Studham no longer has a table
- The Bedford Arms in Hitchin has changed to a Pool table
- The Chequers Inn in Knebworth does still have a table - and the baize has been relaid
- The White Lion in Hemel Hempstead no longer has a table

So, on Friday 27th January 2012 we headed to the closest pub on the list – The Strathmore Arms pub in St Paul’s Walden.

The Strathmore Arms pub in St Paul's Walden, near Hitchin, Herts

Though close to Luton, a mere 8 miles, the B Road there is long, winding and quite pot holey – far removed from the hustle and bustle of Luton. It’s not often we venture out to the villages surrounding Luton. We have passed through some of them to reach the Offley Oriental Chinese Restaurant (which serves some great Gluten Free food). We also regularly go to Tea Green Golf Club at Wandon End, but this is very close to the Luton border.

When we arrived at The Strathmore Arms we ordered some drinks and then asked if they had a Bar Billiards table. The obliging barman said they did and pointed us around to a room attached to the main bar area where the table stood. And what a sight it was. The Barman told us it was a “pound a go” and left us to it.

The Bar Billiards table at The Strathmore Arms pub

Having only seen the game played on TV before, Emily and I had a quick glance at the rules on the plate affixed to the table itself, put a quid in the machine and started playing.

Emily plays a shot

After the first practice game we had a deeper read of the rules sheet that was beside the table and realised we had been playing our own version of the game! We then decided to play a best-of-3 games match to decide the Champion.

Emily has a read of the rules

In the first ‘proper’ game I managed to beat Emily with a final score of 400 to nil after Emily knocked the Black Peg down in the final ball shootout. Emily had reached a score of 940 before this was wiped out.

In the second game of the best-of-3 match I once again won to take the overall victory. This time I had a score of 1000, to Emily’s 90. This was a much cleaner match, with very little peg knocking down!

I line up a shot

In our fourth and final game Emily beat me 70-0. I had reached 180 but knocked the Black Peg down to wipe-out. Emily’s opening break was a score of 380 before she played a foul shot to wipe-out the break.

Once we’d finished our games we had a chat to the bar staff and some of the friendly locals. We got some further information about Bar Billiards and that it used to be a very popular game in Hertfordshire (and was one of the originating spots for the game), however there are not that many tables left to play.

As we were so interested in the game a few of the locals asked us if we were on a mission of some sort relating to Bar Billiards. We told them we weren’t (yet), but were on a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour! As I’m like a dog with a bone about new/old/interesting/fun/obscure/odd games and sports and challenges who knows, we may start-up a Crazy World of Bar Billiards Tour!

Another view of the table - plenty of balls still in play!

Emily was also interested in the Pudding Club that is run at The Strathmore Arms and there was a lively discussion going on amongst the staff and regulars over the latest offerings and the current rankings list!

A Dart Board was also set up next to the Bar Billiards table. I may take my ‘arrers next time we visit.

Looking at the Bar Billiards table I noticed that there was a badge affixed to the table we played that was from the “National Bar Billiards Association”. When I got home I had another look on The Online Guide to Traditional Games website and reread about the game and saw that National Bar Billiards Association was a pre-World War II organisation! The game started in the UK in the 1930’s, so the table at The Strathmore Arms could well be one of the first in the UK then!

Speaking with Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd and fellow sports and games enthusiast Marc ‘The Roller’ Bazeley I have found out they know of other tables in London, Gravesend and Northampton. ‘The Roller’ also tells me there is a thriving Wellingborough Bar Billiards League and when Emily and I head to Northants for a game then the Crown & Anchor Pub in Northampton is the place to go.

It seems a Bar Billiards ‘side-tournament’ or two is in order.

As Fred Trueman would say “Ahl si thee”

The Rules of Bar Billiards

Links:
- All England Bar Billiards Association
- The Strathmore Arms Pub
- Indoor League at Wikipedia
- Indoor League at UK Game Shows
- Bar Billiards at The Online Guide to Traditional Games
- Bar Billiards at Wikipedia
- Map of Bar Billiards Tables in the UK
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minigolf Course Visit #210(a!?) - Vienna, Austria (Askoe Wien Wasserpark) - pit-pat "Hindernis Billards" (Obstacle Billiards)!

Receiving the OFBIMT Minigolf Trophy Orb...

...in the Car Park at Star City (the Las Vegas of the West Midlands).

'Birthday Boy' Oliver Florence presents the mysterious Green Orb to me. Note the 'unique' handshake Florence has applied

A more traditional approach to the trophy presentation

Me and the Orb

The Orb was my reward for winning the Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Minigolf Tournament in December 2011.

The late presentation of the trophy was due to previous Champion Guy Martin forgetting to bring it to New Malden, having left it somewhere ending in 'ham'.

Link:
- "Glory for Gottfried as Martin's mistake fails to cloud celebrations"

Arcade Games at Star City – Air Hockey, Pool & Ping Pong

Following the first minigolf event of the BMGA Tour season at the Star City Open in Birmingham on Sunday 22nd January, a group of players headed to the amusement arcade attached to the Bowling Alley in the Star City Complex for an Air Hockey Tourney.

Among the competitors in action at the Las Vegas of the West Midlands were reigning Worlds Air Hockey Champion Peter ‘The Puckmaster’ Jones, James ‘Ruthers’ Rutherford, Seth ‘Wandsworth’ Thomas, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried & Oliver ‘The Machine’ Florence.

The first game to be played was on the closest table to the door and after a draw of sorts was organised by Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried play commenced with a match-up between perennial Air Hockey loser, ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried, and the Welsh Worlds Air Hockey champ and side-tournament specialist Peter ‘The Dragon’ Jones.

Peter Jones (far side) faces-off against Richard Gottfried in the longest match ever!

Unbeknownst to the players the match would create something of a record result, as the machine was a bit broken! The final result saw 31 goals scored as the match seemed to be never ending. Normally the first player who scores 7 goals is the winner and the machine keeps the puck from being returned. However in the battle between Gottfried & Jones, Richard managed to get the upset win, with a slim victory of 16-15.

With the match going on for so long Richard retired from the rest of the contest due to exhaustion and went to have a nice sit down. This meant that Peter ‘The Crazy Aced Assassin’ Jones was back in the contest and would face Seth ‘Tooting’ Thomas in the ‘first’ round.

Before that contest could take place a new table needed to be found for the match between Ruthers and The Machine. Play then commenced after Ollie had put a deposit down for half an hour’s play on the Ping Pong table. In the Air Hockey match Ollie took control and defeated Ruthers 7-5 meaning The Machine would head to the final to face either Thomas or Jones. The defeated Ruthers consoled himself by heading to the Table Tennis table to take on and beat all-comers (except Seth, who was just too good). One notable result was the ‘Squire’ (ranked 50th alongside Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd in the 2010 World Series of Pong) coming out of retirement for one more match. He was swiftly beaten 11-6 by Ruthers.

Ping Ponger Ruthers awaiting new challengers

In the highly anticipated match-up between Worlds Champ Peter ‘Toy Truck’ Jones and the sporting polymath that is Seth ‘Clockwork Orange’ Thomas the result was an unexpected win to Thomas, who managed to take down the champ and win 7-3 to line up a contest against The Machine in the Grand Final.

The Machine warms-up for the Air Hockey final with a bit of Table Tennis

Having seen the photos of the Air Hockey matches online, and on being told he had wrongly assumed that Peter 'Indoor League' Jones had been dishing out lessons, Finnish player Pasi ‘Bruiser’ Aho commented “He's just giving you that false feeling of confidence and will strike back when it matters.”

With the first Air Hockey table used in the competition set to ‘Long Play’ the players couldn’t imagine that the event would befall some other controversy, but that is exactly what happened in the big final match-up. With Seth Thomas easing to a 6-2 lead against Oliver Florence what happened next could of been taken straight from a round of ‘What happened next?’ on TV game show A Question of Sport. As Ollie hit a goal to bring his score up to 3 goals, the puck got stuck in the goal mouth and couldn’t be retrieved, nor did it register on the scoreboard!

Seth Thomas and Oliver Florence face-off in the Air Hockey Final

Luckily Emily ‘I’ll get #TheMan’ Gottfried was on hand and went and got the man to come and have a look at the machine (the table, not Ollie). With much wrenching and fiddling the technician was unable to get the puck out, so instead turned off the table and gave the players their pound back.

Pucking Hell! The Air Hockey Puck gets stuck in the goal

This caused a dilemma as the result of the match was still undecided. To decide the ultimate winner of the Star City Air Hockey Contest, Seth and Ollie decided to play one game of Ping Pong as a decider!

The result of the Air Hockey Tournament is decided on a Ping Pong Table

In the end there seemed to be only one possible result as Seth took an early and commanding lead, as he had done on the Air Hockey, and finished the match by smashing in a result of 11-2 and leaving The Machine with the runner-up spot.

Following the final of the Air Pong competition Seth declared that “the fun isn’t over if I’ve still got money left” and proceeded to challenge players to games of Pool. First up was Richard who, apart from the break and potting one ball, spent the game speaking with Peter 'PJ#2' Jones on the sidelines.

Richard Gottfried enjoys a nice sit down on his way to a Pool defeat at the hands of Seth Thomas

With the Hurricane Simulator ‘Out of Order’ a doubles Pool match was proposed, with the line-up of England (Ollie & Seth) to take on the ‘Wales’ team of Peter and Richard. England won.

And that wrapped up the fun and games at The Buttons of Star City. For a change no Laser Tag was played. The next big arcade event will no doubt be a £2 Tat Challenge at the amusement arcades of Worthing, West Sussex in April.

Links:
- 2011 Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championships in Hastings
- Crazy Minigolfers Play Air Hockey Tournament in Hastings
- The Undisputed International Worlds Crazy Air Squash Championships

Nominate Richard & Emily Gottfried for the Luton Sports Awards!

Nominate us for a Luton Sports Award!

Voting has opened for the annual Luton Sports Awards, organised by Luton Sports Network.

Emily and I would both appreciate your vote and nomination to help us be shortlisted (and hopefully win) a prestigious Luton Sports Award. Details on Criteria and How to Nominate is below.

Emily is entering the ‘Sports Woman of the Year’ category and I am entering the ‘Sports Man of the Year’ category. A summary of the highlights of our 2011 Minigolf Season can also be found below.

You can download entry forms from the link here

The deadline to nominate is Tuesday 21st February 2012.

Criteria:
Nominations will be accepted for sports people, teams or clubs who either have their home team/club venue or reside within the Borough and have:
• Achieved outstanding performances
• Shown outstanding ability
• Shown major improvement in their sport
• Promoted sport and influenced more members of the community to take part in sport

How to Nominate:
Complete the nomination form, which would typically include information on:
• For individuals: commitment and training, achievement, representation (e.g. school, club, county, international), contribution to sport etc. during 2011

Notes:
Please ensure that you provide full details and information about the nominee’s achievements during 2011 on this nomination form as the judges decisions will be based entirely upon this and no supplementary information will be considered.

The Luton Sports Awards are made by members of the public through a series of nominations per category. You can nominate anyone who meets the criteria on the nomination form. The awards are presented by the Luton Sports Network on behalf of Luton’s sporting community to recognise achievement in sport.

The nomination forms should be returned by Tuesday 21st February 2012 to Luton Sports Awards, c/o Active Luton, Wigmore Hall, Eaton Green Road, Luton LU2 9JB.


2011 Minigolf Season Highlights

Emily Gottfried

Emily is a British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour Pro and competed in ten full BMGA Tour competitions in the 2011 season.

Emily Gottfried - the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women's Champion

Emily represented Great Britain in two Minigolf tournaments in the UK and Sweden, winning the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women’s Championship in Hastings in May. While playing for Great Britain in Stockholm, Sweden in June she set a new British Women’s Record, and all-time personal best round, by scoring a 24(-12) on the Eternit type of Miniature Golf.

In September Emily was the runner-up in The Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada and on home soil she has continued to improve her play, recording four top ten finishes in her ten BMGA Tour appearances, along with a fifth place finish representing England, for the fourth time, in the Castle Golf Women’s World Crazy Golf Championships in October.

International Honours:
- Member of the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team that competed in the WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden
o The Great Britain 2 team finished the tournament in 10th place
o Set a new British Women’s Record, and an all-time personal best score, with a round of 24(-12) on the Eternit format of Miniature Golf. Her previous best was a 37(+1). Emily also set a new personal best of 36 on the Beton format of Minigolf, with a previous best of 40
o 10th in the WMF Nations Cup (Female Category)
o 45th in the WMF Nations Cup (Individual Category)
- Great Britain Player in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters
o First-ever WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women’s Champion
- In the WMF World Minigolf Rankings for Nations Great Britain has moved up one place to now be ranked 19th of 31 Countries

2011 Minigolf Season Highlights – Results:
- Winner of the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women's Championship in Hastings, East Sussex
- Runner-up in The Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
- 4th in an April GMGC Club Tournament in Hither Green, London
- 5th in the Castle Golf Women’s World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings, East Sussex
- 6th in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open Tournament in Hastings, East Sussex
- 7th in the Midlands Open Tournament in Dorridge, Solihull
- 8th (tied) in the Weymouth Open in Dorset
- 10th (with Brad Shepherd) in the BMGA British Doubles Championships in Dorridge, Solihull

2011 Minigolf Season – Rankings:
- Ranked 24th of 138 players in the BMGA Season Rankings for 2011
- Ranked tied 35th of 116 players in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings for 2010-2011

- Continued to promote Minigolf through online and offline media and social media channels

- During 2011 Emily played at 72 different Miniature Golf courses, taking the total played to date to 282, with 444 courses visited in total since 2006


Richard Gottfried

Richard is a British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour Pro and competed in 14 full BMGA Tour competitions in the 2011 season.


Richard Gottfried at the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament in Hastings


Richard represented Great Britain in two Minigolf tournaments in the UK and Sweden. In the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings in May he qualified for a Major WMF Final for the first time and finished in 18th place overall. While playing for Great Britain in Stockholm, Sweden in June Richard was chosen to be Captain of the GB2 side that finished the tournament in 10th place overall.

In September Richard won The Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada to add to the Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament) title he won in Newport in July. He also won in England with a victory in the Weymouth Open Team Tournament alongside Chris Harding.

On the BMGA Tour Richard recorded ten top ten finishes in his 14 tournament outings, including two runner-up spots. In October Richard represented England in the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships, finishing in 25th place in his fifth appearance in the tournament.

International Honours:
- Member of the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team that competed in the WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden
o Captain of the ‘Great Britain 2’ team at the WMF Nations Cup
o 34th in the WMF Nations Cup (Male Category)
o 41st in the WMF Nations Cup (Individual Category)
o Recorded new personal best rounds on Eternit Miniature Golf with two rounds of 29(-7) and on Beton Minigolf with a round of 33(-3). His previous personal bests were 39 and 36 respectively
- Great Britain Player in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters
o 11th in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters (Male Category)
o 18th (finalist) in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters (Individual Category)
- In the WMF World Minigolf Rankings for Nations Great Britain has moved up one place to now be ranked 19th of 31 Countries

2011 Minigolf Season Highlights – Results:
- Winner of The Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
- Winner of the Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament) in Newport, Wales
- Winner (with Chris Harding) of the Weymouth Open Team Tournament in Dorset
- Runner-up in the Weymouth Open Tournament in Dorset
- Runner-up in the London Invitational Tournament in East Finchley, London
- Runner-up in a January GMGC Club Tournament in Hither Green, London
- Runner-up (with Will Collins) in the Lost World Adventure Golf Pro-Am Classic in Hemsby, Norfolk
- Runner-up in the First Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt
- 3rd in a February GMGC Club Tournament in Hither Green, London
- 3rd (with the Midlands Minigolf Club) in the BMGA British Club Championships is Dorridge, Solihull
- 7th in the BMGA English Open at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk
- 7th (with Scott Lancley) in the BMGA British Doubles Championships in Dorridge, Solihull
- 7th (with Oliver Florence) in the GMGC Green Doubles Tournament in Hither Green, London
- 9th in the BMGA British Masters Tournament in Margate, Kent
- 25th in the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings, East Sussex

2011 Minigolf Season – Rankings:
- Ranked 10th of 138 players in the BMGA Season Rankings for 2011
- Ranked 16th of 116 players in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings for 2010-2011

- Continued to promote Minigolf through online and offline media and social media channels

- During 2011 Richard played at 72 different Miniature Golf courses, taking the total played to date to 282, with 444 courses visited in total since 2006


Photo Links:

Emily Gottfried

Emily Gottfried at the WMF Nations Cup in Sweden

- Emily Gottfried - the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women's Champion
- Emily Gottfried playing hole 1 at the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships
- Emily Gottfried playing hole 16 of the Crazy Golf course in Hastings during the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open
- Emily Gottfried playing the first hole at Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate at the BMGA British Masters
- Emily Gottfried playing hole 18 at Wroxham Barns during the BMGA English Open

Richard Gottfried 

Richard Gottfried at the WMF Nations Cup in Sweden

- Richard Gottfried playing hole 5 of the Crazy Golf course in Hastings at the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships
- Richard Gottfried playing on the new Pirate Adventure Golf course at the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings
- Richard Gottfried at the Weymouth Open
- Richard Gottfried playing hole 18 of the Wroxham Barns Minigolf course during the BMGA English Open
- Richard Gottfried playing at The Green Indoor Mini Golf course
- Richard Gottfried at Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate at the BMGA British Masters
- Richard Gottfried playing the Minigolf course in East Finchley at the London Invitational Tournament


Links:
- Ham & Egger Files Year in Review
- Richard Gottfried Player Profile
- Emily Gottfried Player Profile
- Luton Sports Network homepage
- Luton Sports Awards
- Luton Sports Awards Nomination Form
- British Minigolf Association
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Tee-Off new Minigolf Season at the BMGA Star City Open in Birmingham

Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried were back in Minigolf action as they teed-off in the first event of the 2012 British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour season on Sunday 22nd January at the BMGA Star City Open at Adventure Island Mini Golf, Star City, Birmingham.

Both players finished four places higher than in last year’s event, with Richard 13th and Emily 24th in the 31 player field.

Richard scored a three-round total of 104(-4), having scored 37, 33 and 34. Richard still jointly holds the official BMGA course record of 28(-8) on the Lost Hut Trail which he set in 2010 at the BMGA National Open.

Richard Gottfried plays the 13th hole on the Lost Hut Trail course

Emily scored a total 111(+3) after rounds of 41, 37 and 33.

Emily Gottfried plays hole 2 on the Lost Hut Trail course

The tournament was played over three 18-hole rounds on the Lost Hut Trail course at the Star City venue, and was won by Birmingham’s Chris Harding following a sudden-death play-off with Oxford’s Michael Smith. Cambridgeshire’s Adam Kelly was third, defeating Cambridge's James Rutherford in a sudden-death play-off.

Richard said “My scoring was good and I only dropped six shots over the three rounds and 13th place was not too bad. My round of 37 was a little disappointing though as I know I can shoot much better scores on the course. I’m now looking ahead to the trip to Worthing and the BMGA British Masters in April”

Richard and Emily are now in their sixth year as BMGA Tour players. Last season Richard was ranked 10th of 138 players in the BMGA Season Rankings and 16th of 116 players in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings for 2010-2011. Emily was ranked 24th in the Season Only Rankings and tied 35th places in the Order of Merit.

Ends