Join the British Minigolf Association for the 2013 Minigolf Season

Membership available to join the British Minigolf Association for the 2013 Minigolf Season.

The British Minigolf Association (BMGA) is the Governing Body for Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf sport in the UK and offers two membership options - 'Free' & 'BMGA Tour Pro'.

- The 'Free Membership' option via an online registration on the BMGA website ensures members receive regular newsletters on forthcoming events, ranking updates and results from competitions on the BMGA Tour.

- The 'Tour Card Membership' costs £20 for the season and entitles players to discounted pre-event practice rates at tournament venues on the calendar (some venues will offer these rates all season) and priority entry to selected events (subject to availability) before entries are opened to non Tour Pro members and the general public.

Full details of what is available to members under the two tiers of membership can be found at the BMGA Membership Page. To register for Free BMGA Membership please visit the BMGA website registration page.

The BMGA organises and promotes Miniature Golf and Crazy Golf competitions each year. Last season there were 28 competitions, with fourteen full BMGA Tour Ranking events held on eleven courses. You can find more details on the Roll of Honour for the 2012 season.

Last season I competed in twelve full British Minigolf Association Tour events and won a BMGA Tour title with victory at the BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Championship in July. Emily and I also represented Great Britain at the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings and I ended the year with a career-best ranking of 5th in the BMGA Season Only Rankings for 2012.

You can download an information sheet with details of the BMGA and 'The (Abridged) Rules of BMGA Minigolf' here.

If you have any questions about BMGA Tour membership please contact the BMGA via its website.

Yours in sport,

'Squire' Richard Gottfried

BMGA Tour Pro

Great Britain International

Member of the Midlands Minigolf Club

Member of the BMGA since January 2007

Nominations Open for the Luton Sports Awards!

Please nominate us for the Luton Sports Awards!

Entries have opened for the annual Luton Sports Awards, organised by Luton Sports Network and Emily & I would both really appreciate your nomination to help us be shortlisted (and hopefully win) a prestigious Luton Sports Award. Details on 'Criteria' and 'How to Nominate' is below. The nomination form can be downloaded from here.

International Minigolfers Emily & Richard Gottfried

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 2012 Minigolf Season can also be found below.

The closing date for nominations is Monday 18th of February 2013 and the Awards Ceremony will take place on Thursday 21st of March 2013. further details about the Luton Sports Awards and Luton Sports Network can be found on the Luton Sports Network website.

British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour Competition Highlights 2012

- I won a BMGA Tour title with victory at the BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Championship in July
- Emily was the runner-up in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open in October and in the second placed team at the BMGA Oswestry Games Pro-Am Minigolf Classic
- I was the runner-up in the Category 2 BMGA British Minigolf Championships and 7th place overall in the Major championship
- Emily captained a Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club team at the BMGA British Club Championships leading them to fourth place

British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour Rankings for 2012

- I finished the 2012 Miniature Golf season ranked in a career-high of 5th place in the 2012 BMGA Season Only Rankings. Emily was ranked 37th in the 120 player strong rankings and the third-best female player in the list

- In the BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit Rankings I finished in 15th place of 96 players, with Emily in 41st place and second amongst the female players

- In the BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit I was ranked 15th of 60 players, with Emily in 41st place and in fifth place of the female players

- In the BMGA 2012 Season Rankings for Clubs Emily and the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club finished in second place. Me and the Midlands Minigolf Club finished in third place of six teams

International Minigolf Tournament Highlights 2012

- Both Emily and I gained our fourth Great Britain caps when we competed in the second WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament in Hastings in May. I finished the event in 14th place overall and in 11th place in the men’s competition. Emily was runner-up in the women’s event and 17th overall. As part of the Great Britain B team (with Brad Shepherd & Ruth Burke) we finished the international championship in fourth place
- At October’s ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings I was once again a finalist and finished the tournament in 17th place of 53 players in my sixth appearance for England

Independent Minigolf Competition Highlights 2012

- I won the Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr Championship June Play-off at Selfridges London and went on to win the Grand Final in August
- I also won the Chrizy Golf Masters Championship in Manchester in December
- Emily was tied third in the Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr Championship Grand Final

Other Highlights from 2012

- I was the organiser of the Minigolf activities in the 2012 Oswestry Games festival of sport held in Oswestry, Shropshire. The Oswestry Games were the first multi-sport event that Minigolf had been a part of in the UK and along with fellow coaches from the British Minigolf Association we organised a series of training & coaching activities and competitions for local novice players, a Pro-Am and a tournament for BMGA Tour Pro players
- As a member of the BMGA's Executive Committee I helped to organise and promote 28 British Minigolf Association Tour Events and as part of the WMF's Marketing & Media Committee I worked on eight WMF & EMF International Minigolf Championship Events
- These voluntary sports organisation activities were also logged as part of my Sport Makers logged hours and as a Sport Maker I was a Paralympic Flame Assistant at the Paralympic Flame Celebration Event in Luton in August
- Emily was a Tournament Director at the BMGA British Open tournament held at Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate in September and also helped run and marshal other BMGA competitions during the season including the 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship in October

Photo Links:
- Richard teeing-off in the 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings
- Richard playing hole 16 in the 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship
- Richard playing hole 1 at the BMGA British Club Championship in Basingstoke
- Richard playing during the BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Championship
- Richard with his gold medal on the podium following his win at the BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Championship 
- Richard with the trophy from the Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr Championship June Play-off at Selfridges London
- Emily playing the final hole at the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open
- Emily with her silver medal at the Oswestry Games Pro-Am Tournament

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Final Results & End of Season Review 2012
- End of Season BMGA Tour Minigolf Rankings for 2012
- Richard Gottfried - Minigolf Player Profile
- Emily Gottfried - Minigolf Player Profile
- 2012 - A Big Year of Sport

Links:

- Luton Sports Network

- British Minigolf Association

- World Minigolf Sport Federation

Caption the Photo...

...a long time ago in Minigolf.

Me and Christopher Gottfried at TopGolf Watford's Adventure Golf course in April 2007!

The 18-hole Adventure Golf course at TopGolf Watford was the eighth (of the 523 courses) we've visited to-date and we first played there in December 2006!

Related Blog Posts:
- Watford
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Winning some Pirates Adventure Golf 'Treasure'

Winning a Pirates Adventure Golf Facebook Competition!

The team at Pirates Adventure Golf in Dundonald, Belfast, Northern Ireland have recently been running a number of online competitions to win Pirates Adventure Golf Goodies and I won the competition on Tuesday 11th December :-)

My prizes from the 'Guess the Number of Golf Balls Captain Jack Frost Fired at the Fort' Contest were three pin badges and a t-shirt. Some more great Minigolf items for my collection!

Back in August 2010 Emily and I visited and played at Pirates Adventure Golf. There are two 18-hole Adventure Golf courses there - Blackbeard's Adventure and The Captain's Challenge - and they became the 188th and 189th courses we played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Very good fun and testing courses they are too. While in Northern Ireland we played a Minigolf Challenge Tournament (the NIBBAL-IT) against Northern Ireland's top Minigolfers - Mark 'The Horse Whisperer' Swain and Craig 'Kamikaze' McCallister, with the Bangor Minigolf Club members winning the contest.

The courses have played host to two British Minigolf Association tournaments when Pirates Adventure Golf was the venue for the BMGA Irish Open in 2006 and 2007.

Links:

- Pirates Adventure Golf Website

- Pirates Adventure Golf Facebook

- Pirates Adventure Golf Twitter

Related Blog Post:

- Pirates Adventure Golf in Belfast, Northern Ireland - Crazy World of Minigolf courses played #188 & #189

Crazy Golf sessions at Fairwater Leisure Centre with the Cwmbran Minigolf Club

"Crazy Family Fridays at Fairwater Leisure Centre in January!"

The team at Portaputt Crazy Golf are beginning the New Year with fun Crazy Golf sessions on Friday evenings starting from the 4th of January 2013.

The Portaputt Crazy Golf layout at the World Alternative Games 2014

The Portaputt Crazy Golf course will be set-up at Fairwater Leisure Centre from 7pm and players can play multiple rounds between 7 and 8pm. From 8pm there will be a weekly Crazy Golf Challenge competition in adult and junior categories, with prizes up for grabs! 

Portaputt has also started-up the Cwmbran Minigolf Club and players can become members of the latest Miniature Golf Club in the UK, and the first in Wales, when they attend the Crazy Golf fun nights. 

Check out the Portaputt Crazy Golf website for more information.

Links:

- Portaputt Crazy Golf

- "Cwmbran family turn their love of minigolf into a business" story at Cwmbran Life

Related Blog Posts:

- Portaputt Crazy Golf in Cwmbran, Wales

- Wales-related Posts

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour list of courses visited and played

- Minigolf etc. - English to Welsh translations

2013 Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament - New Year's Day Crazy Golf at Woodside Animal Farm

Results and photos from the 2013 Luton Invitational New Year's Day Minigolf Competition at Woodside Animal Farm, Slip End Village near Luton.

A double thumbs (and putters!) up from the 2013 champ

On New Year's Day Emily and I headed to Woodside Animal Farm near Luton for a round of Crazy Golf on the 18-hole course and a look at the animals. In our Crazy Golf match Emily was looking to make it three wins in a row in the 'Luton Invitational Tournament', but was unable to achieve the feat, losing to me by two shots in a match that saw us score 48(+12) and 50(+14) on the stony course!

Some rock steady play led Richard to victory

Since 2010 the Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament has been the traditional opening Miniature Golf event of the year on the 'Irregular Mini Golf Tour'. In 2010 the players faced-off in arctic cold weather conditions, while 2011 was played in heavy drizzle and last year's weather was mild, but drizzly.

Emily 'Lemony Lemster' Gottfried tired towards the end of the round and was unable to retain her title for a threepeat

New Luton Invitational Tournament minigolf champion 'Squire' Richard Gottfried with the 2012 LIT prize of a Fudge bar

The fifth staging of the event saw only two players compete as Simon 'Practice' Hall was otherwise engaged.

The animals at Woodside were in high spirits once again this year, with a couple of goats squaring off in a head-butt fight!

Two of the fighty goats fighting, while another one looks on

Luton Invitational Tournament Honours Board:

2013 - Richard Gottfried

2012 - Emily Gottfried

2011 - Emily Gottfried

2010 - Richard Gottfried

2006 - Joanne Tubby

On the 1st of January each year Woodside Animal Farm opens for a New Year's Day Party to raise money for the Keech Cottage Children's Hospice.

Luton Invitational Tournament Minigolf Results 2006-2013:

2013 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:

1. Richard Gottfried - 48 (+12)

2. Emily Gottfried - 50 (+14)

2012 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:

1. Emily Gottfried - 47 (+11)

2. Richard Gottfried - 49 (+13)

2011 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:

1. Emily Gottfried - 43 (+7)

2. Richard Gottfried - 51 (+15)

3. Simon Hall - 54 (+18)

4. Mystery Player - 57 (+21)

2010 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:

1. Richard Gottfried - 46 (+10)

2T. Emily Gottfried - 54 (+18)

2T. Mystery Player - 54 (+18)

4. Simon Hall - 57 (+21)

2007-2009 - Luton Invitational Tournament:

Not Played

2006 Luton Invitational Tournament Results*:

1. Jo Tubby - 54 (par)

2. Emily Gottfried - 56 (+2)

3. Richard Gottfried - 62 (+8)

* Note: Par used was 'Course Par' of 3 shots per hole, rather than 'BMGA Par' of 2 shots per hole.

The Crazy Golf course at Woodside Animal Farm course was the fourth course ever to be played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back on the 27th October 2006. As of January 1st 2013 we have visited 523 Miniature Golf courses on the Tour.

A new sport or game for 2013?

What sport or game that we haven't tried already should we give a go in 2013?

As well as playing lots of Minigolf on our travels around on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, Emily and I also regularly compete in British Minigolf Association competitions at Crazy Golf, Miniature Golf and Adventure Golf courses. We also enjoy participating in 'side-tournaments' and trying out new sports and games.

2012 was the year of Bar Billiards and 2011 saw us play a fair bit of Laser Tag, but what sport or game shall we take-up in 2013?

Related Blog Post:

- Behold...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

All the very best and have a great 2013.

Cheers,

Richard & Emily

2012 - A Big Year of Sport

A jam-packed year of playing, spectating and organising sporting events!

2012 has been a very full year of sporting events large, small and everything in-between. As a player, spectator, visitor and organiser I have been involved in a lot of contests during 2012.

2012 has been a GIANT year of sport

Player/Competitor

• Twelve British Minigolf Association Tour Events, winning a BMGA Tour title at the BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Championship

• WMF World Adventure Golf Masters – Individual and Team competitions

• Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championship – Finalist and 17th place overall

• World Alternative Games Egg Throwing Championship – Champion (with Jas Kukielka)

• Worlds £2 Tat Challenge – Winner

• Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Challenge – Team Champions

• Luton High Town Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Street Party Men's 18-50 year-olds 60m Running Race – Runner-up

• Oswestry Games Oslympics Quiz – 3rd place team

• International Rock Paper Scissors Championship – 4th place (as Team San Marino)

• Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt 2 – 4th

• The first-ever World Bun Throwing Championships in Abingdon-on-Thames – Competitor 

• 33rd Bun Throwing in Abingdon-on-Thames – Participant 

• The Chase – TV Quiz Show Contestant

• First Ever Ripping Yarns Hopathon – Guinness World Record attempts for the ‘Fastest 400m Relay Hop’ and the ‘Largest Group Hop’

• Luton Community Games – Petanque and Pitch & Putt

• Yattendon & Frilsham Fete Christmas Tree Throwing Competition

• Twelve other Miniature Golf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf competitions including victory at the Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr Championships at Selfridges London

Spectator/Visitor

• London 2012 Olympic Games – Handball, Archery & BMX

• London 2012 Paralympic Games – Wheelchair Fencing, Powerlifting & Boccia

• PDC Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship 2013

• Olympic Torch Evening Celebration Event in Luton

• Olympic Torch Relay Event in Luton

• Olympex 2012 at the British Library

• Guinness World Record Attempt for the “Largest Synchronized Morris Dance”

• Jigfest

Organiser/Volunteer

• 28 British Minigolf Association Tour Events

• Eight WMF & EMF International Minigolf Championship Events

• World Finger Jousting Federation UK Championship at the World Alternative Games 

• Paralympic Flame Celebration Event in Luton – Paralympic Flame Assistant as part of Sport Makers

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Milestones

• 300th course played and 500th course visited overall

• At Wonderland theme park at Telford Town Park

Related Blog Posts:

- Behold...

- 2011 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review

- 2010 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review

- 2009 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review

Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

Having a look at the Crazy Golf and Grass Putting Miniature Golf courses at Haigh Country Park in Wigan.

On a recent visit to Wigan, on a bitterly cold & snowy day, I checked out the Crazy Golf course that I had heard had been refurbished by the Friends of Haigh Country Park.

Nine of the 18-holes have been cleaned up and are open for play during school holidays and the team of volunteers behind the clean-up are looking to develop and renew the course over the coming months and years as it is a work in progress.

From my brief look at the course it appears to have a mixture of playing surfaces. Some of the holes and obstacles appear to be 'eternit' style Miniature Golf, while others are more unique felt on concrete holes.

The Play Haigh Golf Complex is home to a regular golf course and also a Putting Green called the 'Himalayas'!

The undulating Putting Green looked very good and it was a shame it wasn't warmer as I would have definitely given it a play.

I've played two other courses named 'The Himalayas' - one is in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire and replaced an old Crazy Golf course, the other is at St Andrews and was the world's first-ever Miniature Golf course!

The courses were the 521st and 522nd courses visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Links:
- Haigh Country Park
- Friends of Haigh Country Park
- Play Haigh Golf Complex

Related Blog Post:
- 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.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

All the best for the festive season and have a happy New Year in 2013.

Cheers,

Richard & Emily

Results from the Minigolfer’s Annual Christmas Darts ‘Do’ in London

Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd makes it four Christmas competition wins in-a-row!

Gravesend’s Brad ‘Norovirus’ Shepherd won the annual Christmas ‘Do’ for the fourth year in-a-row with victory in the “Riverclose Worlds UnProfessional Minigolfer's Darts Championship” held at Rileys Victoria in London on Sunday 23rd December 2012.

Brad Shepherd 'takes' the cup

The tournament saw eight dartists step up to the oche on the evening and after a quick warm-up and a few swift pints the format for the event was decided and the draw was made.

The eight players were drawn into two groups for a round-robin stage, with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals along with the two group stage runners-up. As the reigning Christmas Champion Brad was the seeded player in Group 2, with BMGA Darts Champion Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman drawn into Group 1.

The players inaction. Lots of mental arithmetic in full flow

Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman qualified as the top player in Group 1 after beating Jon ‘The Stance’ Angel in a play-off to decide the group winner after both players had won 2 and lost one game.

Richard ‘Squire’ Gottfried was the winner of Group 2 with three wins from his three matches. Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd was the group runner-up.

Steve 'What's the Skinny?' Gow draws quite a crowd

Results from Group 1 – all matches one-leg 301-straight-in, double-out

• Chris Jones beat Alan Norman

• Jon Angel beat Steve Gow

• Alan Norman beat Jon Angel

• Steve Gow beat Chris Jones

• Jon Angel beat Chris Jones

• Steve Gow lost to Alan Norman

Rankings from Group 1

1. Alan Norman – won 2, lost 1 Q*

2. Jon Angel – won 2, lost 1 q

3. Chris Jones – won 1, lost 2

3. Steve Gow – won 1, lost 2

* Alan beat Jon in a play-off to determine who would qualify as the group winner to face the group runner-up from Group 2

Results from Group 2 – all matches one-leg 301-straight-in, double-out

• Richard Gottfried beat Emily Gottfried

• Seth Thomas lost to Brad Shepherd

• Richard Gottfried beat Brad Shepherd

• Emily Gottfried beat Seth Thomas

• Seth Thomas lost to Richard Gottfried

• Brad Shepherd beat Emily Gottfried

Rankings from Group 2

1. Richard Gottfried – won 3, lost 0 Q

2. Brad Shepherd – won 2, lost 1 q

3. Emily Gottfried – won 1, lost 2

4. Seth Thomas – won 0, lost 3 

The semi-finals saw Squire face The Stance in a 501 match, eventually finishing on double one. In the other match The Fist picked up the win against Stormin to advance to yet another Christmas Final. 

Semi-Finals – one-leg 501-straight-in, double-out

• Richard Gottfried beat Jon Angel

• Alan Norman lost to Brad Shepherd

Classification Matches for places 5-8 – all one-leg 301-straight-in, double-out

• Steve ‘F1’ Gow lost to Emily ‘Ah Bristow’ Gottfried

• Chris ‘Stretch’ Jones lost to Seth ‘Sethers’ Thomas

• Emily ‘Lemony Lemster’ Gottfried lost to Seth ‘Wandsworth’ Thomas – Seth finished in 5th place to win ‘the shield’

• Steve ‘Stevie Gow’ Gow beat Chris ‘Stretch’ Jones to finish in 7th place

Before the final Norman & Angel faced-off for the third time in the evening in a one-leg 501 game to decide who would take the last spot on the podium. The BMGA Darts Champion showed his class and took the win against Jon ‘Safe Darts’ Angel.

3rd/4th place play-off – one-leg 501-straight-in, double-out

• Alan Norman beat Jon Angel

The final match was played in a best of three-legs format on one of the ‘fancy’ boards with electronic scoring. The referee/scorer for the contest was Emily ‘Dagenham Dan’ Gottfried. The first leg was won by The Fist after innumerable chances were squandered by both players. The second leg was clinched by Squire to mild interest from the spectators.

With the crowd growing restless and eager to head off for a curry in Bayswater Brad nailed his finish to take the win and his fourth Christmas ‘Do’ title victory in four years! An amazing achievement indeed.

Final – best of three-legs 301-straight-in, double-out

• Brad Shepherd beat Richard Gottfried 2-1

The ever-popular Brad Shepherd receives congratulations from his fellow competitors

Ranking Table

1. Brad Shepherd

2. Richard Gottfried

3. Alan Norman

4. Jon Angel

5. Seth Thomas

6. Emily Gottfried

7. Steve Gow

8. Chris Jones

Following the main-event Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman organised a game of ‘Halve-It’ between the eight contestants. With three lives each the players attempted to best the previous player’s score, with any failure to exceed the target meaning a life was lost. Guess who won? Alan was the runner-up though.

Alan 'Halve-It' Norman and another player at the Darts Tournament 

Brad ‘Mr Christmas’ Shepherd picked up yet another victory on the night as he was on the winning team, along with Seth Thomas & Steve Gow in the three-a-side Table Football match.

The three-a-side Table Football match-up

Crazy Golfers Christmas Do/Shenanigans Hall of Fame

2012 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Riverclose Worlds UnProfessional Minigolfer's Darts Championship

2011 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championships

2010 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Christmas Minigolf 9-Hole Putting Green Sudden Death Challenge

2010 – Keith Kellard & Jon Angel (Team KJ Choice) – Sim BIG Golf Par-3's of the World Doubles Challenge

2009 – Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd – Christmas-themed Crazy Golf at Devonshire Square

Before Records Began – Lionel ‘The Spoon’ Bender – Crazy Golf Contest

The Christmas Club Committee will be convening in early 2013 to confirm the contest for next Christmas. If any readers know of Brad’s sporting weaknesses do let them know. Suggestions on a postcard...

Link:

- Rileys Victoria

Related Blog Posts:

- Crazy Golfers Christmas 'Do' in London 2011 - Darts Tournament at Rileys Victoria!

- The Minigolfers Christmas 'Do' 2010

- 2009 Christmas Crazy Golf Challenge at Devonshire Square

- Darts-related Blog Posts

Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf and Minigolf in Manchester

Details of the Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf and Minigolf courses played in Manchester since April 2009.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Emily and I have visited a number of Miniature Golf courses in Manchester. The city has some great courses that are worth a look.

At the Championship Miniature Golf designed 9-hole course at the Trafford Golf Centre

Emily on one of the holes of the two course, 36-hole Paradise Island indoor Adventure Golf course at the Trafford Centre

On the last hole of the Wythenshawe Park Crazy Golf course

Putting at the launch event for Birdies Pop Up Golf

At the Chrizy Golf course

I've had some good fortune when competing in Minigolf tournaments in Manchester and have won the Miniature Masters, Miniature Open and Chrizy Golf Masters there!

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Course Visit No. 84 - Championship MiniatureGolf@ Playgolf Manchester

- Minigolf Course Visits No. 85 & 86 - Paradise Island Adventure Golf (Tiki Hut & Temple Ruins)

- Minigolf Course Visit No. 114 - Wythenshawe Park

- Birdies Pop Up Golf - Launch Event for a New Minigolf Business in Manchester

- Revisit to Championship Miniature Golf at Trafford Golf Centre, Manchester

- Chrizy Golf in Manchester - for six weeks only!

- Minigolf Report – Richard Gottfried wins the Manchester Mini Masters tournament

- Minigolf Report – Gottfrieds finish first and second in the Manchester Miniature Open tournament

- Winning the Chrizy Golf Masters Minigolf Tournament!

- Birdies Pop Up Golf Crazy Golf Photo Competition

Today is Underdog Day

Celebrating being second best.

I heard in the latest newsletter of the Dull Men’s Club that today is “Underdog Day”.

Friday 21st December is the day to celebrate and honour unsung heroes, the second best among us and life’s runners-up. Not to forget those people that have made a name for themselves against the odds.

Check out the Dull Men's Club page for Underdog Day for more info and the origin of the word "underdog".

I'm a big fan of underdog's and always give them a cheer and my support. During the Olympic Games I met San Marino's Olympic Archer Emanuele Guidi in the Olympic Park, got his autograph and had a photo with him. I'd seen his match against Im Dong Hyun on TV earlier in the week and was cheering him on throughout. Unfortunately the 'wildcard' was eliminated from the competition but gave a good account of himself and had the crowd chanting for "San Marino" by the end of the match.

The moment that made the Olympic Games for me - meeting San Marino's top Archer Emanuele Guidi while walking through the Olympic Park!!!

Last night Emily and I attended the 2013 Ladbrokes PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace and amongst the first round proper matches, got to see a Preliminary Round clash between the USA's Paul Lim and Mohd Latif Sapup from Malaysia. Both were underdogs in the tournament, but Lim was the favourite with his history of being the first player to hit a 9-dart finish in a World Championship back in 1990. Mohd Latif Sapup aka 'The Jerker' was making his debut in a major darts tournament and was the 2000-1 rank outsider, so he's the man I had my money on. Unfortunately despite his best efforst he was on the losing end of a 4-1 result.

I also play two of the world's biggest underdog sports - Minigolf and Dodgeball. Both are great fun and easily accessible to play.

Also, have a look at the excellent Underdog Nation website for details of a number of interesting sports & games and the quest of Joshua Davis to be a sporting champion.

There is also an organisation called Underdog Portland, based in Portland, Oregon, that runs a number of sports leagues, including Mini-Golf and a Dodgeball.

Happy Underdog Day to Underdogs, Ham n’ Eggers, Jobbers, Palookas, Mr Nobodies, Wildcards, Average Joes & Journeymen everywhere and all the best to them in their attempts to score an upset victory!

Links:

- Dull Men’s Club

- Dull Men's Club - Underdog Day
- Dull Men’s Club - Museums - Miniature Golf

- Underdog Nation

- Underdog Nation - Professional Minigolf
- Underdog Portland - Sports Leagues

- Wrestlecrap - Jobber of the Week
- Underdog at Wikipedia

Related Blog Posts:

- The Ham & Egger Files - An Introduction

- Check Out The Underdog (Book) and Underdog Nation (Website)

- My Minigolf Player Profile - featuring some of my  fourteen runner-up finishes