Friday, November 16, 2012

Playing the new UrbanCrazy Minigolf course at the London Golf Show

Playing the 308th course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.
 
Last Friday fellow Minigolfer (and sometimes Blogger) Oliver ‘The Machine’ Florence and I headed to the London Golf Show at Earls Court to check out the brand new ‘Signature Course’ from Minigolf suppliers UrbanCrazy.
The new UrbanCrazy Minigolf course
The team from UrbanCrazy were at the three-day event and their 9-hole layout was in a great spot with plenty of people taking the chance to play a round of Miniature Golf.
Playing hole 8
Ollie and I played four 9-hole rounds and an 18-hole matchplay contest on the course with Ollie setting an impressive course record of 15(-3) with his last round. A score that would go unbeaten for the duration of the show!
Ollie on target on hole 6
The new UrbanCrazy course has some interesting and tricky obstacles and playing surfaces – they are not all flat felt! One of the holes was made of metal.

Following the Brown Sign for a Hole-in-One on hole 5!
The course became the 308th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and 512th visited overall since September 2006.
Ollie's nemesis until the final round where he scored an Ace to take the course (and show) record - the 9th hole

Minigolf match results:

Game 1
Richard – 20(+2)
Oliver – 23(+5)
 
Game 2
Richard – 22(+4)
Oliver – 25(+7)
 
Game 3
Richard – 22(+4)
Oliver – 23(+5)
 
Game 4
Richard – 18(par)
Oliver – 15(-3) *course record
 
Game 5
18-hole matchplay:
Oliver won 1 up

Hole 7 - the toughest hole on the course
While chatting to the UrbanCrazy team we were told that some of the attendees had mentioned seeing the World Crazy Golf Championships on Trans World Sport and Sky Sports News and the BMGA Minigolf Team on BBC Quiz Show Eggheads. I also talked to one of the stallholders and when I mentioned Minigolf she said she’d heard about it from watching Eggheads on the BBC Channel in Tenerife!
Ollie attempts to win a flight
The UrbanCrazy course also had a bonus 10th hole which offered anyone who scored a hole-in-one on it a chance to win a pair of European flights courtesy of Monarch Airlines. Neither of us made the Ace on the hole. The course and 10th hole challenge were also raising funds for Lords Taverners, a charity that gives young people a sporting chance.
 

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Results of the 2012 Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt

Allan Cox of Australia wins the 2012 Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt!
 
Reigning and defending 'Putter King' Allan Cox from Australia managed to retain his title as the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Champion as he achieved a massive haul of 2,875 points in the 2012 Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt!
 
His points haul was a 'mere' 2,800 points ahead of my total!
 
The Putter King contest was an international affair with the top five competitors hailing from Australia, the USA (three players) and the UK (me).
 
Last year I was the runner-up in the contest after a sudden-death public-vote play-off after Allan and I tied for the lead!
Emily and I in our Putter King Kits at the 2011 BMGA English Open minigolf tournament at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk
 
Blog Links:

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Minigolfing in Bath, Wookey Hole, Cheddar and Brean (but not Bristol)

Visiting another thirteen courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

Between the 10th and 13th of November 2012 Emily and I were in Somerset and while there managed to find and play a few new courses as part of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

When heading off on a trip to anywhere we’ll generally have an idea of where there may be a course to visit and play and we’d noted a few to have a look at while visiting Bath, Cheddar and Brean. On our trip we visited a total of 13 courses (five of which we’d been to previously) and managed to play four of them. This was a bonus as it is ‘out of season’ at the moment.

We have now visited a total of 520 Miniature Golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006! Of these 520 we’ve been able to play 312 of them.

Minigolf Courses visited and revisited on our recent trip:
• #309 Bath (Victoria Park) – Victoria Falls Adventure Golf

Emily Gottfried playing the Victoria Falls Adventure Golf course in Bath
Emily playing the Victoria Falls Adventure Golf course in Bath

• #310 Wookey Hole – Pirate Island Adventure Golf

Richard Gottfried playing the 7th hole at Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Wookey Hole
Playing the 7th hole at Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Wookey Hole

• #311 Cheddar – Cheddar Crazy Golf

Richard Gottfried at the excellent Cheddar Crazy Golf course
At the excellent Cheddar Crazy Golf course

• Bath - (Combe Grove Manor, Brassknocker Hill, Monkton Combe) - Minigolf - Could not find it!

• #312 Brean (Leisure Dome Amusement Arcade) – Indoor Crazy Golf

Minigolfer Richard Gottfried at the Leisure Dome Amusement Arcade's indoor Crazy Golf course
At the Leisure Dome Amusement Arcade's indoor Crazy Golf course


The Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf course in Brean
The Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf in Brean


The Congo Adventure Golf course at Brean Leisure Park
The Congo Adventure Golf at Brean Leisure Park

Mini Golf Putting in Weston-Super-Mare
Revisit (#259) Weston-Super-Mare (Putting) - Putting

Crazy Hills Putting Crazy Golf in Weston-Super-Mare
Revisit (#261) Weston-Super-Mare (Crazy Hills Putting)


Fella's Crazy Golf in Weston-Super-Mare
Revisit (#260) Weston-Super-Mare (Fella's) - Crazy Golf

The courses we managed to play were all great in their own way. Victoria Falls Adventure Golf in Bath was a nicely laid out 18-hole course with some tricky obstacles and it was great to see it so busy on a not so nice November afternoon! The Wookey Hole Pirate Island Adventure Golf was a good little 9-hole course with some great theming and obstacles. The Cheddar Crazy Golf was a brilliant and unique 18-hole layout that was great fun to play. It’s a course I’d very happily play over and over again. Finding the indoor Crazy Golf at Brean’s Leisure Dome Amusement Arcade was a bonus and the course looked great and was fun to play. Some of the holes were very tough and nigh on impossible to score a hole-in-one on. As well as the large Congo Adventure Golf course in Brean there is also a tiny 9-hole Pirate Adventure Golf/Crazy Golf course on South Road.

While in Bath we had a look for the Minigolf course at the Combe Grove Manor on Brassknocker Hill, but after a drive around the grounds we couldn't see it. We did see a Golf Driving Range and a bit of a Putting green/course near one of the car parks, but not the Minigolf layout as can be viewed online.

Three of the course revisits we made were in Weston-Super-Mare where we found the Putting course at the Miniature Railway on the Beach Lawns to have closed down. This is to make way for a new Adventure Golf course that is planned for the site.

The new Pirate Bay Adventure Golf at Bristol Golf Centre was too tricky for us to find, it wasn’t signposted and after driving (queuing) around through the rush hour traffic we gave up our search and headed back to Luton. We will be back to give the new course a play in the future though.

Related Blog Post:
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Monday, November 05, 2012

Watch the World Crazy Golf Championship on Trans World Sport this week

Tune in to Trans World Sport on Sky Sports this week to watch the feature on the World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings!
 
This year’s ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship was filmed for a feature that will be shown on the TV sports show Trans World Sport this week.
 
From the Trans World Sport programme listing:
"This week, time with Belarusian football team BATE Borisov. Plus, meet the stars of the Professional Bull Riding Tour in Texas, and the Crazy Golf World Championships in England."
 
Trans World Sport will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK on the following days and times:
07/11/2012 - Sky Sports 1 at 10pm
08/11/2012 - Sky Sports 2 at 12pm
08/11/2012 - Sky Sports 2 at 4pm
09/11/2012 - Sky Sports 4 at 2pm
10/11/2012 - Sky Sports 4 at 9am
10/11/2012 - Sky Sports 4 at 1pm
 

Report from the Third Knowley Grail Minigolf Tournament

Results, report and photos from the third Knowley Grail Minigolf Competition.

The third edition of the Knowley Grail was contested between ten BMGA Tour Pro players and US Minigolfer Jon Drexler at the Hastings Crazy Golf course following the final of the 2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship after the players had decided that two days of international competition just wasn't enough and that they enjoyed the freezing cold weather conditions too much to head to the warmth of indoors/their transport home.
David Donnelly plays the Waterwheel hole of the Hastings Crazy Golf course

The 'age-old' rules of the Knowley Grail state that all players in the competition must use the same Minigolf ball - a 'Pinky Diver' by Reisinger - renowned for its super bouncy qualities. Any player scoring a seven during the round of Minigolf is automatically eliminated from the rest of the one-round competition. If eliminated the unfortunate player must take up residence on the nearest chair/bench of shame.
With two Pinky Diver balls available the group of eleven split into two groups and commenced play on the 18-hole Seafront Crazy Golf course in Hastings. Defending champion James 'The Rocket' Rutherford was in group two.

In a first for the Knowley Grail not one player was eliminated from the round. Adam 'Ak47' Kelly came remarkably close to being sent to a seat of shame with a score of six, but apart from that score most players were grinding out the twos, getting 'robbed' off of the metal cups, and scoring a smattering of threes and not enough aces.
Play the 'Tony Kelly Spot The Ball Contest'...
A remarkable shot was played by Jon Drexler on hole four when he was able to miss an ace and end up in the left hand bunker having travelled through one of the other bunkers on the course. This 'Drexed' shot was repeated moments later by AK47!
The Perplexing Drexler Shot
Two players were standouts in the Knowley Grail in Hastings, with Hastings' own John 'Big Top Ted' McIver setting the clubhouse lead with a score of 38(+2). John 'Johnny Waffles' Moore was also looking to record a good score and also came in with a 38 to force a play-off. The sudden-death play-off was the second in a row in the Knowley Grail tournament, following Rutherford's win in Margate in September.

On hole two of the Hastings Crazy Golf course Ted beat John to lift the title and take the £11 prize money.
Big Al messes up the 18 hole


Ted wins

Bexhill-on-Sea's number one Minigolfer Alex 'Perfect Par' Pragnell awards Hastings' number two Crazy Golfer 'Big Top Ted' John McIver the Knowley Grail trophy
Results of the third Knowley Grail competition:
1. John/Ted McIver 38
2. John/Al Moore - 38
3. Richard Gottfried - 41
3. Brad Shepherd - 41
5. Will Donnelly - 43
6. Adam Kelly - 44
6. Tony Kelly - 44
6. Jon Drexler (USA) - 44
6. James Rutherford - 44
10. David Hartley - 46
11. David Donnelly - 49
 
The Knowley Grail minigolf competition was created by members of the London Minigolf Club following the Midlands Open tournament held at the 12-hole Minigolf course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull. The LMGC members had spent the Friday perusing the charity shops of nearby Knowle and found a silver chalice on sale for £2.50. This became the trophy for the Knowley Grail tournaments.

Related Blog Posts:
- Report from the Second Knowley Grail Minigolf Tournament
- The Knowley Grail of Minigolf

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Report and Results from the off-course Shenanigan Competitions in Hastings

Gottfried wins World £2 Tat Challenge & Aho wins Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championship.

Following the first day’s play of the 2012 ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings a group of the players headed to the Old Town Amusement Arcade in Hastings, East Sussex to take part in the now traditional World £2 Tat Challenge and Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championship.

Both events were publicised in the unofficial booklet of the World Crazy Golf Championship and saw an international group of participants compete.

World £2 Tat Challenge

First-up was the World £2 Tat Challenge and 30 players took part. Earlier in the month James ‘Ruthers’ Rutherford had set the Tatting world on fire with his big win in the Crazy £2 Tat Challenge Open in Hastings which saw him win a grand total of 40 pieces of Tat!!! This saw him rocket to the top of the £2 Tat Challenge Order of Merit ranking list.

With the players from England, Germany, Finland and the USA having changed up their £2 stake money into 2ps they were given a quick rules briefing before the order was given and the players set loose on the buttons and their crack at becoming World Tat Challenge Champion.

The Tatters, Ratters and Sharks at the 2012 £2 Tat Challenge in Hastings

Fourteen players in the field of 30 were veterans of the 2011 contest in which a total of 127 pieces of tat were won and were awarded to the winner, Polly, who had scored eleven 2p pusher prizes with her £2.

The 2010 World £2 Tat Challenge champion, the man they call “Johnson Paul Johnson” Paul ‘Johnson Paul Johnson’ Johnson, was making his third consecutive appearance and was hoping to find the form that won him the inaugural title.

The hot blooded contest saw many of the novice players making classic rookie errors such as feeding coins too slowly, or too fast, with a few playing at a medium pace. Costly mistakes indeed. Other errors from the players saw them going after big piece of tat thinking it’s all about the quality, not the quantity. This play is known in some quarters as “the Denis Exall gambit” and has never worked.

Action

An early club house lead was taking by Will ‘Robbed’ Donnelly with an impressive eleven pieces of tat. He must of been dreaming of heading home with the grand prize, as the same quantity in the previous year’s event would of seen him crowned world champion. However 2012 was not to be the year of the young pretender.

With players pots of two penny pence pieces running dry the tournament saw players new and old resorting to the age old seaside amusement arcade practice of ‘ratting’. Brad ‘Roland Rat’ Shepherd and newcomer Craig ‘David’ Patterson were two such players who were out, then in, then out, then back in the game a number of times.

Irwin ‘Don’t call me Owen’ Johnson was another player that seemed to be endlessly back in the game after running out of cash. In fact event half an hour after the final whistle was blown and the semi-final in the Worlds Crazy Air Hockey was underway the Dudley youngster was still finding two pees to play. However with a grand total of just four bits o’ tat he’d be playing til 2013 before he neared a winning total.

More action

The strongest overseas challenge for the title came from Finland and Pasi ‘Bruiser’ Aho. He eventually finished in the Bronze medal spot with a total of 17 pieces of tat, ahead of debuting player Mrs Kelly who had a good haul of 14 pieces. A fine effort, but not enough for the win this time.

In tied 15th place Top Chris (Overseas Category) Christian ‘Anthony Pope’ Fuchs from Germany managed to win three pieces, including a rubber duck for ‘The Fox’ to take back home with him. The USA’s ‘Hacksaw’ Jon Drexler managed to avoid drawing a blank on his debut, but was languishing in tied 25th place with a solitary piece of tat.

Tat Challenger Marc 'The Force' Chapman and his (in)action figure

Former £2 Tat Challenge Champion Alan ‘Not so Stormin’ Norman (ranked 3rd in the £2 Tat Challenge Order of Merit ) and 2010 Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Champion Kevin ‘Lost in the pub’ Moseley finished in tied 29th place after both players failed to win anything at all!? Quite how this happened is anyone’s guess. Perhaps they wisely decided to save their two quid stake money for something else and just said they didn’t win.

With Richard ‘Jaws’ Gottfried and James ‘Sharkey’ Rutherford almost all square with around 20 pieces of tat going into the home straight the other players joined the crowd to watch two of the masters of the game in action. The battle was back and forth until Gottfried ran out of money and with no 2ps seen dropping to rat he had to hold his breath and wait for the final outcome sitting on a club house lead of 23 bits of tat.

The Clubhouse Lead
Hot on the heels of his win earlier in the month Rutherford seemed to be powering to success and had a never-ending pot of money. Unfortunately it and his luck ran dry as his pockets sat at the 21 pieces mark, meaning that Richard Gottfried took the win and the 166 pieces of tat haul that was won by the competitors!

Richard Gottfried and his big bag of winnings

2012 World Tat Challenge Results
Rank Player Country Tat Won
1 Richard Gottfried ENG 23
2 James Rutherford ENG 21
3 Pasi Aho FIN 17
4 Mrs Kelly ENG 14
5 Will Donnelly ENG 11
6 Scott Lancley ENG 10
7 Anna Green ENG 8
8 Steve Gow ENG 7
9 Trevor Exall ENG 6
10 Adam Kelly ENG 5
11 Keith Kellard ENG 4
11 Oliver Florence ENG 4
11 Gareth Holmes ENG 4
11 Owen Johnson ENG 4
15 Chris Jones ENG 3
15 Denis Exall ENG 3
15 Christian Fuchs GER 3
15 Craig Patterson ENG 3
19 Brad Shepherd ENG 2
19 Emily Gottfried  ENG 2
19 Marc Chapman ENG 2
19 Paul Johnson ENG 2
19 John Moore ENG 2
19 Tony Kelly ENG 2
25 Sharon ENG 1
25 David Donnelly ENG 1
25 Jon Drexler USA 1
25 Steve Sturdy ENG 1
29 Kevin Moseley ENG 0
29 Alan Norman ENG 0

Following the 2012 Worlds there is no change at the very top of the tat challenge tree as James 'Ratters' Rutherford maintains his lead with a total of 81 pieces of tat won from his five outings (an impressive 16.2 pieces per event). In second place is Richard 'Shark King' Gottfried with a total of 63 bit.

Pasi 'Pastie Jarno' Aho leaps up from 7th to 3rd with a total of 29 pieces of tat from three events. Alan 'Stormin' Norman drops from tied 3rd to 5th, with Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried moving down one from tied 3rd to 4th. The highest new entry is Mrs Kelly with an impressive debut haul of 14 bits of tat to take a share of 7th place alongside Seth 'AWOL' Thomas who was MIA. Brad 'Ratman' Shepherd and Keith 'PP' Kellard round out the top ten places with the pair tied in 9th spot.

The £2 Tat Challenge Order of Merit Rankings List

Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championship

With no real let up between competitions the bracket for the Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championship was drawn up by Buttons Committee Executive Members Scott Lancley and Emily Gottfried.


The straight knockout event saw 16 players go head-to-head in first to seven, or until the time-limit expired matches. With three Air Hockey tables available the action came thick and fast.

In round one results:
- Johnny Waffles lost to Denis Exall 4-5
- Will ‘Robbed’ Donnelly was robbed in his match to Scott ‘Donkey Gringo’ Lancley 1-4


- Sharon beat Adam ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly in extra-time after a 2-2 draw
- Jon ‘Drex’ Drexler beat Owen ‘Do You Know’ Johnson – score unknown


- Johnson Paul Johnson bested Steve Sturdy 7-1


- Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd punched his way to victory with a 7-3 win over 2010 Champeen Kevin ‘Max’ Moseley
- Christian Fuchs was outfoxed by Craig ‘David’ Patterson in the battle of the newcomers, losing 4-6
- Marc Chapman wasn’t forceful enough in his losing effort to Pasty Arno 1-5

A random draw was held before the quarter finals commenced. The matches saw:
- Johnson Paul Johnson lose to The Fist 5-7


- Denis 'Simly the Best' Exall beat Sharon 6-0 in a Squire-bashing level of action


- Drex lost to Pasty 2-7 in an international incident


- Scott beat Craig 5-4

There was little pause in the action before the semi-final matches got underway. Margate’s Scott Lancley was drawn against the dangerous Finn Pasi Aho. The contest ended in a 4-4 draw. Eschewing the usual sudden-death extra-time golden-goal play-off, or a game of Rock Paper Scissors the pair settled the result with a coin toss. Pasi won.

In the second semi-final Denis ‘Last Exall Standing’ Exall beat Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd 7-5 to set-up an England-Finland grand final for the title of Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Champion of 2012!

The crowds gather to watch the spectacle that is the grand final of the Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championship in Hastings

With the international player champing at the bit since his arrival in Hastings he took the lead and Denis assumed the same position that faced his brother Phil in the legendary final of 2011. Denis put up a valiant effort, but it wasn’t to be for him on this occasion as Pasi Aho scored a seventh and final goal to win the match, the title and the £1 prize money with a 7-3 scoreline.

The end of the final

Pasi Aho adopting the now customary Peter Jones Champions pose

Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championships Hall of Fame:
2012 Pasi Aho (FIN)
2011 Peter Jones (WAL)
2010 Kevin Moseley (ENG) 

Pasi Aho receives his winnings from Lemony

Related Blog Posts:
Tat Challenges

Friday, November 02, 2012

A Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man in Flimwell

While travelling to Hastings, East Sussex last Thursday ahead of the 2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship we travelled through Flimwell and at the cross roads on Hawkhurst Road I spotted a Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man!!!
A Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man outside the Country Furniture Barn in Flimwell
I had to turn the car round to have a photo taken with them to add to my 'collection'. What was great that there wasn't just one of them outside the Country Furniture Barns, but two of them! And even better than that, they were double-sided!
The second Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man outside the Country Furniture Barn in Flimwell. This one was by the car park.
The point of Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-men (or Airdancers to give them their technical name) are there to help advertise businesses (as well as a few other things if you believe Family Guy's Al Harrington).
A Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man and a Blue Airdancer.
It certainly worked as we popped into the Country Furniture Bar shop for a browse and would recommend it for a visit as there were some nice home, kitchen & garden furnishings and decorations.

Links:

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Winning the Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Challenge

Report from the new Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Competition at Namco.
The Mayor of Luton Tenpin Bowling Championship Trophy!
On Thursday 27th September 2012 the Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling Team turned out for the second of this year's Charity Tenpin Bowling Challenge tournaments for the Mayor of Luton's charities. The competition took place at Luton's Namco Funscape in the Galaxy Centre and the team beat seven others to be crowned the champions.
The Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling Team - Back Row from l-r: Christopher Gottfried, Emily Gottfried, James Cunliffe. Front Row: Richard Gottfried, Simon Hall. Not pictured Laura Wood.
In March the Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling Team had competed in the last Mayor's competition in March 2012 and finished in third-place. Over the years the team has competed in a number of Tenpin Bowling tournaments in Luton and Dunstable and were the 2009 Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge Champions.
 
Ham & Eggers Team – Player Results:
1. James Cunliffe - 145 + 115 = 260 - Top player overall on the night
2. Laura Wood - 144 + 100 = 244
3. Simon Hall - 118 + 117 = 235
4. Richard Gottfried - 115 + 111 = 226
5. Christopher Gottfried - 123 + 100 = 223
6. Emily Gottfried - 109 + 85 = 194
 
The team scored a total of 1,382 points over the two rounds.
 
Two of the Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling Team were able to attend the trophy presentation by the Mayoress on the 30th October and also played a one-on-one challenge game which saw Simon 'Practice' Hall beat Richard 'Classics' Gottfried 108 to 96 having scored a Turkey in the tenth frame!
 
On the night the team also had a couple of wins in the Raffle! The evening of bowling and the raffle raised a total of £448 for the Mayor of Luton’s charities.
One of the Raffle Prizes fails at Tenpin Bowling
The Ham & Eggers are looking forward to the next charity tenpin bowling event whenever that may be.
 
Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling Team Honours Board:
2012 - Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Challenge (2) - 1st
2012 - Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Challenge - 3rd
2010 - Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge - 3rd
2009 - Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge - 1st
2008 - Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge - 3rd
2007 - Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge - 6th
 
 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Minigolf Report – Richard Gottfried a finalist in the ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship

Richard Gottfried 17th in the 2012 ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings, East Sussex, England.
 
Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried represented England for the sixth time at the tenth-annual ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship played at the Adventure Golf Complex on Hastings seafront on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th October.
Richard Gottfried teeing-off in the final of the 2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings
In the 53-player Richard reached the final and finished in 17th place overall. In the two-day seven-round tournament played on the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course Richard made the cut to qualify for the final having scored a hole-in-one on the last hole of the qualifying rounds to avoid the need for a play-off to make the final round.
Richard Gottfried playing hole 3 in the final of the 2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings
Richard scored rounds of 37, 40, 40, 38, 43, 36 and 38 for a total of 272(+20) total

2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship
Richard Gottfried - 2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship Finalist - Photo: BMGA
Following the tournament Richard said “After missing the cut last year I was very pleased to be a World Crazy Golf Championship finalist again. A number of changes were made for this year’s event with new balls introduced, the cups were made smaller and new felt had been laid on some of the holes. This all combined to make the tournament very different to last year and a very tough contest for all the players. It was a great weekend of top quality Crazy Golf and I’m looking forward to the 2013 World Championships already.”
Richard Gottfried playing hole 4 in the final of the 2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings
Richard has been a finalist in the World Crazy Golf Championships four times in his six appearances and on each occasion he has finished in 17th place.
Richard Gottfried playing hole 16 in the final of the 2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings
The overall winner of the ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championships was Oxford’s Michael Smith who became a two-time champion after retaining the title he won last year.
 
The World Crazy Golf Championship was the last individual BMGA Tour event for Richard in the 2012 season as he is unable to compete in the Kent Open at Sidcup in November.
 
The latest British Minigolf Association Ranking Lists will be updated later this week. Heading into the World Crazy Golf Championship Richard was ranked 17th of 88 players in the 2012 BMGA Official Strokeplay Order of Merit rankings. Following her runner-up finish in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open earlier in the month Emily Gottfried had moved up from 41st place to be ranked 37th. In the BMGA Season Only Rankings Richard was ranked 5th of 86 players, with Emily at 31st position.
 
Ends

Watch the Nutters with Putter Pro Crazy Golf Team on Eggheads!

The Nutters with Putters team take on TV Quiz Giants the Eggheads on BBC Two and the iPlayer!

The 'legendary' episode of the great TV Quiz show Eggheads was shown on BBC Two this evening!

At the time of its repeat airing I happened to be buying a Calzone for my tea. What are the chances eh.

From today and for the next seven days you can watch the episode of Eggheads that featured the Nutters with Putters team of Crazy Golfers from the British Minigolf Association! Check out the show on the BBC iPlayer here.

I led the team through the application and audition process and got us onto the show that was filmed in late 2008 and first aired in July 2009! We were on Series 10, Episode 49.

Enjoy.

Eggheads
Front Row: The Nutters with Putters from l-r Kevin Botto, Richard Gottfried (Captain), Tim Davies, Andy Booth, Sean Homer and Chris Harding.
Back Row: The Eggheads from l-r CJ, Daphne, Barry, Kevin and Chris.

Link:
- Eggheads, BBC Two - iPlayer
- BMGA Players take on the Eggheads, again!

Related Blog Posts:
- Nutters with Putters on Eggheads
- Eggheads-related Blog Posts

Videos from the Final of the 2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

Action from the final of the 2012 ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship that was played on the 18-hole Crazy Golf course in Hastings, East Sussex on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th October 2012.

Michael Smith managed to retain his title to become a two-time ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Champion in the 53-player field.

Check out the links below to view action from the final of the 2012 'Castle Golf' World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings:
 
 
 
 
 

Links:
- Full results of the tournament can be found here and here
- More information on the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) and the calendar of Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf competitions the organisation runs
- You can join the British Minigolf Association for FREE with the standard online membership available. For more details please visit the BMGA Membership page
- For more information on the Hastings Adventure Golf courses please click here