Minigolf Report - Gottfried’s play in the 2012 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters International Championship in Hastings

Richard & Emily Gottfried compete in individual and team international Adventure Golf championships.

Luton Minigolfers and Great Britain Internationals Richard and Emily Gottfried received their fourth caps for GB as they competed in the second World Minigolf Sport Federation tournament played in the UK. The WMF World Adventure Golf Masters took place at the 18-hole Pirate-themed Adventure Golf course in Hastings, East Sussex on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th May.

The WMF World Adventure Golf Masters saw a 20-player individual tournament take place along with a five-team competition.

As part of the Great Britain B Team Richard and Emily teamed with Brad Shepherd and Ruth Burke as they took on Germany, two other Great Britain teams and a WMF Allstar team comprised of players from Germany, Kosovo, the Republic of Ireland and the USA.

Richard Gottfried playing Hole 2 at the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters 2012 in Hastings

In the battle for the bronze medal the WMF Allstars won the seven-round contest by thirteen shots with a total of 686, with Great Britain B on 699. The overall champions were Germany who retained their title with a five-shot victory over the Great Britain A Team.

In the two-day individual competition Richard finished 14th, scoring rounds of 32, 34, 38, 34, 36, 32 and 34 to finish on a twelve under par total of 240 across the seven-rounds.

Emily scored rounds of 38, 33, 36, 39, 34, 35 and 31 to finish on 246(-6) and 17th place in the overall tournament. Emily was unable to retain her WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women’s title, losing to Ruth Burke by ten shots.

Emily Gottfried playing Hole 2 at the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters 2012 in Hastings

Germany’s Martin Stoeckle retained his title winning the overall tournament with a score of 191(-61). Great Britain players Michael Smith and James Rutherford were in second and third place.

Richard said “It’s always an honour to represent Great Britain and the World Adventure Golf Masters is a great event. Our team had a real battle with the Allstar team in the fight for the Bronze and it was a shame we couldn’t defeat them. Apart from my rounds of 36 and 38 I was happy with my scoring, but will need to hit a few more Aces in next month’s BMGA British Minigolf Championships which will be on the same course.”

Emily said “Obviously I am sorry not to retain my title and although I had a couple of poor rounds I also scored a Personal Best round of 31 on the course. I lost out by 10 shots so I know I need to work on this and win the Women’s World Adventure Golf Title back next year.”

Saturday 19th May also saw the first-ever BMGA British Adventure Golf Open competition take place. The three-round tournament was won by Michael Smith with a score of 89(-19). Richard finished the contest in 9th place in the fourteen-player field following rounds of 36, 32 and 34 for a 102(-6) total.

In the latest World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) Rankings Great Britain is ranked 19th of 31 Countries.

Ends

Seagull Sullies Minigolf Scorecard in Hastings

A run-in with a Seagull on the Pirate Adventure Golf course in Hastings.

One of the perils of playing Minigolf at the seaside is the threat of Seagulls. It has been known for players to have their ball gobbled up by a greedy Seagull during a tournament and there are always plenty of them milling around on the look out to steal chips and other food from competitors.

During the sixth round of last weekend’s WMF World Adventure Golf Masters competition in Hastings, East Sussex our group’s scorecard, which I was holding at the time, was splattered by a passing Seagull causing a minor delay in play while we cleaned up the card. Luckily the scores for myself, Alex 'Perfect Par' Pragnell and Lavdim Zylfiu were not smudged.

The Sullied Adventure Golf Scorecard

The splat from the seagull sits astride the scores on the sullied scorecard

A number of players did question whether the offending Gull was Top Gull, "Lancing, Worthing & Brighton's Premier Seagull", or if it was one of his mates from the #GullMafia???

A Seagull takes a break in the fountain between the 10th & 11th holes at the Hastings Pirate Adventure Golf

Did Top Gull make a visit to Hastings from Lancing, Worthing or Brighton?

Related Blog Posts:

- Worthing's Splash Point Mini Golf Course Becomes a Temporary Seagull-Free Zone!

- Minigolf Report - Gottfried’s play in the 2012 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters International Championship in Hastings

A Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man at the Warwick Hilton

Many thanks to Trevor ‘Lord of Smeeth’ Robertson for sending me this snap of a Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man, or as he calls it a “windy man”, for my ‘collection’!

It was spotted at the Hilton Hotel in Warwick.

A Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man at the Warwick Hilton

Many thanks Trevino ;-)

Check out other Ham & Egger Files blog posts about Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-Men.

A surprise meeting with Big Bird in Hastings!?

I always enjoy a trip to Hastings. There’s obviously the brilliant Minigolf courses to play, meeting up with friends, visits to some very good pubs, excellent seafood, the great 1066 Cake Stand, the Amusement Arcades, some interesting events and of course the wonderful Post Office Tea Rooms in nearby St Leonards. But wandering along the seafront while in town during our latest visit for the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament I randomly got to meet Big Bird out of Sesame Street!

Me and Big Bird, from Sesame Street, in Hastings

A Gluten Free Challenge - Eccles Cake

Ahead of our trip to Hastings for the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters minigolf tournament I’d contacted the excellent 1066 Cake Stand to see if they were able to make Gluten Free Eccles Cakes. They hadn’t made any before, but up for a food challenge they said they’d give them a go and have some ready for me to try when we were next in town.

When we arrived in Hastings ready to practice for the weekend’s tournament our first stop was to the 1066 Cake Stand in Hastings’ town centre at the Thursday market. We spotted the Eccles Cake and I bought one for my breakfast. Very tasty it was too. A job well done indeed.

The tasty Gluten Free Eccles Cakes at 1066 Cake Stand in Hastings

I also bought some Latkes – two in a pack for 90p – and this savoury snack of a potato pancake made a great second course to my Eccles Cake! I also really like the Kugel that 1066 Cake Stand make.

Unfortunately I didn’t have room to try the Gluten Free Chocolate Cake they had made.

Shelley and Kevin at 1066 Cake Stand make and bake a wide-range of Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Wheat Free, Egg Free, Vegetarian and Vegan food. They are well worth a visit.

Links:

- 1066 Cake Stand website

- 1066 Cake Stand – Review on Travel Gluten Free

1066 Cake Stand Blog Posts:

- Eccles Cakes for mini golfers

- It's cake Jim, but not as we know it

The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland

Visiting and playing the world's first Miniature Golf course!

On Sunday 8th April 2012 Emily and I visited St Andrews in Scotland to visit and play the world’s first Miniature Golf course!

The Ladies' Putting Green (The Himalayas) at St Andrews, Scotland

The Himalayas Putting Course, also known as the Ladies’ Putting Green, is part of a private club run by the St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club. In 1867 the course was created and the St Andrews Ladies’ Golf Club was formed.

Evidence of the founding of The Ladies' Putting Club at St Andrews in 1867 - the World's First Miniature Golf Course and Club!

As part of our tour of Scotland we had visited Minigolf courses in Helensburgh, Bannockburn, Perth, and Broughty Ferry before arriving at St Andrews for the most anticipated course visit since we first heard about The Himalayas!

Richard & Emily Gottfried at the World's First Miniature Golf Course - The Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

Luckily on our visit the course was open for play by the general public. It’s open from April to September, but there are some ‘members only’ reserved times. We quickly paid for a round and hit the links!

Richard Gottfried playing a shot at the World's First Miniature Golf Course - The Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

In our match I defeated Emily 47 to 59 on the very well maintained and difficult course. The course is incredibly good value and it costs just £2 per person to play the 18-holes

The Himalayas Putting Course - Information and Local Rules Board

The 18-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

The course has been on our ‘to visit and play list’ for some time and was a definite activity on our tour of the north of England and Scotland. A bonus find when we arrived was that there is not only an 18-hole course, but also a 9-hole layout! This is only £1 a round!

The 9-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

In the 9-hole contest the match was much closer. I won the game with a score of 26 to Emily's 28.

Emily plays a shot on the 9-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

Both of the Himalayas Putting Courses were incredibly testing and the grass on them was as good as any felt we’ve played on a Minigolf course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour to date!

Richard plays a shot on the 18-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

After having a walk around St Andrews we returned for another couple of games and I finally managed to score a hole-in-one – on the 6th hole of the 18-hole course.

Emily plays a shot on the 18th hole at The Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

The two courses at The Himalayas became the 292nd and 293rd miniature golf courses played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006!

Richard playing on The Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

Richard playing the 9-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

The Himalayas Putting Course has a Course Record of 34(-2) held by a G. Anderson - that's some top Putting!

Himalayas Putting Green

Video - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to the world's first Miniature Golf course - St Andrews - 1 of 2 - Introduction

Video - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to the world's first Miniature Golf course - St Andrews - 2 of 2

There were two other Putting Greens that we spotted while we were there. One is strictly for Old Course Players, while the other (the Bruce Embankment) is open to the general public. Unfortunately it was closed on our visit.

If you’re a fan of Minigolf and/or Golf then St Andrews is a must visit place. We can’t wait to return. Hopefully we’ll have more time to spend there next time. I’m also looking forward to visit the British Golf Museum as it was closed when we visited.

Visit the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club website for more information.Visit the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club website for more information.

Related Blog Posts:

- The Himalayas Putting Course at Kingsway Golf Centre, Melbourn, Cambs - course played #196

- Visiting a further 49 Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in England and Scotland

- Unplayed Minigolf Courses on our Roadtrip to Scotland & Back

- 495 Miniature Golf course locations visited to date!

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
- St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club website

- St Andrews Links, the Home of Golf
- St Andrews - Local Golf Clubs

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

495 Miniature Golf course locations visited to date!

Almost at the 'Magic' 500-mark Milestone on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

With our latest miniature golf roadtrips taking us to the north west and north east of England, some of Scotland and a little bit of the south coast, our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour tally sees us sit at 297 minigolf courses played since the 30th September 2006! Of these I have played 295 and Emily has managed a round of minigolf on 270 courses.

Me and Emily at Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate (2009)

In total we have visited 495 miniature golf course locations in eleven countries. Unfortunately 198 of the courses were found to be unplayable on our visit.

We’ve actually made 517 ‘visits’ to minigolf courses to date. This number includes return trips to play courses that were closed on our first visit and also includes trips to courses with significant changes made since our first visit. For example, at Sandwell Valley Park in West Bromwich the 18-hole Eternit Miniature Golf course was replaced with a 12-hole Swedish Felt Minigolf course. Another example of an additional visit is to a ‘b’ type of course like at Devonshire Square in London. Here the standard 18-hole course was turned into a Christmas-themed Crazy Golf in 2009.

A further type of ‘miniature golf game visit' in the list of ‘517’, but not in the ‘495’, are the visits to Pit-Pat courses/tables. The game is half-minigolf and half-billiards!?

Related Blog Posts:

- Course Played #1 - From the Vault - Southsea Minigolf 2006

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #50 Tampere, Finland - Beton

- Gottfried's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - 100 Minigolf Courses visited to date!
--- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - course re-visit and played course #173 - Gorleston-on-Sea
- Gottfried's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Minigolf Course Played No. 100!!!

- Minigolf Course Visit No. 150 and Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Update
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Course Visit Number 200 - Melbourn, Cambs
--- The Himalayas Putting Course at Kingsway Golf Centre, Melbourn, Cambs - course played #196

- Castleford Xscape Cosmic Golf - Minigolf courses played #199 AND 200!!!

- #250 - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Stockholm, Sweden - Beton

- Clevedon Crazy Golf - Landmark 400th Minigolf Course Visited - 258th Played

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

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

A Minigolf Friendly at Tea Green Golf Club (and some Birdwatching)

Playing some minigolf and birdwatching at our local minigolf course.

On Friday Emily and I headed to our local Minigolf course at Tea Green Golf,Wandon End, near Luton.

I play hole 1 on Tea Green Golf's Mini Golf course

We haven’t both been up there for a round of Crazy Golf and Putting for a while and so had a three-round contest, with two-rounds of Minigolf and one-round on the Putting Green.

Emily playing hole 5 on Tea Green Golf's Mini Golf course

In the Keith Classic Miniature Golf Contest* I defeated Emily 52 to 57. I scored two round of 18(par) on the Minigolf and a 16(+4) with one hole-in-one on the Putting. Emily scored rounds of 19, 21 and 17.

* When we arrived we saw a Pheasant lurking around the driveway entrance and heard him throughout the round. We named him ‘Keith’ in honour of the joke about Richie’s Grouse in the Comedy Show ‘Bottom’!

Keith the Pheasant at Tea Green Golf Club

Link:

- Tea Green Golf Club

Milestones and Brown Tourist Signs spotted in Upper Largo, Scotland

Spotting some more points of interest on our travels.

On our way from St Andrews towards Kirkcaldy during our tour of Scotland in April we drove through the villages of Upper Largo and Lower Largo and noticed a few interesting signs and milestones.

At the main junction in Upper Largo there were a pair of Brown Tourist Signs pointing just to ‘East’ and ‘West’, rather than any particular sites of interest! I believe these are for the Fife Coastal Tourist Route. They are also another set of signs spotted for the Follow The Brown Signs website.

A pair of Brown Tourist Signs in Upper Largo, Scotland

At the same junction of Main Street, Saint Andrews Road & South Feus was a milestone that showed distances to 15 places, the closest being Mounturpie at ‘no miles away’. I wonder if The Milestone Society has it logged on their database.

A Milestone in Upper Largo, Scotland

Having a 'wander' around Upper Largo on Google Street View you can see that above the Milestone there are another couple of Brown Tourist Signs, along with the other side of the milestone. One of these Brown Signs showed that 'Scotland's Secret Bunker' was 11 miles in the direction we had come from!

In Lower Largo we saw a ‘Welcome’ sign which stated that Lower Largo was twinned with Robinson Crusoe Island! A little research showed the South Pacific Ocean island to be “The most famous "deserted" island in the World” and the inspiration for the book Robinson Crusoe after the Scottish Sailor Alexander Selkirk, who hailed from Lower Largo, was stranded on the island for four years, four months! The twinning connection was made in 2004 to mark the 300th anniversary of Selkirk's marooning on the island!

Links:

- Follow The Brown Signs

- The Milestone Society

- Largo Area Community Council

Related Blog Posts:

- Visiting a further 49 Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in England and Scotland

- Unplayed Minigolf Courses on our Roadtrip to Scotland & Back

Bollards of Britain...: Seahouses, Northumberland...

Bollards of Britain...: Seahouses, Northumberland...: Spot the bollard... Take a close look at the picture (above/below) and you might notice at first glance the bollard to...

Check out the link above to view my latest contribution to the wonderfully bizarre Bollards of Britain website!

Related Blog Posts:
- Bollards of Britain...: A Chimpanzee, Bike and a Policeman...
- Not getting stang off of a fake wasp on a bollard

Golf Parc challenge - online golf game competition running throughout May!

Win a Golf Parc® Championship Golf Hole in online competition!

The team at Factory Eleven Golf Parc have created an online competition running throughout May 2012 and are inviting players to try their hand at the Golf Parc Challenge golf game. The winner will receive one of the Golf Parc® Championship Golf Holes!

The 9-hole miniature golf putting course layout is very testing and will likely take a good few goes to get a good under-par score. The course has a Par of 27 – in my first game I scored a 34(+7) and my follow up try resulted in a 29(+2).

Once you’ve played the game you need to submit a screenshot of your round to Factory Eleven by email or via Twitter. Full details and a link to the game can be found at – Golf Parc Challenge

Here’s to a month of minigolf mouse clicking!

My scorecard from my second go on the Golf Parc Challenge golf game - a two-over 29!

Checking out the Factory Eleven website I found that they are an events and design business that creates innovative sports equipment. The Golf Parc equipment has been designed to help with the understanding of the fundamentals of golf in a fun and interactive environment.

Links:

- Golf Parc on Twitter
- Golf Parc website

- Factory Eleven on Facebook

- Factory Eleven website

- Factory Eleven Golf Parc website

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:

- Visiting a further 49 Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in England and Scotland

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:

- Bob Servant Official Website

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.

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:

- Dates for your Diary - National Miniature Golf Day

- Happy Miniature Golf Day 2011

- How I celebrated Miniature Golf Day 2011

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

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

Links:

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

- Miniature Golf Day on the Holiday Insights website

- "May 12, 2012 is National Miniature Golf Day" on Punchbowl

- National Miniature Golf Day blog post on The Lope

- #MinigolfMonday on Twitter