The Ham and Egger Files

Richard Gottfried · at Saturday, April 27, 2013

Gottfrieds in the latest British Minigolf Association Rankings.

The British Minigolf Association has updated the BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit and BMGA Season Only Rankings for the 2013 season following the 14th annual BMGA British Masters Minigolf championship held at the 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing, West Sussex.

Tackling the Volcano hole at Splash Point Mini Golf

After achieving a 4th place finish in the BMGA British Masters competition I am now ranked at a career-high of 5th in the BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit National Ranking List. 121 players are currently ranked in the list, with Emily at number 42.

Photo of Minigolf being played at Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing

Emily in a play-off at Splash Point Mini Golf

The British Minigolf Association was formed in 1998 and is the governing body for Minigolf Sport, including Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf and organises tournaments and produces rankings lists for its members across the UK. The BMGA is a member of the World Minigolf Sport Federation and the European Minigolf Sport Federation. Two BMGA membership options are available – Free and Tour Pro. Further details can be found on the BMGA website.

BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit National Ranking 2012-2013 Season following the BMGA British Masters:

1. Michael SMITH 3185

2. Adam KELLY 2785

3. Sean HOMER 2046

4. James RUTHERFORD 1935

5. Richard GOTTFRIED 1926

6. William DONNELLY 1826

7. Peter EMMERSON 1800

8. Tony KELLY 1785

9. John MCIVER 1655

10. Andy EXALL 1555

11. Brad SHEPHERD 1416

12. Scott LANCLEY 1405

13. Fred BLACKBURN SHAW 1351

14. John MOORE 1226

15. Alex PRAGNELL 1187

16. Kevin MOSELEY 1130

17. Chris JONES 1116

18. Marc CHAPMAN 1100

19. David GOMM 1066

20. Seth THOMAS 1060

21. Ruth BURKE 1040

22. Chris HARDING 1030

23. Alan NORMAN 986

24. Paul JOHNSON 946

25. Christopher SMITH 936

26. Gareth HOLMES 922

27. Craig PATTERSON 837

28. David DONNELLY 837

29. Nick SANDQVIST 810

30. Keith KELLARD 800

31. Trevor EXALL 760

32. Alastair SHAW 515

33. Stephen GOW 500

34. James TRUBRIDGE 492

35. Denis EXALL 300

36. Mark WOOD 297

37. Oliver FLORENCE 285

38. Stephen LANGFORD 280

39. Steve STURDY 260

40. Simon HONE 251

41. Oli PAXTON 250

42. Emily GOTTFRIED 248

43. Owen JOHNSON 223

44. Rupert CONEY 220

45. Nick CHITTY 185

46. Chris HANNIGAN 180

47. Jon ANGEL 122

48. Alan FAWDEN 120

49. Peter JONES 120

50. Nuno CUNHA 100

51. David HARTLEY 70

52. James WATERHOUSE 70

53. Brenda SMITH 62

54. Chris WOOD 27

55. Marina BREEDEN 21

56. Richard SKEGGS 11

57. Marion HOMER 3

58. Richard LINDEN 3

59. Martin GREENHEAD 3

60. Ollie GREENHEAD 3

61. Paul GODDING 3

62. Brian SMITH 2

63. David PRAGNELL 2

64. Adam BREEDEN 2

65. Adrian PARSONS 1

66. Graham STURTON 1

67. Jeremy MOON 1

68. Helen EDWARDS 1

69. Steve LOVELL 1

70. Chris CLARK 1

71. Steven RAGLESS 1

72. Derek CLARK 1

73. Marc BAZELEY 1

74. Jonathan BRISTOW 1

75. Philip HANDRIHAN 1

76. Kyle MCSPORRAN 1

77. David SIMPSON 1

78. Josh PENMAN 1

79. Kieran JONES 1

80. Vanessa WOOD 1

81. Oli POOLE 1

82. Neil PARSONS 1

83. Jonathan GOY 1

84. Harry MEDAWAR 1

85. Chris JOHNS 1

86. Caroline BENFIELD 1

87. David BODYCOMBE 1

88. Giuseppe RUGGIERO 1

89. Matthew HUMPHREY 1

90. Rhys GRANT 1

91. Aidan LEE 1

92. Ed EVANS 1

93. Allun WAKEFIELD 1

94. Paul JONES 1

95. Tom DAILEY 1

96. Georg BAUER 1

97. Charlie TALBOT 1

98. Harley EDWARDS 1

99. Jon HANCOCK 1

100. Lee EDWARDS 1

101. George EDWARDS 1

102. Bulent HOSSEIN 1

103. Tarik HOSSEIN 1

104. Mustafa MANYERA 1

105. Ayten MANYERA 1

106. Andrew FRANKLIN 1

107. Rose MAHONEY 1

108. Jack MATTHEWS 1

109. Anna GREEN 1

110. Alan MCLAUGHLIN 1

111. Toby FITZHERBERT 1

112. Neil GRAY 1

113. James MULLINS 1

114. Paul TATTERTON 1

115. Graham CALDERBANK 1

116. John BARRON 1

117. Matthew LEMMON 1

118. Robert WITTON 1

119. Mike KOZIOL 1

120. Chris WALSH 1

121. Nicholas BROWN 1

In the BMGA Season Only Rankings for 2013 I am currently ranked at number seven, with Emily at number 10, with a total of 49 players having competed in an official BMGA Tour contest so far this season.

The BMGA also operates a Season Only Ranking List for Clubs and a BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit Ranking for competitions including the BMGA British Matchplay Championship and BMGA British Doubles Championship.

In the current BMGA Club Rankings the Midlands Minigolf Club of which I am a member is at number two, while Emily and her cohorts in the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club are at number three of six clubs.

BMGA 2013 Season Club Rankings following the BMGA British Masters:

1. Kent Minigolf Club - 110

2. Midlands Minigolf Club - 32

3. Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club - 13

4. Splash Point Mini Golf Club - 9

5. London Minigolf Club - 8

6. Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club - 1

The BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit Rankings remains the same as for the 2012 season-end as no matchplay contests have yet taken place in the 2013 season. In the BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit for 2011-12 I was ranked 15th of 60 players, with Emily in 41st place.

In the November 2012 edition of the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) Minigolf Rankings Emily is in tied 113th place of 113 positions alongside players from Iran, China, Portugal and Thailand. 123 players are listed in the WMF General Class (Adults) Women’s category. In the WMF General Class (Adults) Men's category I am ranked in tied 391st place of 391 positions. A total of 399 players are in the list and I sit alongside GB team-mates Scott Lancley and Brad Shepherd, and players from Russia, Hong Kong, Norway, Hungary and China. Overall Great Britain is ranked 18th of 29 Nations, with Germany at number one, Austria at two and Sweden at number three.

Links:

• British Minigolf Association

• World Minigolf Sport Federation

Related Blog Posts:

• Minigolf Report – 2013 BMGA British Masters in Worthing

• Film of the 2013 BMGA British Masters Minigolf Championship in Worthing

• Join the British Minigolf Association for the 2013 Minigolf Season

• End of Season BMGA Tour Minigolf Rankings for 2012

Richard Gottfried · at Saturday, April 27, 2013

Visits to the Welsh towns of Tywyn and Towyn on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A recent BBC news report told how a sat-nav mistake saw a driver take a school bus 80 miles in the wrong direction ending up in Towyn rather than Tywyn!

On our roadtrip of Wales in 2009 we managed to visit 43 Miniature Golf courses and play 28 of them. We also managed to play Crazy Golf in both Tywyn and Towyn.

The 138th course was a 15-hole Crazy Golf course at Tywyn Leisure Park on Marine Parade in Tywyn. The Leisure Park was an excellent set-up and there was also Bowls, Tennis, Skittles and a Putting Course to play. We only had time on our visit to play the Crazy Golf and the Skittles. It’s well worth a visit.

Richard on the Crazy Golf course at Tywyn Leisure Park in Tywyn, not Towyn

Emily plays a shot on the 15-hole Crazy Golf course in Tywyn, not Towyn

On the road to Rhyl we found what would be the 144th course played. The 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Knightly's Amusements and Fun Park on Sandbank Road was a surprise as we hadn’t planned to visit the town of Towyn. We had spotted a sign advertising Knightly’s and decided to have a look. We were glad we did as it was a bustling street full of seaside fun!

Richard Putting at Knightly's Funpark in Towyn, not Tywyn

Emily playing Crazy Golf in Towyn, not Tywyn

Both Tywyn and Towyn are well worth a visit, whether you find yourself in the wrong place or not I'm sure you'll find plenty to do.

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Course Visit No. 138 - Tywyn Leisure Park

- Minigolf Course Visit No. 144 - Knightly's Crazy Golf, Towyn

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Tour of Wales

- Wales

- Minigolf etc. - English to Welsh translations

Links:

- Sat-nav mix up leaves pupils in Towyn not Tywyn

- Tywyn on Wikipedia

- Towyn on Wikipedia

- Knightly's Funpark

Richard Gottfried · at Monday, April 22, 2013

An evening playing Bar Billiards at the Marine View Hotel in Worthing.

While in sunny Worthing for the recent BMGA British Masters Minigolf tournament played at the town's Splash Point Mini Golf we decided to seek out a Bar Billiards table near the seafront for the evening's entertainment.

The Bar Billiards league table at the Marine View Hotel in Worthing

Last year a group of us had played Bar Billiards at The Swan and having looked again on the excellent Bar Billiards table map we spotted that the Marine View Bed & Breakfast on the promenade had a table.

Richard plays a shot in an attempt to score 400-points!

We arrived to a nice welcome and a warm venue to spend the evening playing one of our favourite games. The Marin View hotel bar also has a Dartboard and there is plenty of space around the Bar Billiards to play, little wonder as it's a tournament quality table and part of the Worthing & District Bar Billiards League.

John Moore fires a rocket of a shot against Richard

We had some great matches amongst ourselves and it was all good preparation for the upcoming Minigolfer's Bar Billiards competition and 'do' in London! There were some nice high scores (for us) of over a thousand points and a few really good breaks. These were however unfortunately followed by some calamatous wipe-outs! It's still a great fun pub game and if you've never played it then I do suggest you find your nearest table and give it a go.

Emily begins a game against John Moore

If you're in Worthing then you should definitely give the Marine View hotel bar a visit, it's very close to the town centre, the Bar Billiards table is in great condition and plays very nicely. We'll be heading back for another game there in the future.

Links:
- Bar Billiards-related Blog Posts on the Ham & Egger Files
- The All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA)
- Worthing & District Bar Billiards League
- Marine View B&B
- Worthing Blog Posts

Richard Gottfried · at Monday, April 22, 2013

Festival of all-sorts of sports and games to take place in Llanwrtyd Wells in August 2014.

The date for the 2014 World Alternative Games has been announced! The eighteen-day festival of sport, fun and games will be taking place in Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, Wales between Friday 8th and Monday 25th August 2014.

In 2012 more than 50 different wild, weird, wacky, odd and obscure sports took place during the two weeks!

Emily refereeing the Finger Jousting contest between Joachim Davidse (NED) and Alain G (FRA) at the 2012 World Alternative Games

As part of the 2012 World Alternative Games Emily and I ran the first-ever Official Finger Jousting Championships on UK soil and Jas Kukielka and I were victorious in the World Egg Throwing Championships there!

Jas, me and Seve Kukielka with our medal haul for Egg Throwing (and Catching) at the 2012 edition of the World Alternative Games

It's a great (little) town - the smallest in Britain - and well worth a visit and everyone there was so friendly and welcoming. Interestingly the town's Neuadd Arms Hotel is also Headquarters of the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Links:

- World Alternative Games

- World Alternative Game on Twitter

- World Alternative Games on Facebook

- World Finger Jousting Federation

- Wacky Nation

- 'Dame' Julia Galvin, sportswoman extraordinaire

Related Blog Posts:

- Becoming a World Champion in Egg Throwing!

- A new sport or game for 2013?

Richard Gottfried · at Monday, April 22, 2013

A new Minigolf tournament at a new Minigolf course in Durham.

Adventure Valley Golf at Adventure Valley farm and play centre will be hosting the first 'County Durham Adventure Golf Open' competition on Sunday 28th April!

There are three categories in the tournament to be held on the 18-hole Adventure Golf course. Further details and entry forms can be found on the Adventure Valley Golf website:

- Under 16 - lowest overall score after 3 rounds (10am tee-off)

- Over 16 - lowest overall score after 4 rounds (10.30am tee-off)

- Pro - lowest overall score after 4 rounds (11am tee-off)

Winners will receive cash prizes and trophies and there are prizes for runners-up too.

The winners of each player category will be the very first to feature on the new Adventure Valley Golf ‘Wall of Fame’. Each player taking part in the competition will receive a medal and certificate in a presentation ceremony at the end of the day.

Entrants can take advantage of a day rate of £6 to play and practice the course on Saturday 27th April.

Adventure Valley Golf is offering discounted rates of play for British Minigolf Association Tour Pros this season. One round costs £2 or you can receive unlimited daily play for £7.50 on production of a valid BMGA Tour Pro card.

Links:

- Adventure Valley

- Adventure Valley Golf

- Adventure Valley on Facebook

- Adventure Valley on Twitter

- British Minigolf Association April Newsletter

- Adventure Valley Golf Competition Page

- County Durham Adventure Golf Open Poster

Related Blog Posts:

- Join the British Minigolf Association for the 2013 Minigolf Season

Richard Gottfried · at Monday, April 22, 2013

Two new Postcards available from Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing.

As an avid collector of Miniature Golf ephemera I was incredibly pleased to see that the team at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing, West Sussex had produced two brand new Minigolf Postcards.

Clearly delighted with the new Splash Point Mini Golf Postcards

Tim 'Ace Man' Davies and I have quite a collection of Mini, Crazy and Adventure Golf Postcards and we wrote an article for the December 2011 edition of the postcard industry magazine Picture Postcard Monthly.

A couple of the Splash Point Mini Golf Postcards heading into a postbox in Findon

It's interesting to note that despite travelling to almost 200 seasides in the UK and numerous inland Minigolf courses there is a dearth of postcards depicting the incredibly popular past-time of Miniature Golf. That's why it was so great that Splash Point Mini Golf has two new designs available for just 30p each.

The two designs of the new Splash Point Mini Golf course Postcards

At the recent BMGA British Masters tournament held at Splash Point Mini Golf I picked up a bunch of the nice Crazy Golf postcards and set about writing a few on the curse ready to post out.

Scribbling a few lines about my 4th place finish in the BMGA British Masters Minigolf tournament at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing

Links:

- Splash Point Mini Golf

- Picture Postcard Monthly

- Postcardese

- MiniatureGolfer.com

- The Crazy Golf Museum

- British Minigolf Association

Related Blog Posts:

- All Postcard-related posts on the Ham & Egger Files

- Ephemera

- Merchandise

Richard Gottfried · at Monday, April 22, 2013

Winning the Abandoned Shoe Of The Week title!

I recently found out that I'd won a 'coveted' internet title, that being the spotter of the "Abandoned Shoe Of The Week" from @abandonedshoes on Twitter!

The Abandoned Shoe of the Week prize winner!

Thanks to my friend and sometimes Minigolf ally Kevin Moseley tipping me off about the mission of @abandonedshoes to have all sightings of Abandoned Shoes reported to them, I've sent in a few photos of any that I have spied around Luton!

In recent weeks Emily and I have spotted a couple of sole items of footwear opposite one another on the building works of the new Luton to Dunstable Guided Busway in the town centre. It was the second, pointy shoe, rather than the original fancy shoe, that was awarded the "Abandoned Shoe Of The Week" prize.

The UK abandoned shoe count currently stands at: 1,336!

Links:

- Abandoned Shoes on Twitter

- Abandoned Shoes on Facebook

Richard Gottfried · at Monday, April 15, 2013

Film of the 2013 BMGA British Masters competition by the team behind 'A Year In The Life Of Worthing'.

The 2013 BMGA British Masters national miniature golf tournament won by Adam Kelly and held at Worthing's Splash Point Mini Golf course in the town's Denton Gardens was filmed by the team at 2 Dog Imaging.

Check out the brilliant film of a great event.

Did you see (and hear) my holes-in-one ;-)

Links:

- "British Masters Mini Golf 2013" video
- "British Masters Mini Golf 2012 Worthing" video

- 2 Dog Imaging

- 'A Year In The Life Of Worthing' Facebook page

- Splash Point Mini Golf

- British Minigolf Association
- BMGA British Masters 2013 event page & results

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Report – 2013 BMGA British Masters in Worthing
- Video of the 2012 BMGA British Masters in Worthing
- Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour course visit #181

Richard Gottfried · at Monday, April 15, 2013

15th April 2013

Press Information

For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – BMGA British Masters in Worthing

Richard Gottfried 4th and Emily Gottfried 12th in national Miniature Golf tournament.

Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried competed in the BMGA British Masters tournament that took place at the 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course at Denton Gardens in Worthing, West Sussex on Sunday 14th April. In the four-round, 72-hole tournament Richard finished in 4th place overall in the 27-player field. Emily finished in 12th place overall, and was the winner in the Category 3 event contested by 13 players.

Richard scored a three-round total of 143(-1), having shot a new personal best of 32(-4), followed by rounds of 40(+4), 34(-2) and 37(+1).

Richard Gottfried plays the 12th hole at Splash Point Mini Golf

Emily scored a total 174(+30) after rounds of 41(+5), 50(+14), 41(+5) and 42(+6). To win Category 3 Emily defeated Wales’ Paul Godding in a sudden-death play-off at the third extra-hole to take the title.

Emily Gottfried in her play-off against Paul Godding at Splash Point Mini Golf

The winner of the 2013 BMGA British Masters was Cambridgeshire’s Adam Kelly with a score of 132(-12). Splash Point’s Peter Emmerson was runner-up on 135(-9) and Oxford’s Michael Smith 3rd on 142(-2).

Richard said "I was pleased to be in the mix in the British Masters this year and fairly happy to have finished fourth. To score three sub-40 rounds at Splash Point Mini Golf is great as it’s recognised as one of the country’s hardest courses and I only had two bad holes out of 72 during the day which was a massive improvement on my last performance in Worthing. Well done to the new champion Adam Kelly and thanks to the team at Splash Point for hosting a brilliant tournament."

Emily said “My 12th place finish was higher than I anticipated before the tournament, so I was really pleased! I played really well in all but one round and I’m happy with my performance overall. The play-off against Paul was tough, so I was ecstatic to win it and be the top Category 3 player at the British Masters.”

Richard made his debut in the 2007 BMGA British Masters in Southend-on-Sea, finishing in 24th place. Until his 4th place in Worthing his previous best in the event was a 9th place finish when the competition was held in Margate in 2011.

Ends

Richard Gottfried · at Monday, April 08, 2013

Visiting and playing the new 9-hole Krazy Golf course at Quest Merry Hill.

Photo of the Krazy Golf Minigolf course at Quest Merry Hill

On Saturday 6th of April along with fellow members of the British Minigolf Association and Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team Emily and I were invited along to the grand opening of the new 9-hole indoor Krazy Golf course at the Quest adventure and entertainment zone at Westfield’s Merry Hill shopping centre in Dudley.

Photo of Great Britain Minigolf Team players at the Krazy Golf Minigolf course at Quest Merry Hill

Warming up before the Mini Golf Open competition at the Quest Krazy Golf course

The format of the day saw us practice playing the course, coach staff and the public and compete in challenge matches against shoppers! We also contested the Mini Golf Open amongst the six seasoned Tour veterans and GB team members, with former BMGA British Minigolf Champion Jon ‘The Stance’ Angel victorious with a score of 18(par) in his round.

2013 Quest Mini Golf Open competition results:

1. Jon ‘The Stance’ Angel – 18(par)

2. Chris ‘Who’ Harding – 19(+1)

3(T). Paul ‘The Overtaker’ Johnson – 21(+3)

3(T). Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried – 21(+3)

5. ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried – 23(+5)

6. Owen ‘Jackpot’ Johnson – 26(+8)

The course is great fun and interesting to play. The holes are unique and there are plenty of hole-in-one opportunities, along with some tricky shots too!

From l-r 'Squire' Richard Gottfried, Squire' Richard Gottfried and Squire' Richard Gottfried playing hole 2

The course record before the Minigolf Open Day was held by the course manager Mark Knox with a great score of 17(-1), but by the end of the day two-time World Crazy Golf Champion Chris ‘Who’ Harding had managed to shoot a low of 16(-2) to set the course record.

Chris 'Who' Harding takes the course record

It was nice for us to be able to pass on Minigolf hints and tips through the coaching sessions and challenge matches, and plenty of people were giving the course and game a try.

Hole 4 has a steep hill and camber to deal with

In a challenge match between me and Emily I won with a score of 17(-1) to Emily’s 19(+1). And in a match between me, fellow Minigolf adventurer Owen ‘Jackpot’ Johnson and Chris, I won with a score of 17(-1) to Chris’ 18(par) and Owen’s 24(+6).

Almost an Ace on hole 2

For more information on the Quest Krazy Golf course do check out the Quest website. As well has the Minigolf course the adventure area has a Nerf combat arena, shooting galleries and high ropes activities for all ages!

After we’d played the main Minigolf event we had a go on the Nerf combat game which was fast paced, great fun and a little bit painful if you got hit by a Nerf foam ‘bullet’ at close range!

Nerfed

Emily and Owen also had a go on the High Ropes activity which is situated above the main Quest area – you could easily miss seeing it unless you look up when you enter/exit Quest!

Emily on the High Ropes Extreme

All-in-all it was a great day out. We’ll definitely be back to play the course again and hopefully there’ll be more Miniature Golf tournaments at the course in the future.