Close to the hole...

...or not!

14 tries and the Funsports 7 ball takes the victory.

Squires Gate

There is an area of Blackpool named in my honour.

Alpine Obstacle

A very Ace-able hole!

Bugsey's Shooting Shack in Blackpool

In a twist on the Old Zeke theme Blackpool has a 1920s Mob Shooting Range!

Alpine Open - Hole in One

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Crazy Adventure

The Blackpool Gazette wrote a story about the Pleasure Beach Open on 15th April and it can be found here:

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Blackpool-Pleasure-Beach-crazy-adventure.3980533.jp

There is also a video taking a look at the crazy golf at Blackpool's Pleasure Beach course and I am interviewed in it.

Two top ten finishes and a new BMGA Course Record in Blackpool Tournament

On Monday 14th April Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried travelled to Blackpool, Lancashire to compete in the inaugural Pleasure Beach Open.

In a field of 15 players, including six Great Britain Internationals, the current World Crazy Golf Champion and the BMGA British Master, Richard and Emily finished in joint 6th place. Both were tied on 98 strokes after three rounds of play on the brand new 12-hole Adventure Golf course.

In addition to her top ten finish Emily became the Pleasure Beach Women’s Champion and also managed to set the Official BMGA Record for the course, with a magnificent score of 27 strokes, achieved on her third round of play.

Emily said “I was very pleased to take part in the first tournament at the new Pleasure Beach Adventure Golf course, and both shocked and happy to set the first BMGA course record there. I had a fantastic round and I really enjoyed playing the course, which is extremely tricky in places. The Pleasure Beach is a fantastic venue and all the staff and local players were really friendly. I am looking forward to playing in Blackpool again in the near future.”

The Pleasure Beach Open was won by the reigning World Crazy Golf Champion Chris Harding who scored 28-28-29 for a total of 85, second was BMGA British Master John Moore who scored 30-28-28 for a total of 86.

Scores for Richard and Emily Gottfried:
Richard’s Score – 35-29-34 – 98
Emily’s Score – 33-38-27 – 98

Richard will next be competing in the Midland Invitational Tournament in Stratford-upon-Avon at the end of the month; both Emily and Richard will then head to Finland to compete in the European Nations Cup, followed by a return to domestic competition in Mid-May where they will team up in the BMGA British Doubles Tournament in Warwick.

Ends

Old Zeke Kicked the Bucket

You can't beat a go on Zeke's Shooting Shack when at the seaside!

Found on Southend Beach

A boatwreck!

Arnold Palmer in Southend...

...25 years and counting

Very wet weather = No Practice

Top Tip - Don't walk right next to the seafront on a day of high winds and driving rain!

BMGA British Masters 2008

BMGA British Masters Minigolf Tournament Report

On Saturday 29th March Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried travelled to Southend-on-Sea to compete against 29 of Great Britain ’s best Minigolfers in the first Minigolf ‘Major’ of the 2008 British Minigolf Association Season - the BMGA British Masters Tournament. Played over 36-holes at the tough Inca and Aztec themed Adventure Golf Course at Adventure Island the winner, with a score of 74, was Newcastle ’s John Moore.

Richard finished the tournament in 22nd place, only 14 shots off the winner and five shots away from a place in the top ten, after four 9-hole rounds scoring 22 – 22 – 24 – 20 for a total of 88 and an average of 2.44 shots per hole. Tournament winner John Moore averaged 2.05 shots per hole.

Pos Name R1 R2 R3 R4 Total Average
1 MOORE, John 19 19 18 18 74 18.50
2 KELLARD, Keith 19 19 18 20 76 19.00
3 HARDING, Chris* 17 20 21 19 77 19.25
22 GOTTFRIED, Richard 22 22 24 20 88 22.00

*Third/Fourth place decided after play-off.

Richard said “I made my debut in this competition last year and I scored a total of 95 and finished 24th of 28, so I have definitely improved this time around. This year my finishing was better, although I did still trip myself up with a five on the 9th hole and left myself some tricky second shots in places, but learning from mistakes is all part of Minigolf.”

Tournament organiser Ted McIver said of the competition “The BMGA British Masters tournament is now in its ninth year and is one of the key tournaments on the BMGA Tour Calendar. This year the competition was fierce as there were very good scores across the field, with a total of 19 players carding scores in the 80s.”

Saturday also saw the latest two knockout matches in the season-long BMGA British Matchplay Championships being played. In the first match Brighton & Hove Minigolf Club member Kevin Botto beat Ted McIver by one hole, while in the second match British Number 5 Andy Exall, of the Tunbridge Wells Minigolf Club, beat Richard Gottfried 4&3.

Commenting on his victory over Richard, Andy Exall said “It was a good match, unfortunately for Richard I played easily my best Minigolf of the day during the match. He did get a nice Ace on the 10th Hole and I’m going to try his line next year.”

Match Referee Trevor Robertson said “It was a great pleasure to preside over the Exall/Gottfried Matchplay tie. There was quality play all round, and the match was much closer than the final score suggested.”

Richard said “It was a great tournament and a really good Matchplay match. Unfortunately I lost, but I did so against one of the tournament favourites. It's all good practice for me and playing against highly experienced players like Andy Exall can only help me improve in the sport.”

Ends

Tenpin Bowling Summed Up

"To love bowling is to be so supremely secure or so culturally naive as to shrug off the pall of utter unhipness that shadows all who celebrate the skill of throwing a 16-pound orb at a single spot down an oiled patch of wood (or something that looks like it) 60 feet long and 42 inches wide."

Andrew Putz, The Cleveland Scene, August 10, 2000

The Running Man - Classic Quote

"WHITMAN, PRICE, AND HADDAD!!! You remember them! There they are now, BASKING under the Maui sun."

According to Damon Killian, host of "The Running Man," Whitman, Price, and Haddad are "last seasons winners" of the Running Man gameshow. According to the bounty hunter named Fireball, played by ex-NFL running back and Hall of Famer Jim Brown, Whitman, Price, and Haddad are "last season's losers." Regardless, these three contestants are found dead and severely burned by Maria Conchita Alonzo in the musky bosom of the gameshow's playing ground.

What's in a Minigolf Kitbag?

A selection of specialist Minigolf balls and a Funsports Putter!

Snow Day Crazy Golf Course

Car Park Snow Golf

“Disappointing BMGA Tour start for the Gottfrieds.”

The Luton News and Dunstable Gazette newspapers featured a story about our participation in the first event of the 2008 BMGA Tour at the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open and the tournament results on page 66 of the Sports Section in the Wednesday 19th March Edition.

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Despite coming 25th and 26th respectively, the event was a good training opportunity for the upcoming British Championships that will also be played on the Planet Hastings course - a course that until this weekend, neither of us had played before!

Minigolf Season Opener – Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open Report

On Saturday 15th March Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried entered the field of 31 competitors in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open Championship 2008to play 72-holes, across the four Minigolf courses in Hastings .

The winner was Trevor Exall from Tunbridge Wells who achieved a winning total of 144 strokes, averaging two strokes per hole – a very impressive perfect score of Par overall on the tough Hastings courses.

Emily was impressive in only her second tournament on the BMGA Tour and finished as the 3rd best female player and 26th overall with a score of 182 (2.52 strokes per hole). Emily hit five holes-in-one over the four rounds and won through to a spot-prize play-off against eventual tournament winner Trevor Exall, unfortunately Emily hit a two while Trevor ‘Aced’ the hole to win.

Richard finished his 11th BMGA Tour event in 25th place with a score of 181 (2.51 strokes per hole) and hitting 6 holes-in-one, but also scoring two sevens which put paid to his chances of finishing higher in the tournament.

The table below shows a breakdown and comparison of the scores over the four courses of the top three players and Richard & Emily Gottfried.
Pos Player Adv Cra Min PH Total Aces 7's
1 Trevor Exall 35 39 37 33 144 10 0
2 Chris Harding 39 33 36 39 147 9 0
3 Tim Davies 41 35 38 36 150 10 0
25 Richard Gottfried 48 35 47 51 181 6 2
26 Emily Gottfried 48 42 44 48 182 5 0

The table below shows a breakdown and comparison of the scores over the four courses of the top six female players.
Pos Player Adv Cra Min PH Total Aces 7's
1 Jo Williamson 44 40 37 44 165 6 0
2 Sue Forrest 43 41 46 44 174 4 0
3 Emily Gottfried 48 42 44 48 182 5 0
4 Cindy Kukielka 45 40 47 58 190 5 1
5 Marion Homer 46 40 49 65 200 2 2
6 Janette Robertson 51 42 52 56 201 3 1



During the tournament the course record at the Seafront Crazy Golf course, which was previously held by Richard Gottfried was broken by Brad Shepherd of the London Minigolf Club who scored a 28, breaking the previous record of 32 and scoring eight holes-in-one in the process.

The next tournament on the BMGA Tour sees Richard travel to Southend-on-Sea to play for the BMGA British Masters title and compete in the BMGA British Matchplay Championships against British Number 5 Andy Exall.

3rd Place Finish for Ham & Eggers Bowling Team

The Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling Team achieved a measure of success yesterday evening by striking a third place finish in the Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge held at Namco Station Luton.

New champions were also crowned with the Flecney Four out-bowling defending, and two-time, champions Plumbs DIY.

In the 2007 Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge the Ham & Eggers finished in 6th place of nine teams with a team score of 814, so the 2008 result in reaching the podium is a big improvement.

The scores within the Ham & Eggers Team were as follows:
Richard Gottfried - 109 & 111 = 220
Emily Gottfried - 111 & 119 = 230
Mike Wright - 96 & 126 = 222
Mystery Player - 88 & 75 = 163
Team Total - 404 & 431 = 835
Team MVP - Emily Gottfried (2 years running)