Business Tenants in London Ready to Get Putting on New Office Minigolf Course

Reading the CITY A.M. newspaper on the 10th January 2012 Emily spotted a story on The Capitalist page about a new City office space that is offering tenants a mini-golf course as part of the package!

The offices are run by the serviced office company Co-Work and their City location in London is home to a three-hole Miniature Golf Putting course.

You can see the course layout in the first photo on the Co-Work ‘City’ location website.

Links:
- “GOLF RETURNS TO THE BOARDROOM AS CITY FIRM TEES UP TENANTS” Story on City AM website
- Co-Work
- Co-Work City Location

Related Blog Posts:
- Minigolf in London
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- 85 Years Too Late to Play a Rooftop Putting Green in London

Regular Show & Miniature Golf

Just before Christmas one of my nephews told me to check out a cartoon on the Cartoon Network called ‘Regular Show’, so I did.

It’s brilliant.

The show followers two 23-year-old Park Groundskeepers, Mordecai and Rigby, and the many shenanigans they get up to as they try to avoid work and their angry boss, Benson. The pair enjoy slacking off, playing video games (on what looks like a Sega Master System 1), Zombies and Rock Paper Scissors, amongst other things!

The rest of the cast of characters on the show are a weird bunch too.

One of the episodes ‘Do Me A Solid’ features Minigolf (in an ironic sense).

I urge you to check out Regular Show, it’s anything but!

Links:
- Regular Show on Cartoon Network UK
- Regular Show on Cartoon Network USA
- Regular Show page on Wikipedia

Putter Fingers’ ‘Spot The Ball’ Minigolf Competition

The team at Crazy Golf business Putter Fingers have launched their second online competition and this one is a minigolf ‘Spot The Ball’ contest!

To enter the online competition you’ll need to visit the Putter Fingers facebook page to check out the photo and choose the grid square you think the ball is in.

The photo was taken at the 2008 BMGA British Open held at Strokes Adventure Golf course in Margate, Kent (which will once again host the tournament in September this year).

The contest closes at 12pm on Wednesday 18th January 2012.

Links:
- Putter Fingers
- Putter Fingers ‘Spot The Ball’ contest page
- Spot the Ball – Crazy Golf Style! January Mini Golf Competition
- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)
- Strokes Adventure Golf
- Winners of the Putterfingers Micro Putt Minigolf Competition Announced

100,000+ hits - Thank you for reading!

Towards the end of December 2011 The Ham & Egger Files had its 100,000th 'hit'!

I’d like to start the New Year by thanking everyone for visiting and reading the blog over the years.

Looking at the web stats, The Ham & Egger Files has been visited by people from 32 countries outside of the UK, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Moldova, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, the USA and Venezuela.

So, wherever you are from and whatever your interests are, be it Miniature Golf (Air Hockey, Amusement Arcades, Arm Champs II Arcade Games Arm Wrestling, Brussels Sprout Competitive Eating, Bun Throwing, Conga Dancing, Crazy Air Squash, Crazy Golf, Crystal Maze Games, Darts, Dodgeball, Fake Alligators/Crocodiles, Gluten Free, Guinness World Records, Lazer Tag, Picnicking, Piers, (Ping) Pong, Pirate Flyer Laser Monorails, Rock Paper Scissors, Shooting Shacks, 'Tat' Challenges, Tea Rooms, Thumb Wrestling or Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube Men) do keep checking back for more...as I'll be continuing to write about our travels on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour (and other sports and games).

If you have any suggestions or comments to make please do let me know, it’s always good to hear feedback from visitors from around the world.

All the best for 2012.

Richard

Putter King Miniature Golf Hole Design Contest - Vote for the Best of the Top 3

The Putter King Miniature Golf Hole Design Contest deadline has passed and the three winners have been declared.

The three Hole Designs will be added as a free update to the Putter King Adventure Golf app for iOS and Android.

The top three Minigolf Hole Designs have now been put through to a final stage of voting to decide which will win the cash prize.

The winning designs were:
- Island Moai Statues
- PK's Crown
- Putter King Car Course

You can vote at the Putter King contest page on facebook. Voting ends on Sunday 15th of January 2012.

My Miniature Golf Hole Design for the competition - The Jewel in the Crown - was voted as the sixth best of 30 design submissions.

Links:
- The Putter King website
- Putter King App Hole Design Vote on facebook
- My hole design (sadly not a winner) – The Jewel in the Crown
- Early Details of the 2nd Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt Released

Todays Escape Route!

An odd sign spotted at Ally Pally.

While playing the Crazy Golf course at Alexandra Palace I noticed an interestingly positioned sign.

An interesting exit route! For today at least!

The best thing about the photo is that the blue doors are padlocked shut too, so the ladder may be the best bet!

Links:
- Crazy Golf at Alexandra Palace in London - Course played #282
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

2012 Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament - New Year's Day Crazy Golf at Woodside Animal Farm

Results and photos from the 2012 Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament at Woodside Animal Farm, Slip End Village near Luton.

Luton's Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried became the first player to retain the Luton Invitational Tournament title as she defeated 'Squire' Richard Gottfried in the 2012 edition of the competition.

Reigning Luton Invitational Tournament minigolf champion Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried with the 2012 LIT prize of a magnetic Rat 

Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried tees-off on hole one to begin what would be her successful defence of the LIT title

The fourth staging of the event saw only two players compete as Simon 'Practice' Hall failed to make the 2pm tee-off time as he was in no condition to perform.

Emily won the tournament with a score of 47(+11) to Richard's 49(+13), with Emily hitting two Aces on the 18-hole course. Richard scored zero holes-in-one.

Two-time Luton I.T. Minigolf Champion Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried said "I am very pleased to be the first LIT Champion to retain my title, and I am obviously also very happy with my successful start to 2012."

'Squire' Richard Gottfried said "Well played to Lemony for a big minigolf win to start the new year. I always enjoyed starting the year by visiting Woodside Animal Farm. I was disappointed not to win the competition though and doubly annoyed to have fallen over and hurt my knee on the hill on the 15th hole. This year the animals were in high spirits too and we saw two Pigs attempting what looked to be a Piggyback! I think they failed though!"

Simon 'Practice' Hall said "I'm planning to be back in action at the 2013 edition of the event and hopefully it'll be taking place in the French Riviera."

Since 2010 the Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament has been the traditional opening Miniature Golf event of the year on the Irregular Mini Golf Tour. In 2010 the players faced-off in arctic cold weather conditions, while 2011 was played in heavy drizzle. 2012's weather was mild, but drizzly.

Luton Invitational Tournament Honours Board:
2012 - Emily Gottfried
2011 - Emily Gottfried
2010 - Richard Gottfried
2006 - Joanne Tubby

On the 1st of January each year Woodside Animal Farm opens for a New Year's Day Party to raise money for the Keech Cottage Children's Hospice and Grove House charities.

Video: 'Squire' Richard Gottfried introduces the LIT from Hole 15 of the Woodside Crazy Golf course


Photos of the Luton Invitational Tournament on the Woodside Crazy Golf course:

Emily on Hole 2 - Chicken Run

Emily on her way to scoring a 7 on Hole 7. This would not dent her chances of the win though 

Emily on the Pond Drop hole

Richard on Hole 2 - Chicken Run

Richard on a downhill hole

A tricky second Putt for Richard

Richard on the 'Bags of Fun' hole

Richard 'drives' the Tractor on Hole 18

Photos of our wander around Woodside Animal Farm:

Richard feeds a Miniature Pony

An Alpaca eats some Carrot

The Minature (sic) Ponies!

One of the Pigs

Some Flamingoes

A couple of Lemurs

Archive of LIT Minigolf Results 2006-2012:

2012 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:
1. Emily Gottfried - 47 (+11)
2. Richard Gottfried - 49 (+13)

2011 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:
1. Emily Gottfried - 43 (+7)
2. Richard Gottfried - 51 (+15)
3. Simon Hall - 54 (+18)
4. Mystery Player - 57 (+21)

2010 Luton Invitational Tournament Results:
1. Richard Gottfried - 46 (+10)
2T. Emily Gottfried - 54 (+18)
2T. Mystery Player - 54 (+18)
4. Simon Hall - 57 (+21)

2007-2009 - Luton Invitational Tournament:
Not Played

2006 Luton Invitational Tournament Results*:
1. Jo Tubby - 54 (par)
2. Emily Gottfried - 56 (+2)
3. Richard Gottfried - 62 (+8)
* Note: Par used was 'Course Par' of 3 shots per hole, rather than 'BMGA Par' of 2 shots per hole.


The Woodside Animal Farm Crazy Golf course was the 4th course ever to be played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back on the 27th October 2006. As of January 1st 2012 Emily and Richard have visited 444 Miniature Golf courses on the Tour.

2011 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review

All the highlights & happenings and fun & games from the past year!

2011 saw another busy year of blogging here on The Ham & Egger Files. The site began on the 21st of December 2006 and in the past five years a total of 1,350 blog posts have been published! 450 of them being written in 2011.

During 2011 we've played a further 72 Miniature Golf courses, taking the total played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour to date to 282, with a further 162 visited but not played for a variety of reasons. This makes a grand total of 444 visited overall since the 30th of September 2006!

Us with some FREE Minigolf Game Passes won at Great Yarmouth

Below is a month by month breakdown of some of the highlights of our year of Adventures on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour (and in other sports and games).

January
- 39 blog posts
- Emily wins the first Minigolf competition of the year at the Luton Invitational Tournament
- Richard is the runner-up in a GMGC Club Tournament
- Richard is 17th and Emily is 28th at the Star City Open minigolf competition in Birmingham

February
- 30 blog posts
- Richard attends his first-ever Punk Gig!
- Richard is 12th in the BMGA Rumble in the Jungle minigolf tournament in Bristol
- Richard is 3rd in a GMGC Club Tournament
- Teaming with Oliver 'The Machine' Florence, Richard finishes in 7th place in the GMGC Green Doubles minigolf tournament in Hither Green

March
- 32 blog posts
- We play the 212th and 213th courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on a trip to Liverpool
- We find a Ham & Egg Parade in New Brighton
- We fight each other in a one-on-one Laser Tag Battle at the Lazer Quest in New Brighton!
- Richard is 16th and Emily 19th in the BMGA National Open in Liverpool
- Richard wins the Scrap Iron Cup in Liverpool

April
- 29 blog posts
- Richard is 85 years too late to play a rooftop Minigolf course in London
- Richard is 9th in the BMGA British Masters in Margate, Kent. Emily is 25th
- Richard is 4th in a GMGC Club Tournament
- Richard is the runner-up in the London Invitational Minigolf Tournament
- We attend the latest Royal Bun Throwing in Richard's home town of Abingdon

May
- 77 blog posts
- We play a brand new Minigolf course in Emily's home town of Ipswich
- We pop to Clacton for some Minigolf on a Pier!
- We play minigolf for Great Britain in the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings
-- Despite travelling to Hastings numerous times before, Richard gets lost on the way!? But he does find a new Crazy Golf course to play!
-- Emily becomes the first-ever WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women's Champion
- Some £2 Tat Challenges are played in Hastings
- Richard teams with Alan Norman to take-on the Kosovan National Minigolf Team in a Doubles Match
- We visit 10 Miniature Golf courses on a coastal roadtrip from St Leonards to Worthing
- Richard is interviewed by the Putter King website in Japan
- We visit 40 Mini, Crazy & Adventure Golf courses on our seaside and minigolf tour of Lincolnshire & Norfolk
-- The first played is at Oddballs Crazy Golf in Cleethorpes, Lincs
-- The last is at the Vegas Amusements in Hunstanton, Norfolk
- Emily is 4th in a GMGC Club Tournament. Richard ties for 6th place

June
- 57 blog posts
- Richard & his team mate Will Collins are runners-up in the Lost World Adventure Golf Pro-Am Classic in Hemsby
- Richard finishes 7th in the BMGA English Open at Wroxham Barns, Emily is 19th
- We play minigolf for Great Britain in the WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden
-- Read about the 5 Days on International Minigolf Duty
-- The Beton (Concrete) Miniature Golf course becomes the 250th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Along with Brad Shepherd we head to Elstree & Borehamwood for the 40th Anniversary On The Buses Event!
- Richard becomes the Melbourn Village Fete Target Bowls Champion

July
- 36 blog posts
- Alongside Oliver Florence and Kallum Harper, we take part in the Worm Charming Competition at St Mary’s Village Carnival in Edlesborough
- Richard wins the 2011 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament)
- Richard is the runner-up in the Cwmbran Table Tennis Classic
- We play our first Laser Maze in Weston-super-Mare

August
- 42 blog posts
- We compete in the 2011 UK Thumb Wrestling Championships in Lowestoft, Suffolk
- Emily is 7th in the Midlands Open minigolf competition in Dorridge. Richard ties for 8th place
- Richard teams up with Scott Lancley and Emily teams with Brad Shepherd in the BMGA British Doubles Championships
- On a trip to Scotland we meet-up with fellow Minigolfer John 'Thighs' Moore to go and watch some Cycle Speedway!

September
- 28 blog posts
- Emily leaves the Midlands Minigolf Club to become a member of the new Cambridgeshire Minigolf Club
- We revisit fabulous Las Vegas and Richard wins the Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament, Emily is the runner-up
- Luton Dodgeball Club hits 'One'
- We celebrate five years of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour with a revisit to the first two courses ever played!

October
- 32 blog posts
- We finally meet Mick 'The Man' Gisbourne at Poole Park's Crazy Golf course!
- Richard is the runner-up in the fourth Weymouth Open minigolf tournament. Emily ties for 8th place
- Richard attempts to help break the Guinness World Record attempt for the most people to ‘High Five’ simultaneously
- We compete in the Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships in London
- We attend the 59th Annual National Town Criers Championships as spectators
- Emily is 6th in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open, Richard is tied for 10th place
- Richard is 25th and Emily 51st in the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships
- Richard, Emily and Christopher (and friends) just about survive the Zombie Apocalypse in Hastings!
- Richard is a runner-up and Emily is tied for 9th place in the 2011 Worlds £2 Tat Challenge
- Richard competes in the Worlds Crazy Air Hockey Championships 2011, losing in the first round

November
- 17 blog posts
- Richard & Emily join the EcoStyle team for a 3rd place finish in the Namco Business Tenpin Bowling Grand Final in Luton
- Richard is the runner-up in the 1st Annual Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt
- The 2011 BMGA Tour season comes to a close in Dorridge, Solihull - Richard and his Midlands Minigolf Club Team Mates finish 3rd in the BMGA British Club Championships
- Richard finishes the BMGA Tour season as the British number 16 in the BMGA Order of Merit Rankings, Emily is tied for 35th place. In the BMGA Season-Only Rankings Richard is 10th with Emily 24th
- Emily wins the Stokesley NO/NIT Classic Minigolf Tournament in Middlesbrough

December
- 31 blog posts
- Richard is a runner-up in the Putterfingers Micro Putt Online Mini Golf competition
- Along with Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, Richard has a feature on Crazy Golf Postcards published in Picture Postcard Monthly
- Richard wins the Oliver Florence Birthday Invitational Minigolf Tournament in New Malden
- Richard is 3rd and Emily is 8th in the 2011 Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Tournament


Year by Year Blog Post Stats on The Ham & Egger Files:
- 2006 - 3 blog posts
- 2007 - 43 blog posts
- 2008 - 158 blog posts
- 2009 - 332 blog posts
- 2010 - 364 blog posts
- 2011 - 450 blog posts


Previous Year in Review Blog Posts:
- 2010 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review
- 2009 - Ham & Egger Files - The Year in Review


The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Crazy Golf at Alexandra Palace in London - Course played #282

On Monday 19th December 2011 Brad Shepherd and I made a visit to Alexandra Palace to have a play of the Crazy Golf course set up there.

The 18-hole course became the 282nd played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Playing hole 10

Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd playing hole 3 at Ally Pally

Brad and I faced-off in an 18-hole one-round contest on the course. Over the front-9 holes I scored 15, with Brad hitting a 23. Brad struck back on the back-9 and scored a 22 to my 26. However, I managed to defeat him 41-45.

The course is owned by Moneypenny Events and features some of the holes/frames as the Minigolf courses we previously played at Devonshire Square in London (#155 & #155.5/visit 199b). The company also own the course that has appeared at the o2 (#210).

Photos of the course:

Alexandra Palace is also home to an interesting looking Pitch & Put Miniature Golf Course. Some of the holes are played up/down hill! There is also a Putting Course there. They are both on the 'to play' list, hopefully sometime in 2012...

Links:
- Minigolf & Crazy Golf in London
- Alexandra Palace
- Crazy Golf at Alexandra Palace
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

New Indoor Minigolf Course Opening in Las Vegas - KISS Minigolf by Monster Mini Golf

As a BIG fan of both Las Vegas and Minigolf I'm pleased to see that another new Miniature Golf course is opening in the city in 2012!

Back in July 2011 I spotted that a KISS-themed Indoor Mini Golf course was being built by Monster Mini Golf and it was due to open in late 2011/early 2012.

Unfortunately the opening, should it have been in the autumn, would have come after our revisit in September (we did get to play the other new course in downtown Las Vegas at The Swingers Club at the Plaza and Emily and I were first & second in the Putt Park Annual Mini-Golf Tournament!).

According to Monster Mini Golf the brand new 18-hole KISS Glow-in-the-Dark Indoor Minigolf course will be part of a unique KISS Rock n’ Roll-themed attraction that will also house an amusement arcade, Wedding Chapel, and KISS Cafe, KISS Gallery and the largest KISS Gift Shop in the World!

Fingers crossed for another trip to Las Vegas in 2012.

Links:
- Monster Mini Golf
- Kiss Monster Mini Golf
- Monster Mini Golf on twitter
- Monster Mini Golf - KISS, Las Vegas on facebook
- Las Vegas 'tagged' Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files

Darts in London - The Jolly Anglers Pub in Wood Green

Prior to the Crazy Golfers Christmas Meet-up at Rileys in Victoria, Brad Shepherd and I met up at Wood Green before heading off to visit and play the Crazy Golf course at Alexandra Palace.

We followed a Brown Tourist Sign to point us in the right direction and one of the first things we spotted was another very interesting sign, this time outside a Pub!

Photo: The Pub Darts Sign

Photo: Brad 'Stops' by the Pub Darts Sign

We decided to come back and give the Jolly Anglers pub a go on our way back after playing at Ally Pally. Just a short distance further along Station Road we spotted a Darts Shop too! And it was on a 'Bradley Road'!!! Sadly it had closed down, so we couldn't get stocked up on any Darts supplies ahead of the evening's tournament.

Photo: Brad standing outside the old Darts shop on Bradley Road

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Darts Championships were being held at Alexandra Palace during our visit, so we had a look around, but it all seemed very quiet.

Photo: Me outside the VIP Entrance

After playing the Minigolf course at Alexandra Palace we had plenty of time to head back to the Jolly Anglers to warm-up with a few games of Darts.

Photo: Brad chucks some 'arrers

In between drinks and goes on the Quiz machine, Brad and I played five '301' games of Darts, with victories all going my way. However, in the evening's main-event Brad would get his revenge by beating me in our two meetings (group stage & semi-final) and eventually went on to win the 'Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championship'.

Photo: Me and the Dart Board at The Jolly Anglers pub

The Jolly Anglers pub was friendly enough and the board, while not super high-quality, was in good condition and we were able to play there for well over an hour. Their sign advertising the Darts did well!

Photo: The Jolly Anglers pub sign

Photo: The Brown Tourist Sign pointing towards Alexandra Palace

Links:
- Justin Irwin - Bachelor of Darts - Capital Darts List
- Follow The Brown Signs
- Alexandra Palace
- The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
- The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Sprouts & Pong - Previous Blog Posts About Me & Brad's Antics in December's past:

- Guinness World Record Attempt - Most Brussels Sprouts Eaten in a Minute!
- The London-Lu(x)ton Connection play in the 'World Series of Pong' Ping Pong Tournament in Tooting!

More Fake Crocodiles & Alligators - Bluewater, New Malden & Milton Keynes

While they may not be places likely to be well known for habitat suitable for Crocodiles or Alligators on our recent travels we have managed to find a fair few Crocodiles/Alligators lurking on Miniature Golf courses at Bluewater Shopping Centre, World of Golf New Malden and on a Pirate Adventure Golf course in Milton Keynes!

Pirate Cove Adventure Golf at Bluewater

Jurassic Encounter Adventure Golf at New Malden

Pirate Island Adventure Golf in Milton Keynes

Links:
- Fake Crocodiles! Or are they Alligators?
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour