Minigolf Report - Scrap Iron Cup 5 - Bristol - Jungle Rumble

Fifth Scrap Iron Cup Minigolf Competition - Results and Report

On Saturday 12th February four members of the Midlands Minigolf Club (MMGC) and a player from the Green Mini Golf Club took part in the Johnson's Scrap Iron Cup competition played at the 36-hole Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course at Cabot Circus in Bristol. The tournament used a two-round mixed strokeplay and matchplay format.

With Richard Gottfried, Paul Johnson and Owen Johnson paying members of the Green Mini Golf Club, as well as being long-time members of the Midlands Minigolf Club, an offer to compete for the Scrap Iron Cup was extended to Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas (who was part-way through a practice round with Richard ahead of the following day's BMGA Rumble in the Jungle tournament). Seth accepted his 'Day-Pass' to the MMGC.

As at the previous staging of the Scrap Iron Cup, last month in Birmingham, five players lined-up, with the field including:

- 'Squire' Richard Gottfried
- Paul 'The Overtaker' Johnson
- Owen 'Jackpot' Johnson
- Peter 'The Crazy Aced Assassin' Jones
- Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas

The top ranked player after round one was up and coming GMGC player Seth Thomas, who scored the only under-par round with a good 17(-1).

Much like the Star City hosted 4th Scrap Iron Cup in Birmingham, a play-off was again needed to decide who would join Seth as the other finalist after Paul Johnson and Richard Gottfried had both tied on 18(par). A sudden-death play-off followed and was won at the third extra-hole by Gottfried. The play off saw Paul and Richard score 2-2, 1-1 and x-2.

In the 9-hole Matchplay Match final-round Seth Thomas won 1-up in a very close match that saw both players trade Aces in the early holes, and Thomas win the match and the Johnson's Scrap Iron Cup at the 18th hole (the 9th of the match).

Full details and results are below:

Scrap Iron Cup
Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf Course, Cabot Circus, Bristol
12/02/2011
Venue: Jungle Course (Strokeplay & Matchplay)

Round One - Strokeplay
Rank Player Score
1. Seth Thomas 17
2. Richard Gottfried 18 – won sudden-death play-off at the 3rd extra hole
3. Paul Johnson 18
4. Peter Jones 20
5. Owen Johnson 21

Round Two – Matchplay

Seth Thomas vs. Richard Gottfried

Seth Thomas wins 1-up

Photo: New Scrap Iron Cup Champion Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas holds aloft some thin air, where the trophy should be, if it were not in the boot of the outgoing champion's car!

The Scrap Iron Cup 'originally' came 'packaged' in a disposable Iceland carrier bag. Somewhere between Scrap Iron Cup competitions 3 and 4 this bag was lost, so ahead of the Bristol event an Iceland Bag For Life was bought to house the prestigious trophy!

The Scrap Iron Cup Minigolf Championship will be contested again at The Green Indoor Mini Golf in February and the Jungle Rumble Course in Liverpool in March.

Scrap Iron Cup - Hall of Fame
2011 - #5 - Seth Thomas beat Richard Gottfried - Bristol
2011 - #4 - Richard Gottfried beat Cindy Kukielka - Birmingham
2010 - #3 - Owen Johnson beat Richard Gottfried - Birmingham
2010 - #2 - Richard Gottfried beat Paul Johnson - Weymouth
2010 - #1 - Richard Gottfried beat Paul Johnson - Sandbanks

Rules of the Scrap Iron Cup
• Played between members of the Midlands Minigolf Club
• Played in either groups of two, or one group, in round one
• Groups are drawn at random (often using the 'balls in a hat' technique)
• Round one is a strokeplay match played over 7, 9, 11, 12 or 18 holes
• The two players with the top scores after round one qualify for the second round/final
• Round two is a matchplay match played over 7, 9, 12 or 18 holes
• The winner of the matchplay match becomes the Scrap Iron Cup* Champion**

* The Scrap Iron Cup (aka the 'NABBA ENGLAND 95 CLASS TWO WINNER' Trophy) remains the property of Owen and Paul Johnson
** The Reigning Scrap Iron Champion retains the cup until the next defence whereupon it is given up until the next Scrap Iron Cup tournament has been completed

Piers we've visited and a new Coast Magazine 'Pier Campaign'

The excellent Coast Magazine has a new campaign that is encouraging people to walk as many of Britain's piers as possible so they can raise funds to help restore the Grade II-listed pier in Hastings - which was almost all destroyed by fire in October 2010. A terrible shame indeed. More information about the community-led campaign by the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust can be found on the HPWRT website.

Looking at the Coast Magazine 'Pier Prom Tick List', of the 51 surviving Piers in the UK, we've visited 32 of them on our travels! We hadn't realised we'd visited quite so many since we made a resolution to visit as many different seasides all over the UK back in 2006.

Here's the Coast Magazine Pier Prom Tick List, along with a note on those that Emily and I have been to:
1 Aberystwyth Royal -- Visited
2 Bangor Garth
3 Blackpool Central -- Visited
4 Blackpool North -- Visited
5 Blackpool South -- Visited
6 Bognor Regis
7 Boscombe -- Visited
8 Bournemouth -- Visited
9 Brighton Palace -- Visited
10 Burnham-on-Sea
11 Clacton -- Visited
12 Cleethorpes Pier 39
13 Clevedon
14 Cromer
15 Deal
16 Dunoon
17 Eastbourne -- Visited
18 Falmouth
19 Felixstowe -- Visited
20 Gravesend Town -- Visited
21 Great Yarmouth Britannia -- Visited
22 Great Yarmouth Wellington -- Visited
23 Harwich -- Visited
24 Herne Bay -- Visited
25 Llandudno -- Visited
26 Looe Banjo
27 Lowestoft Claremont -- Visited
28 Lowestoft South -- Visited
29 Mumbles -- Visited
30 Paignton
31 Penarth -- Visited
32 Rothesay
33 Ryde -- Visited
34 Saltburn
35 Sandown Culver -- Visited
36 Skegness
37 Southend-on-Sea -- Visited
38 Southport -- Visited
39 Southsea Clarence -- Visited
40 Southsea South -- Visited
41 Southwold -- Visited
42 St Annes -- Visited
43 Swanage
44 Teignmouth Grand
45 Torquay Princess
46 Walton-on-the-Naze -- Visited
47 Weston-super-Mare Grand
48 Weymouth Bandstand -- Visited
49 Weymouth Pleasure -- Visited
50 Worthing -- Visited
51 Yarmouth

We've also been to Colwyn Bay Pier (closed) and Hastings Pier (Burned Down) on our coastal tour of the UK.

You can join Coast's Great Pier Promenade by visiting the Coast Magazine website.

Link to the National Piers Society website.

Photos of some of the Piers we've been to.

Southwold.


Brighton.


Eastbourne.


Walton-on-the-Naze.


Herne Bay.


Clacton.

Blackpool.

Southend-on-Sea.

Southsea.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Seasides Visited on Our UK Coastal Tour to Date.

All Four Home Nations Visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Minehead & Southend on Sea - pre-Crazy World of Minigolf Tour course visits

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour began on the 30th September 2006 and the Irregular Mini Golf Tour has grown alongside it. We've also been involved in British Minigolf Association competitions since 2007 and played in a WMF/EMF tournament in Finland in 2008.

However, before all this began Emily and I, like many other Brits, had been playing Crazy Golf and Minigolf since we were kids. One of our first holidays together was to Butlins Minehead in 2004 where we were to play the Arnold Palmer Putting Course there.

The pre-Crazy World of Minigolf Tour archives are very patchy, so results from the match-up are thin on the ground. All we remember is that there were no scorecards, it was £2.50 per player, and we were offered a second round for free, but didn't take up the offer as the course was in such poor shape!

Another, even earlier, pre-Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Minigolf visit was to the Aztec and Inca Adventure Golf courses at Adventure Island in Southend on Sea in 2003. Again, results of this contest are lost in the ether!

The Adventure Island course in Southend was the location for my BMGA Tour debut in 2007, at that year's BMGA British Masters tournament.

British Tourism Week - 12th - 20th March 2011

Britain is being urged to get involved in British Tourism Week from 12 to 20 March 2011. Drawing national awareness to tourism’s critical importance, it will galvanise organisations and individuals to take pride in being part of the £115 billion visitor economy.

Visit http://www.britishtourismweek.com/ for more information.

A good chance to visit the seaside, walk some Piers and play some Crazy Golf!

What the Dickens?

I spotted a piece in yesterday's Daily Express about Charles Dickens in a list of 'Ten things you never knew about...Dickens'. I never knew he "hated the game of Croquet."

I wonder what he would've made of Minigolf?

An unplayed Mini Golf Putting Green in Luton - £625,000 a go!

Back in April (the 1st no less) the Property pages of the Luton Herald & Post newspaper had an advert for a house for sale on the Old Bedford Road in Luton that had a 'feature golf lawn' - a Putting Green - in the back garden!

A quick Google Search found a website showing the property.

'Only' £625,000 for a 3-hole Putting Course!

If you haven't got that much to spare, then just over the road are a Crazy Golf and Putting Course. These two were the 18th and 19th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

If you're in Luton there's also a good little Minigolf course and Putting Green at Tea Green Golf at Wandon End.

Dodgeball in Luton 2011 - Gottfried vs. Gottfried

The new Dodgeball season has got underway in Luton, Bedfordshire, with the 'Alumni' of the local Get Back Into programme continuing to play in 2011, along with picking up a few new recruits too.

Emily has un-retired from the sport and so 2011 will see a battle in the Gottfried household!

Last week we were on the same team and suffered an 8-4 defeat!

This week we were on opposing teams in our first face-to-face Dodgeball match since the glory-days of Dodgeball UK back between 2005 and 2007! Nine-matches were played, and the result was a 5-4 victory to Emily's team, with '9 Lives' getting me 'out' three times!

Photo - Luton Dodgeballer 'Stentorian' Richard Gottfried wearing an apt sweatband given to him following his Christmas excesses!


Links:
Dodgeball in Luton - End of the 2010 Season

Get Back Into

Dodgeball - Then & Now

strange games: Beer Pong - New UK tournament.

strange games: Beer Pong - New UK tournament.: "Strange Games has been contacted by Ben Newham, a leading light in the UK Beer Pong scene. He is staging a major UK Beer Pong..."

Laser Tag in Birmingham and London

In the last week we've played two games of Laser Tag. The first at Laser Station at Star City, Birmingham, followed by the Star Command Laser Tag at The Trocadero in London.

Both were great fun and reminded me of playing Quasar and Laser Quest years ago in Oxford, Minehead, Bognor Regis and Barry Island.

The last time we played the Laser Station in Birmingham Emily defeated me, Mark Swain, Craig McAllister and Angela McAllister. This time out I was the 'Top Gun' amongst the Minigolfers. At 'The Troc' yesterday I was runner-up.



The players in The Trocadero Laser Tag Briefing Room


Richard & Emily post-battle.


The weapons at the Star Command Laser Tag in London have a number of different Ammunition types which add a whole new dimension to the 'sport'.

I've also heard there's a Quasar/Laser Quest in Hemel Hempstead, and remembered there's one in Bedford too. Not too from us here in 'Parts Unknown' (Luton). Plans are also afoot for a re-match from the Star City Contest amongst members of the BMGA Tour when they head to Bristol soon.

We're also big fans of Shooting Shacks here at The Ham & Egger Files, and whenever we head to Blackpool we always head for the Pirate Flyer Indoor Laser Game Monorail at the Coral Island Amusement Arcade.

Gluten Free Options at the Carnaby Burger Company in London

While in London yesterday we walked past the Carnaby Burger Co and noticed that they had Gluten Free Options on the menu.


Later that day we headed back for dinner and I ordered the very good 'Plain & Simple' Burgers - two Burgers and Salad. Very tasty they were too (as was the Mai Tai Cocktail).

I will be back for more in the future :-)

Sandwell Valley Park - New Mini Golf Course - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

On Sunday 24th January 2010 we headed to Sandwell Valley Park in West Bromwich to visit and play the 18-hole Eternit Miniature Golf Course there. It became The course was the 159th played, and 205th visited overall on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On the 19th April 2010 we heard from MMGC team mates Chris Harding and Paul & Owen Johnson that the 18-hole Eternit course had been scrapped, with a new Swedish Felt course set to take its place.

Following the Star City Open minigolf tournament at Adventure Island Mini Golf at Star City in Birmingham on Sunday 23rd January 2011 we headed back to the course for a look at the new 9-hole Swedish Felt B-Run Minigolf Course.




















Over the road from the Crazy Golf/Mini Golf course there was also a sign for another Mini Golf course! This I believe is of the Pitch & Putt variety, and I've heard the course isn't too bad to play.


Click for details of more course visits on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Gottfried's in the BMGA Season Only Ranking List for 2011 (following the BMGA Star City Open)

The BMGA has published the first edition of the new season's Ranking List following the BMGA Star City Open at Adventure Island Mini Golf in Birmingham.

I am currently ranked in tied 16th place of 34 players with 420 points in the BMGA Season Only Rankings for 2011. Emily is ranked in tied 19th spot with 390 points.

Gottfried Minigolf Rankings in 2010 - BMGA, WMF, WCGC, MMGC, GMGC

GoRPS Rock Paper Scissors Championships in Birmingham

Following the action at the BMGA Star City Open minigolf tournament, and prior to the mayhem of the Laser Station Challenge on Sunday 23rd January a bunch of players waited in the Beach Road Cafe Bar playing pool and whiling away the 25 minute wait.

With some time still to spare the Guild of Rock Paper Scissors (GoRPS) arranged an impromptu RPS Battle!

With seven players competing it was Irchester's Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley who triumphed, with an impressive undefeated streak of 4 wins in a row, in the 'best-of-3-throws-winner-stays-on' format event!

Photo: Kevin 'Max' Moseley throws an agressive 'Paper', only to be cut short by Northamptonshire's RPS #1 Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley.

Full Results from the GoRPS Rock Paper Scissors Championships in Birmingham
Match 1 - Richard Gottfried lost to Oliver Florence
Match 2 - Emily Gottfried beat Oliver Florence
Match 3 - Marc Bazeley bested Emily Gottfried
Match 4 - Marc Bazeley defeated The Leamington Spa-Based Man of Mystery
Match 5 - Marc Bazeley beat Richard 'Richard' Skeggs
Match 6 - Marc Bazeley defeated Kevin Moseley

Back in November 2010 Richard and Emily competed in the UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships (Ollie and fellow GoRPS member Paul 'The Terminator' Jones were spectators then). The GoRPS was formed that very night too!

strange games: Mini Golf 2011 events & Midget Golf

strange games: Mini Golf 2011 events & Midget Golf: "The British Mini Golf Association 2011 event list is finalised with diminutive golfing events around the country in such hotspots of glamour..."

A bizarre 'Gluten Free' Restaurant Menu spotted in Birmingham

A bizarre Restaurant Menu spotted by Emily Gottfried at the Beach Road Cafe Bar at Star City, Birmingham. It states some menu options are Gluten Free, but the menu hasn't got any Gluten Free dishes!?

Asking inside the staff had no idea what Gluten was, or anything about the Coeliac options!?

Results of the first Scrap Iron Cup Minigolf Competition of 2011

Fourth Scrap Iron Cup Minigolf Competition - Results and Report

On Saturday 22nd January five members of the Midlands Minigolf Club (MMGC) took part in the intra-team Scrap Iron Cup competition played at the 36-hole Adventure Island Mini Golf course at Star City, Birmingham. The tournament used a two-round mixed strokeplay and matchplay format.

The top ranked player after round one was British Ladies Number One Cindy Kukielka, who scored the only under-par round with an excellent 34(-2).

To decide who would join Cindy as the other finalist a play-off was required after Paul Johnson and Richard Gottfried had both tied on 37(+1). A sudden-death play-off followed and was won at the fourth extra-hole by Gottfried. The play off saw Paul and Richard score 1-1, 1-1, 2-2 and 4-1.

In the 18-hole Matchplay Match final-round Gottfried won 3&1 in a very back and forth match against Kukielka to dash hopes of the Scrap Iron Cup making its way to Wales for the first time.

The Scrap Iron Cup Championship will be contested again in Bristol in February.

Full details and results are below:

Scrap Iron Cup
Adventure Island Mini Golf, Star City, Birmingham 22/01/2011
Venue: Lost Hut Trail (Strokeplay), Hidden Cove (Matchplay)

Round One - Strokeplay
Rank Player Score
1. Cindy Kukielka 34
2. Richard Gottfried 37 – won sudden-death play-off at the 4th extra hole
3. Paul Johnson 37
4. Owen Johnson 39
5. Emily Gottfried 41

Round Two – Matchplay

Cindy Kukielka vs. Richard Gottfried

Richard Gottfried wins 3&1

Richard celebrates his victory and regaining the trophy (following his defeat at the hands of Owen 'Jackpot' Johnson in 2010).

Scrap Iron Cup - Hall of Fame
2011 - #4 - Richard Gottfried beat Cindy Kukielka - Birmingham
2010 - #3 - Owen Johnson beat Richard Gottfried - Birmingham
2010 - #2 - Richard Gottfried beat Paul Johnson - Weymouth
2010 - #1 - Richard Gottfried beat Paul Johnson - Sandbanks

Rules of the Scrap Iron Cup
• Played between members of the Midlands Minigolf Club
• Played in either groups of two, or one group, in round one
• Groups are drawn at random (often using the 'balls in a hat' technique)
• Round one is a strokeplay match played over 9, 11, 12 or 18 holes
• The two players with the top scores after round one qualify for the second round/final
• Round two is a matchplay match played over 7, 9, 12 or 18 holes
• The winner of the matchplay match becomes the Scrap Iron Cup* Champion**

* The Scrap Iron Cup (aka the 'NABBA ENGLAND 95 CLASS TWO WINNER' Trophy) remains the property of Owen and Paul Johnson
** The Reigning Scrap Iron Champion retains the cup until the next defence whereupon it is given up until the next Scrap Iron Cup tournament has been completed