On Friday 29th July 2011 we headed to Earlswood Lakes to check out the Crazy Golf course that we had seen advertised last year.
Our fellow Minigolf course explorers - Paul and Owen Johnson - played the course last year and reported back that it was of a concrete construction. However, looking around we found a number of obstacles and painted hole markers on a grass surfaced 'course'.
The course also looked to be under (re)construction, and the layout looked very different to the photos I had seen from last year.
Photos from our visit (July 2011)
Photo: The Rules of Play
Photo: Richard attempts to contact fellow Minigolf tourist Paul Johnson to inform him of the course changes
A leaflet we picked up at Earlswood Lakes also described the Miniature Golf course as "Farmer Steve's Golf Mini Course".
This year there is no Maize Maze at Earlswood Lakes. However, there are still a number of shops and a tearoom and on our short visit it seemed a nice place to wile away some time.
Staying in Shirley, Solihull over the tournament double-header weekend in Dorridge I went for a wander around and in Shirley Park I found a Mini Golf Putting Course!
It wasn't 'open', although the gate was.
Looking for more information about it online I found out, via the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council website, that "The Shirley Park Putting is open as usual however we are no longer providing services for renting putters and balls, so please remember to bring you own."
While at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull for the Midlands Open and BMGA British Doubles Championships tournaments at the weekend I noticed that since my last visit to the course last July, for the Midlands Invitational Tournament, they have added two new Putting areas. One is a small synthetic Putting surface, while the other is a Grass surface.
Photo: Team Sqonkey - 'Squire' Richard Gottfried and Scott 'Donkey Gringo' Lancley
In the tournament Richard teamed with Margate’s Scott Lancley for the first time, while Emily reformed her team with London’s Brad Shepherd. Richard’s team achieved seventh place overall; with Emily’s team finishing in tenth spot in the 14-team competition.
Each of the competing 14 teams played in a round robin group qualifying stage, before moving on to a knockout stage to determine the final rankings.
Richard and Scott won their group with two wins and a loss, to qualify for the play-offs for positions 1-8, only to be defeated in their next match against the defending champions Chris Harding and Marc Chapman, who went on to win the event for the second time.
The Gottfried/Lancley team (playing as 'Team Sqonkey) had a win/loss record of three wins, and three defeats.
Photo: Team Sqonkey look on as Richard 'Gentle Touch' Skeggs plays the seventh hole at Dorridge as his Team Wilson team mate Oliver 'The Machine' Florence watches
The Gottfried/Shepherd duo (playing as 'Fist N Lemony') had a win/loss record of two wins, one draw and three losses.
3rd August 2011 Press Information For Immediate Release
Minigolf Report - Midlands Open 2011 - Emily Gottfried 7th, Richard Gottfried Ties for 8th Place
Luton Minigolfers Richard and Emily Gottfried were in action over the weekend as they competed in two competitions at the 12-hole Minigolf Course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull.
First up was the Midlands Open competition on Saturday 30th July, with Emily finishing in seventh place in the 25 strong field with a score of 95(-1). Emily had been in tied second place with British Number One Michael Smith heading into the last round, and with her strong performance in the event placed higher than Richard Gottfried for the first time in a BMGA Tour event. Richard carded a four-round total of 96(par) to finish one-shot behind in tied eighth place with London's Nick Sandqvist.
Photo: Emily plays the 12th hole in the final round
Emily said “The Midlands Open was a fantastic tournament for me. I played particularly well in the first three rounds, so I was very pleased to be playing in the leading group going out into the fourth and final round. Unfortunately it was an average round for me, which came just when other player seemed to be reaching their peak, so I dropped down the leader board. I still enjoyed the tournament greatly and it was nice to play the final round with such good players as Chris Harding and Michael Smith.”
The four-round competition was won by the reigning World Crazy Golf Champion, Birmingham’s Chris Harding with a score of 88(-8). Greenhithe’s Sean Homer defeated Canterbury’s Marc Chapman and Lewisham’s James Rutherford in a play-off to take second place after the trio had scored 90(-6).
I wrote about me and Emily's resolution to visit all of the UK's seasides, travelling on a Gluten Free diet, Minigolf, Fish & Chips, and some of the best places we've been able to eat out at.
Coeliac UK is the leading charity working for people with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH). Their mission is to improve the lives of people with coeliac disease through support, campaigning and research.
On the 2nd of August 2008 Emily and I were invited by UrbanCrazy to attend the launch of the new 18-hole Miniature Golf/Adventure Golf course at Worxham Barns, Norfolk.
Crazy Golf at 'the beach' at The Centre: MK in Milton Keynes - Minigolf course played #263
On Friday 29th July 2011 we visited and played the temporary 9-hole Crazy Golf course that has been set up at the Centre: MK Shopping Centre in Milton Keynes.
As a warm-up to the Midlands Open the Dorridge Invitational Competition was contested on the 12-hole Minigolf course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull on the evening of Friday 29th July 2011, with the eight players making up the field drawn from those still practicing.
Lewisham/Tooting/Hither Green/London/Wandsworth’s Seth ‘Clockwork Orange’ Thomas picked up the win in the 12-hole one-round event with a three shot margin over runner-up James ‘The Rocket’ Rutherford. Nick Sandqvist was third on 25.
Back in August 2009 Emily and I were on a Roadtrip around the Welsh Coast that also saw us visit and play a number of Minigolf (Minigolff) and Crazy Golf (Golff Gwyllt) courses as part of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.
After visiting Anglesey and before we hit the Great Orme mountain/Llandudno portion of our trek we paid a visit to Llanfairfechan as we'd heard there was a very interesting Minigolf course that was still (partially at least) there.
In Llanfairfechan, under the shadow of the Penmaenmawr Mountain we found the last five holes of the Minigolf course that was once in the seafront park.
Following the conclusion of the 2007 Virgin Money World Crazy Golf Championships, held on the Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Hastings, East Sussex, Emily and I had a round on the 18-hole Adventure Golf course at the Sea Front complex. The course became the 41st visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.
In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up Emily defeated me 47-48.
We last played the course in September 2010 at the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open.
On the 26th October 2007 we visited and played the 40th course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour at the 18-hole Minigolf course at the Sea Front Adventure Golf complex in Hastings, East Sussex.
The Crazy Golf course is an Arnold Palmer Putting Course and is kept in brilliant condition by the team at Hastings Adventure Golf. The course includes great obstacles such as the Windmill and Waterwheel, and is a great test of putting skill. It's my favourite course in the UK.
We were in town getting ready to compete in our first-ever World Crazy Golf Championships where Emily and I were to finish 54th and 39th respectively.
Before the main-event we held our usual Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up in which I defeated Emily 86-95 played over a round on both the Crazy Golf course and the Miniature Golf course.
We've since played the course loads of times, both in competition and just for fun.
Video: A walkround the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf in Hastings (September 2010)
The unofficial 'Magazine' for the 2010 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships included a piece I wrote about the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course. Text from the article below: "The Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Hastings is a design classic and includes all the elements that make a Crazy Golf course great – the Windmill, the Waterwheel, an Obelisk, ledges, bunkers, traps, flat loops, hills and plateaus – everything laid out to make a course interesting, testing and most of all fun!
Back in 2007 the course became the 39th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. In the last few years we’ve visited and played at 284 minigolf course locations all over the UK, and a few overseas, but of them all, the Hastings Seafront Crazy Golf course is arguably the finest course in the country and a great example of an Arnold Palmer Putting Course, it’s a pleasure to play and a great host venue course for the World’s Biggest Crazy Golf Tournament.
There are plenty of Aces out there, but it’s a course that can trip you up if you’re not careful, in my first competition here I equalled the course record (at the time) of 32(-4), but you can also easily hit a round in the 40s! It’s a great place for a fun round, and also a top location for tournament play, where I’ve had the honour to play on it in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Open, the BMGA British Matchplay Championships, and this, my fourth Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships.
It’s in an excellent location and is well maintained by David and Marion Hartley and their team, and it’s always a pleasure to visit. Here’s to many more years of competition and fun."
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