Thursday, May 03, 2012

World Minigolf Sport Federation Rankings Update (March 2012)

Richard & Emily Gottfried's latest World Minigolf Sport Federation Rankings.

The latest World Minigolf Ranking Lists (dated March 2012) have been published by the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF).

In the Men’s Rankings list I am now ranked at 345th of 345 places/353 players (previously at 406th of 411 places/427 players).

Great Britain Minigolf International Richard Gottfried at the 2011 WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden

Richard Gottfried in the WMF World Minigolf Men's Rankings 2008-2012
March 2012 - 345th
November 2011 - 406th
March 2011 - Unranked
November 2010 - 413th
March 2010 - 358th
November 2009 - 418th
March 2009 - 352nd
November 2008 - 425th



In the Women’s Rankings list Emily is now ranked 101st of 101 places/115 players (previously at 132nd of 137 places/150 players).

Great Britain Minigolf International Emily Gottfried at the 2011 WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden

Emily Gottfried in the WMF World Minigolf Women's Rankings 2008-2012
 March 2012 - 101st
November 2011 - 132nd
March 2011 - Unranked
November 2010 - 138th
March 2010 - 109th
November 2009 - 130th
March 2009 - 100th
November 2008 - 115th



In the Coutry Rankings list Great Britain remains 19th of 31 Nations.

The Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team at the 2011 WMF Nations Cup in Sweden (from l-r Eirik Seljelid (Coach), Scott Lancley, Björn Dinau (Coach), Michael Smith, Tony Kelly, Emily Gottfried, Marc Chapman, Marion Homer, Sean Homer, Richard Gottfried)


Links:
- World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF)
- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)
- UrbanCrazy - Great Britain Team Sponsor

Related Blog Posts:
- Gottfrieds in the World Minigolf Sport Federation Rankings – Nov 11 Update
- Report from the WMF Nations Cup minigolf tournament in Stockholm, Sweden
- Blog Post – Minigolf Diary: 5 Days on International Minigolf Duty
- Latest British Minigolf Association Tour Rankings (April 2012)

Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course near Dundee, Scotland

Playing the 291st Miniature Golf course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

During our recent roadtrip of the north west of England, some of Scotland and the north east of England we headed to Broughty Ferry, Dundee to visit the 18-hole Crazy Golf course at Castle Green.

A view of the Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course at Castle Green

On our visit on the 8th of April (Easter Sunday) we found the course to be open so we jumped on and had a game, it was £2 per player (for adults).

Some of the holes on the Crazy Golf course looked very similar to the Eternit-style of Miniature Golf, although the concrete course did not play much like one.

Despite its rough shape it was quite fun to play and was very busy too with a constant stream of people heading onto the course for a traditional seaside Putt around.

The course was the 31st visited on our roadtrip, but only the seventh played! In our match-up I managed to get only my third win in a round of the North West England, Scotland & North East England Tour Challenge contest between me and Emily with a 48 to 56 victory.

A view of the Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course

Emily playing the Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course

Emily playing the Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course


Richard playing through a very large obstacle at the Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course

Emily playing a tricky hole on the Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course

A tap-in for Emily on the Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course

Taking a shot on the Volcano hole at Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf - I scored a hole-in-one!

The Volcano obstacle at Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf


Possibly the oddest hole on the entire course was the 18th. This short hole was the only one on the layout that had any felt on it. It also had a choice of six cups to Putt into!? It's one of the strangest holes/obstacles we've come across on our travels and reminded me a bit of the 5 Star Crazy Golf course we found at Bainland Country Park, near Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire last year.

The only felted hole on the Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course - it's also got 6-cups to Putt into!?

Video: Crazy Golf in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland - Scoring a Minigolf Hole-in-One


Prior to our visit I had read a news story about plans for the course to receive a bit of a makeover with some recycled carpet from the Dundee International Sports Complex and a lick of paint too. According to the report the course hadn't had any work done to it since the 1970's!

Prior to our visit to Broughty Ferry the only knowledge we had of the town was that it was home to the star of three excellent books, a radio series and a Hero of Dundee - Bob Servant.

Related Blog Posts:

Links:

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Miniature Golf Days in 2012

Special days to mark the great game of Miniature Golf.

According to ‘the internet’ there are two days each year to celebrate Miniature Golf!

The first of these is National Miniature Golf Day and falls on the second Saturday in May, this year it’s on Saturday 12th of May. The first ever National Miniature Golf Day was held on the 12th of May 2007!

The second of these is Miniature Golf Day and is always on the 21st of September.

This year the British Minigolf Association Tour will be at Strokes Adventure Golf course in Margate, Kent on the 21st of September (a Friday) and the BMGA Players Championship (and BMGA International Players Championship) will be contested. The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd September sees the 15th annual BMGA British International Open tournament played at the course.

BMGA British Masters minigolf tournament 2010
Playing hole 1 of the Strokes Adventure Golf course in Margate, Kent

Where will you be playing Minigolf, Crazy Golf, Adventure Golf or Putt-Putt on the Miniature Golf Days this year...?

Related Blog Posts:

Links:
- National Miniature Golf Day on Wikipedia (within ‘Miniature Golf’ article)

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Unplayed Minigolf Courses on our Roadtrip to Scotland & Back

Visits to 36 more Miniature Golf courses in England and Scotland.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour of England and Scotland in April 2012 saw us visit a total of 49 Miniature Golf course locations. Of these we managed to play thirteen of them. Unfortunately in Bispham, Fleetwood, Morecambe, Bowness-on-Windermere, Brockhole, Ambleside, Keswick, Maryport, Silloth-on-Solway, Helensburgh, Bannockburn, Stirling, Perth, St Andrews, Kirkaldy, North Berwick, Gullane, Dunbar, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Spittal and Sunderland we were unable to play the  Minigolf courses there for one reason or another!

Below are a selection of photos from the course visits. You can see photos of the courses that we did play at a blog post here.

Bispham - Queens Road Promenade - The Crazy Golf isn't there any more

The Putting Course at Anchorsolme Park in Bispham - not yet open for the season

The Mini Golf / Pitch & Putt Course at Anchorsolme Park in Bispham - not yet open for the season

Outside the Closed Minigolf Kiosk at Anchorsolme Park in Bispham

The Crazy Golf & Mini Golf / Pitch & Putt in Fleetwood - not yet open for the season

The Crazy Golf course in Fleetwood - not yet open for the season


We noticed the Crazy Golf course in Marine Hall Gardens in Fleetwood has been demolished since our last visit in 2009! The course that was there is just a stone's throw away from the other Crazy Golf course and Pitch & Putt, but we somehow managed to miss seeing them on our first visit to Fleetwood!?

Happy Mount Park in Morecambe - home to Crazy Golf and Putting Courses, but the Miniature Golf is no longer there

The Crazy Golf course at Happy Mount Park in Morecambe

The Putting course at Happy Mount Park in Morecambe

The Putting Green at Morecambe Golf Club -  for Members only!














The Crazy Golf on The Green in Silloth-on-Solway is no longer there. It looks to have recently been dug up!


Driving through Bannockburn towards Stirling we popped into Brucefields Family Golf Centre and found a Putting Course there



The Old Course Putting Green at St Andrews in Scotland is for 'Old Course' Players Only

The Bruce Embankment Putting Green wasn't open on our visit to St Andrews

The Adventure Golf course at Jumpin Jacks Children's Adventure Play and Crazy Golf in Kirkaldy, Scotland is open until 6pm, we arrived after 6pm

The Putting at Beveridge Park in Kircaldy wasn't yet open for the season on our visit

A sign at Beveridge Park in Kircaldy also said there was a Crazy Golf course there. We couldn't find one, but this are could be home to a portable type of course during the summer

While we played the East Links Putting Course in North Berwick, we ran out of time to play the West Links Mini Golf

The 'Golf Town' of Gullane had a Childrens Golf Course - a miniature version of the larger Golf courses

Dunbar's Lauderdale Park no longer has a Crazy Golf course, but there were some funny looking ornaments in the gardens!

The Magdalene Fields Golf Club in Berwick-upon-Tweed is home to a Putting Course

On our visit to The Pavilion Amusements in Spittal, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Crazy Golf course wasn't yet open for the season

The last stop on our tour saw us not play the Crazy Golf course at St Marks Activity Garden in Millfield, Sunderland as we couldn't find any staff to hire equipment from


Other Minigolf course locations we visited on our trip were in Bispham where we couldn't see the Putting Course that was supposed to be near Norbreck Station and North Berwick in Scotland where we found that the Crazy Golf course at The Lodge had been removed.

The trek saw us reach 297 played courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

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