Minigolf at Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre in Essex

A revisit to the miniature golf course in West Horndon.

A view of the miniature golf course and clubhouse at the Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre in West Horndon, Essex

On Saturday 6 December Emily and I headed to the 18-hole minigolf course at the Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre in West Horndon, near Brentwood, Essex where we would be competing in the first CEMGC Invitational competition.

Emily putting during the CEMGC Invitational Tournament

We first visited and played the 18-hole course in July 2012 when it became the 299th played and 499th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Playing minigolf at Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre

It's a very tough layout, with some incredibly tricky second (and third!) putts on the big greens. The holes vary in length from 27 to 62 feet!

On our visit in 2012 I scored a 48 (Out in 24, In in 24), with Emily scoring 51 (Out in 27, In in 24). On this occasion playing in the CEMGC Invitational Tournament Emily won the two round contest with scores of 50 and 49, while I shot a course record 48 (once again Out in 24, In in 24), followed by a 59 to finish fourth in the five-player Pro contest.

The minigolf putting course is great value at £3 for adults and £2 for juniors.

As well as the miniature golf course Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre is home to an 18-hole Golf course, driving range, bar and restaurant and meeting rooms. For more information check out the Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre website.

The Dunton Hills Miniature Golf course

Links:
- Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre website
- Cambridgeshire & Essex Mini Golf Club on Facebook
- CEMGC Invitational event result, report, photos and update on the CEMGC Facebook page
- CMGC website

Related blog posts:
- CEMGC Invitational Minigolf Tournament

- Playing the Dunton Hills Miniature Golf Course in West Horndon, Essex

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

UrbanCrazy Mini Golf at a wedding

Playing an UrbanCrazy minigolf hole at a wedding aboard the HMS President on the River Thames!

Minigolf aboard the HMS President

Last week (on the 5th of Kislev 5775!) Emily and I attended the wedding of our friends Jon & Cheryl as they tied the knot aboard the HMS President moored on the River Thames in London.

Jon is a BIG minigolf fan, veteran of many a tournament and a Great Britain international. He also runs UrbanCrazy and to entertain guests at the reception they had a minigolf hole set-up with a wedding cake obstacle and photo-walls to hinder players.

Putting on the UrbanCrazy minigolf hole at the wedding 'do'

The UrbanCrazy minigolf layout for Jon & Cheryl Angel's big day

I had a putting shootout against veteran player Lionel 'The Spoon' Bender that I think ended in a tie. neither of us got a hole-in-one, that I remember.

A lot of people are hiring minigolf and crazy golf courses for their wedding receptions. The layout at Jon and Cheryl's 'do' had lots of partygoers having a putt. As the UrbanCrazy portable courses are modular I noticed that some of the guests had been having a go at re-arranging the hole too.

Emily lines up a shot on the UrbanCrazy minigolf hole

The course was the 354th played and 588th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006 and was certainly unique!

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- UrbanCrazy
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London

Links:
- UrbanCrazy
- UrbanCrazy on Twitter
- HMS President
- The UrbanCrazy World Of Miniature Golf
- UrbanCrazy says “I do”
- #purpleweddingonaboat

End of 2014 minigolf season BMGA rankings

National Strokeplay Order of Merit and Season Only ranking updates from the British Minigolf Association at the end of the 2014 season.

The official British minigolf rankings have been updated following the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open tournament.

Playing minigolf in Hastings during the final weekend of the 2014 BMGA Tour season

There were eleven strokeplay ranking competitions in the 2014 season. I competed in nine of the events, with Emily competing in six of the tournaments.

Emily and I also competed in the BMGA British Doubles Championship, which counted towards the national matchplay Order of Merit. We were unable to play in the BMGA British Matchplay Championships this year.

Richard Gottfried's rankings in the Strokeplay Order of Merit for the 2013/14 season:
- Following the BMGA Star City Open - 12th of 74 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA Star City Open & AGM changes - 11th of 79 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA British Masters - 7th of 84 places (137 players)
- Following the BMGA British Championships - 10th of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Splash Point Open - 11th of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Midlands Open - 10th of 86 places (140 players)
- Following the BMGA Players Championship and BMGA British Open - 8th of 88 places (142 players)
- Following the BMGA English Open - 8th of 91 places (147 players)
- Following the World Crazy Golf Championships - 11th of 101 places (157 players)
- Following the Kent Open - 12th of 104 places (160 players)
- Following the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open - 12th of 105 places (161 players)

Emily had a great season in 2014 with a career high end of season ranking in the BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit

Emily Gottfried's rankings in the Strokeplay Order of Merit for the 2013/14 season:
- Following the BMGA Star City Open - 42nd of 74 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA Star City Open & AGM changes - 34th of 79 places (135 players)
- Following the BMGA British Masters - 26th of 84 places (137 players)
- Following the BMGA British Championships - 21st of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Splash Point Open - 21st of 85 places (138 players)
- Following the Midlands Open - 21st of 86 places (140 players)
- Following the BMGA Players Championship and BMGA British Open - 26th of 88 places (142 players)
- Following the BMGA English Open - 26th of 91 places (147 players)
- Following the World Crazy Golf Championships - 28th of 101 places (157 players)
- Following the Kent Open - 29th of 104 places (160 players)
- Following the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open - 29th of 105 places (161 players)

In the BMGA Season Only Rankings at the end of the 2014 season Emily finished 21st of 91 players, I was ranked in 25th position.

The BMGA Season Only Rankings also contain a team listing. I am a member of the Midlands Minigolf Club that is ranked 2nd of five clubs. Emily is a member of the Cambridgeshire & Essex Mini Golf Club that finished the year in 4th place.

The BMGA's season-ending British Club Championships was abandoned due to weather on the 23 November.

In the BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit Rankings Emily finished the 2014 season tied in 20th place of 55 players, I was 38th.

We are both listed in the World Minigolf Sport Federation's General Class rankings. In the women's rankings Emily is in tied 120th position of 128 places (132 players). In the men's rankings I am ranked in tied 397th place of 413 places (419 players).

Worldwide there are over 38,000 Minigolf players registered with the WMF, 1,000 courses approved for competitions, 900 clubs and over 1,500 Minigolf tournaments held each year.

Related blog posts:
- Rankings
- Richard Gottfried's Minigolf Player Profile
- Emily Gottfried's Minigolf Player Profile
- World Minigolf Rankings for 2014

Links:
- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)
- BMGA on Facebook
- BMGA on Twitter
- World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF)
- WMF on Facebook
- WMF on Twitter

Dinner at Vozars gluten free restaurant in Brixton

Enjoying a three-course gluten & wheat free meal at the Spiced Winter Warmer event at Vozars restaurant.

Emily and I enjoying dining at Vozars restaurant in Brixton Village Market as it offers great food and drink - and is safe and suitable for coeliac diners as the menu is all gluten and wheat free!

My first turkey dinner of the festive season

Being on the Vozars mailing list and keeping an eye on what they are up to on Twitter and Facebook we heard about the Spiced Winter Warmer event taking place and decided to treat ourselves to a 'festive season' meal.

Once again the food and service was excellent. Check out the photos for a view of two of the six dishes we had (between us). To get an idea of the taste and smell you'll have to go along yourself.

Emily was pleased with the risotto cake

An excellent chocolate pudding for dessert 

I really enjoyed the duck carpaccio as a starter and Emily had a risotto cake (ball!) with grilled mushrooms and salad. The risotto cake had a great crispy coating.

For main I had the confit turkey breast with traditional Czech Christmas stuffing, cranberry sauce and the yellowest sweet potato mash I have ever seen! Emily had the ham hock cooked in shallots and horseradish served with butternut squash and a chilli and apple compote.

The desserts were brilliant. Although the Chocolate pudding defeated me, enabling Emily to have some of it too. It was served with Celia caramel and Crème Anglaise. Emily tells me the berry crumble with cinnamon ice cream was great too. I was too full to try any.

Of course the meal went very well with a Celia lager or two.

As well as lunch and dinner, Vozars has a number of special pop-up events throughout the year, and you can also pop in to grab a cake or savoury snack to takeaway.

The 2014 Christmas menu at Vozars begins today (3 December) and one of the dishes is a beer battered cod! One of my favourite dishes.

Visit the Vozars website and Twitter feed and keep up-to-date with Vozars and Celia Lager via Facebook and Twitter for news, events and competitions.

Links:

- Vozars Cafe Deli Restaurant

- Celia Lager

Related blog posts:
- Vozars Gluten Free Cafe Deli Restaurant in Brixton Village Market

- Celia Lager

- Gluten Free

Sunny Worthing's 'Sunniest Leisure and Tourism 2014' Award

Vote for Splash Point Mini Golf in the Sunny Worthing 'Sunniest Leisure and Tourism 2014' Awards.

The excellent 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course in Denton Gardens, Worthing is in the running to win the Sunny Worthing Award for 'Sunniest Leisure and Tourism Attraction' in the seaside resort's 2014 awards.

Splash Point Mini Golf at Worthing's Denton Gardens in April 2014

Voting ends on 31 December 2014. You can vote for your favourite leisure and tourism attraction in Worthing on the Sunniest Leisure and Tourism 2014 Awards voting website.

Splash Point Mini Golf is one of my favourite courses and I always enjoy a trip to the town to have a round on the course. We've visited Worthing quite a lot over the last few years and it's all because of Splash Point Mini Golf.

Playing hole 13 at Worthing's Splash Point Mini Golf during the 2014 BMGA British Masters tournament

Links:
- Sunniest Leisure and Tourism 2014 Awards voting website
- Sunny Worthing website
- Splash Point Mini Golf website
- Splash Point Mini Golf on Twitter

Related blog posts:
- Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #181
- Worthing Splash Point Minigolf - Course Revisit - May 2011
- Worthing

Crazy about Mini Golf Balls

A blog about golf balls.

Practicing for the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Open - one of them went in. Eventually

As an avid collector of ephemera and souvenirs from the world of miniature golf I was interested to recently receive a follow on Twitter from Martyn Vallance @Logo_Golf_Balls.

Martyn is crazy about golf balls and has a collection of over 70,000!

Before I mentioned it, Martyn didn't realise there were quite so many specialist balls used in the sport of minigolf (not many people do unless they dip their toe into the sporty side of crazy golf).

Over 10,000 minigolf sport balls have been produced in the last 70 years!

With a Metro Golf Centre Mini Golf branded golf ball on a visit to play the 9-hole course in Barnet in 2010

Each minigolf sport ball has special qualities that allow for a variety of shots to be played on the range of different courses and obstacles - the balls range from 'dead' where there is no bounce, through to super bouncy balls for multiple rebounds.

A selection of minigolf sport balls I took to a recent tournament weekend in Hastings

Together with my fellow curator of the Virtual Crazy Golf Museum, Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, we've built up quite a collection of stuff from all types of minigolf, from scorecards, pencils, leaflets and postcard, to pin badges, tokens, jigsaw puzzles and games. Tim has even found a sugar cube from a minigolf course!

We've also got a lot of balls between us. Check out the 'Other Miniature Golf Ephemera' page on the Crazy Golf Museum website for more info and pics.

A set of four golf balls from the KISS Glow-in-the-Dark Indoor Minigolf course in Las Vegas

I've also had a look through my collection and dug out the following 'normal' golf balls that are branded with minigolf-specific info and/or are tournament approved balls. I've also picked out a selection of my favourite minigolf sport balls.

The other side of a KISS by Monster Mini Golf ball

A World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) approved competition ball

The other side of a special WMF branded ball given to delegates at the WMF Media Workshop in Vienna, Austria in 2010

A British Minigolf Association golf ball used at the 2013 World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

The other side of the World Crazy Golf Championship ball

A ball from the Japanese Putter King minigolf franchise and app

The other side of the Putter King minigolf ball

The official ball of the World Crazy Golf Championship 2014

A ball from the mini-golf course that was in Devonshire Square, London in 2009

A ball given to people who played the Lyle & Scott 'Wooly Golf' course in Covent Garden, London in 2012

The official ball of the 2008 Nations Cup minigolf tournament in Tampere, Finland - the event was me and Emily's debut for the Great Britain team 

The official ball of the 2011 World Adventure Golf Masters competition held in Hastings. The ball was made by 3D-Minigolf

The Finnish Heavy Gentlemen 100 Year Anniversary ball by 3D-Minigolf

The Minigolfnews.com ball #5 by Ravensburg

A Tim 'Ace Man' Davies Legends ball by M&G

A NIFO 2 minigolf sport ball - a great ball to use on many minigolf lanes (holes). Made by NIFO

A Fun-Sports 2 ball - there are a number of Fun-Sports balls and they're a good entry level type of ball to use

In 2009 I won the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Open minigolf competition held on the 12-hole Adventure Golf course in the seaside resort. The trophy I was presented for winning the tournament was a magnificent and BIG golf ball mounted on a wooden plinth

Check out the @Logo_Golf_Balls to keep up-to-date with Martyn's collection as it continues to grow, as well as The Crazy Golf Museum for all things mini and crazy golf-related.

Links:
- @Logo_Golf_Balls
- The Crazy Golf Museum
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Related blog posts:
- New (Minigolf) Balls Please
- What's in a Minigolf Kitbag?
- Some new minigolf kit from Fun-Sports
- Ephemera
- Merchandise

A little bit of indoor minigolf in Woking

Climbing aboard a pirate ship to play some adventure golf.

All hands on deck! The crew of the pirate ship at Pirate Island Adventure Golf in Woking taking aim

On our travels we've found a few indoor Miniature Golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, but on a recent trip to Woking we weren't expecting to find an indoor hole on a pirate ship!

The loot, map and weapons safely stowed aboard the ship

The UV / Black Light indoor hole on the 12-hole Pirate Island Adventure Golf course at Hoebridge Golf Centre is a great hole-in-one opportunity, but unless there are fellow players inside to see the end of the shot you won't know if the ball is in or not until you step aboard the ship.

You begin playing the first of two minigolf holes aboard the pirate ship OUTSIDE. From the tee you have to successfully get the ball up the pipe beyond the blue crate. And if you're lucky you'll be rewarded with an ace

Emily firing in a shot at Pirate Island Adventure Golf

The outdoor Pirate Island Adventure Golf course at Hoebridge Golf Centre is open seven-days-a-week and will be open through the winter. Check out the website for opening times and prices.

Helen Dodd putting aboard the ship during the Surrey Invitational Tournament

As the weather is getting colder and wetter you may want to head indoors for a bit of minigolf fun. Do check out my blog post on Indoor Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses we've found to date.

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Indoor Mini, Crazy and Adventure Golf courses
- Minigolf Report from the Surrey Invitational Tournament
- Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Hoebridge Golf Centre in Woking

Links:
- Pirate Island Adventure Golf Woking
- Pirate Island Adventure Golf
- Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Hoebridge Golf Centre
- Hoebridge Golf Centre

Gluten free at Brasserie Blanc

A great meal at Brasserie Blanc in St Albans.

To celebrate the beginning of the festive season I booked a meal at Brasserie Blanc for a group of friends (who also happen to be fellow coeliacs).

Emily and I have dined there before and have eaten from the summer menu, so we were looking forward to seeing what the winter selection had to offer gluten free diners. We weren't disappointed.

There's a good choice on the gluten free menu (which is also marked with vegetarian and dairy free options) so we took our time picking while enjoying some wine. It makes a real change to have a good range of options, rather than having a 'choice' of one dish for starter, main and dessert (if you're lucky).

I had the salt beef salad to start, followed by the pork belly - it had great crackling - and the excellent chocolate souffle for dessert.

What a pudding! The Chocolate Souffle was delicious. The first I've had since my diagnosis of Coeliac Disease in 2008! 

The meal was the third I've had at Brasserie Blanc in St Albans and I've thoroughly enjoyed each one. We're looking forward to returning in the New Year.

As a coeliac dining out gluten free can be fraught, but the staff at Brasserie Blanc are able to answer gluten/gluten free-related questions, or double check with the kitchen, which adds to the confidence that you are going to eat safely.

One thing that is missing, and something I mentioned to a barman there on a previous visit, is the lack of gluten free beer/ale/lager on the drinks menu.

My friend, fellow coeliac and blogger Gemma also had the Chocolate Souffle and we think our friend Cat had #souffleenvy after seeing how great it was!

Links:
- Brasserie Blanc St Albans
- Brasserie Blanc on Twitter
- Brasserie Blanc on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Coeliac
- Gluten Free

Nacho nacho man

Five new gluten free tortilla chip flavours available at Marks & Spencer.

There are Jalapeno, Fire Roasted Chilli and Nacho Cheese flavour Tortillas, as well as the Lime Salsa Chickpea & Cumin Tortilla Scoops.

After a great early-Christmas meal at the nearby Brasserie Blanc in St Albans our group of Coeliacs headed to M&S as three of the party don't live near a store and were desperate to get some of the gluten & wheat free Scotch Eggs. I was very pleased to see the new range of gluten free Tortilla chips in stock - as were some other shoppers as they were flying off the shelves!

I've had the lime salsa scoops before and they were very tasty. But nacho cheese tortilla chips are a flavour I've missed over the years as you can't always find gluten free packs available.

There is also a lightly salted flavour in the range. I didn't bother getting a packet of those as I've never been a big fan of less-flavoured tortillas.

In the St Albans M&S you can find the gluten free tortillas in amongst the other 'normal' crisps and snacks, whereas in the Ipswich branch the lime salsa tortillas are in the Made Without Wheat section.

Well, that's my week's budget for Nacho Chips blown in one go

While on a lunchbreak last week I popped along to the M&S in Angel, London and was pleased to see two new products in the Made Without Wheat range - a Quiche Lorraine and a Cheese & Onion Quiche.

Hopefully the Luton branch begins stocking more gluten free products (Made Without Wheat Scotch Eggs hint hint).

Links:
- Marks & Spencer website
- Marks & Spencer Made Without Wheat page
- Coeliac UK website

Related blog posts:
- New gluten free products at Marks & Spencer
- New Gluten Free Beer and Cakes at M&S
- Gluten Free blog posts on The Ham & Egger Files
- Gluten Free Finds in London (and beyond) - October 2010