Another Seaside Shooting Shack

This time it was Cody's Cabin in Felixstowe, Suffolk.

BMGA British Doubles Tournament

Minigolf Report – BMGA British Doubles Tournament in Warwick

On Saturday 17th May 2008 Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried joined forces to compete in the BMGA British Doubles Minigolf Tournament at the Adventure Golf course at St Nicholas Park, Warwick. In total fourteen teams competed in the event, which was won by the Tunbridge Wells Team of brothers Andy and Trevor Exall.

The format of the tournament was 12-hole Matchplay, with one member of the team taking the first shot and then alternating with their playing partner on any further shots if necessary. This format is quite different to the normal singles stroke play format used on the BMGA Tour, but made for some exciting matches.

The fourteen teams were split into two groups for the Round Robin stage of the tournament in which Richard and Emily played six matches. Here they achieved three wins, two losses and a draw, giving them a total of 10 points. This saw them in 5th place in their group and 7th overall. In the next round of knockout matches they faced the team of Alan Norman and Gareth Holmes and were defeated by three holes. This defeat saw them finish the tournament in 11th place.

Following their recent performances in tournaments both Richard and Emily have moved up the rankings in the BMGA Order of Merit. Richard has risen to 25th in Great Britain (from 34th) and Emily, who was previously unranked now lies in 44th place.

Commenting on the British Doubles Richard said “The format of the tournament was different to what we are used to playing, but it made for some interesting play and you can really see how sometimes you leave yourself a very tough second shot when you have to watch your partner playing it.”

He added “Overall I am pleased with our performance, we had some very good wins and some very close one-hole defeats in the group stage and were unfortunate in the knockout round. We took a three on the first hole of our semi-final to go one-down and then Alan and Gareth Aced the next hole, meaning we were playing catch-up all round.”

Hesburger

The best Burgers in all of Finland can be found at Hesburger!

Hesburger in Tampere, Finland

While playing for the Great Britain Minigolf Team at the 2008 Nations Cup we enjoyed the meals at Hesburger

Link:

- Hesburger

Nations Cup, Tampere, Finland

On the 10th & 11th May 2008 Minigolfers Richard Gottfried and Emily Gottfried were members of the Great Britain team that competed in the Minigolf European Nations Cup in Tampere, Finland.

The Great Britain Minigolf teams finished the tournament in 12th & 13th places. In the individual rankings Richard finished in 51st place and Emily in 53rd.

The Great Britain team also received Competitors medals at the tournament.

Full details, results and statistics from the Nations Cup 2008 can be found here.






Photos from Nations Cup 2008.

3rd place finish in the MIT!

At the Midland Invitational Tournament in April Richard Gottfried achieved his best finish to date by taking third place.

In doing so he also earned a place in the Midlands A Team for the upcoming BMGA Club Championships in Stratford Upon Avon in June.

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!