22 May 2012 at 21:21 | Published by: Hans | Views: 10954 | News search

Martin Stöckle, Germany the 2012 WAGM Champion  (Photo by KMG 2012)

BMGA News Report
Supplied by Richard Gottfried

The second WMF World Adventure Golf Masters was held at the Pirate-themed Adventure Golf course in Hastings, England on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th May. The event was the second World Minigolf Sport Federation tournament played in the UK following the inaugural competition last year.

The two-day, seven-round tournament saw 20 players from Great Britain, Germany, Kosovo, the Republic of Ireland and the USA compete for the overall WMF World Adventure Golf Masters title. Five teams contested the team championship.

Defending champion Martin Stöckle from Germany retained his title as he won the overall tournament with a score of 191 (-61). Martin’s seven-round total included an incredible 61 holes-in-one and no dropped shots in 126-holes of play. Martin scored rounds of 25, 27, 27, 28, 29, 28 and 27 on the 18-hole course for a tournament average of 27.3.

WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Champion Martin Stöckle said “I am very happy about winning the World Adventure Golf Masters again this year. I definitely did not expect this average! I thought 29 would be quite good. It just worked well from the beginning and some ball changes the day before in practice were quite useful. As you can see in the results it was quite important for the team as well. I am happy about that. Again as in 2011, it is always nice in England as you’re made to feel very welcome and it is good fun. Thanks to everyone in Hastings.”

Great Britain’s Michael Smith was runner-up with a total of 207 (-45) and Great Britain’s James Rutherford was the bronze medallist on 217 (-35). Great Britain’s John McIver was fourth, with Germany’s Sebastian Peffer in fifth place.

In the team contest defending champions Germany won gold, with a five-shot victory over Great Britain A. The WMF Allstars team, comprised of players from Germany, Kosovo, the Republic of Ireland and the USA were the bronze medallists. Great Britain B was fourth, with Great Britain C fifth.

The World Adventure Golf Masters tournament was organised by the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) and the British Minigolf Association (BMGA). The WMF World Adventure Golf Masters category winners were:

• Overall WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Champion – Martin Stöckle, Germany
• WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Team Champions – Germany (Martin Stöckle, Sebastian, Peffer, Lucas Scholz and Philipp Lewin)
• WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Male Category Winner – Martin Stöckle, Germany
• WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Seniors Category Winner – John McIver, Great Britain
• WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Female Category Winner – Ruth Burke, Great Britain
• WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Junior Winner – Will Donnelly, Great Britain
• WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Team Competition Runners-up – Great Britain A (Michael Smith, John McIver, Sean Homer, James Rutherford)
• WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Team Competition Third Place – WMF Allstars (Oliver Rathjens, David Donnelly, Lavdim Zylfiu, Jon Drexler)

The opening and closing ceremonies were hosted by The White Rock Hotel in Hastings and The Mayor of Hastings; Councillor Alan Roberts presented the prizes to participants at the closing ceremony on Saturday 19th May.

Pasi Aho, WMF Sport Director said "The level of play was extremely high for the top players this year and special congratulations go to Martin Stöckle for retaining his championship title with a really incredible score. Congratulations also to all the other winners and thank you everyone who came to Hastings to play or watch this magnificent competition. The WMF hope to make the World Adventure Golf Masters even bigger and better in future, now that we have kicked-off with two great events. Thanks also to the BMGA for organising the World Adventure Golf Masters 2012 again in a flawless manner."

Sean Homer, BMGA chairman said “The 2012 World Adventure Golf Masters event proved to be another thrilling competition with some truly outstanding minigolf played. Martin’s performance in particular was an absolute master class as he retained his title. 61 aces and no dropped shots is an incredible achievement and he was a worthy winner of the main event. It was great to have three Great Britain teams taking part and four players making their Great Britain Team debuts – Will Donnelly, Alex Pragnell, David Gomm and James Rutherford. All four played extremely well and did Great Britain proud, as did the rest of the squad. Although Germany were once again very strong in the team event and deservedly retained their title, the performances of our Great Britain teams continue to go from strength to strength. Last year Great Britain finished over 30 shots behind the German team but this year we came very close to taking the title for Great Britain – losing by just five shots and actually outscoring them on the second day by three shots – a great result that bodes well for Great Britain’s future endeavours as a minigolf nation.”

Sean added “Above all, the event was played in a great spirit and was a brilliant advert for minigolf both domestically and internationally. I would like to thank David and Marion Hartley from Hastings Adventure Golf for their support and hospitality throughout the event and to all of the team at the course for their hard work. Also a big thanks to all of the scorers who helped make the final rounds such a great spectacle and to The Mayor of Hastings, Councillor Alan Roberts for presenting all of the trophies and prizes at the closing ceremony. The BMGA and WMF would like to say a huge thank you to the team at the White Rock Hotel in Hastings for their support of the event and for hosting the Opening and Closing ceremonies in 2012. Special thanks go out to the tournament director Marion Homer for delivering a top class event once again. And of course, a big thank you to all of the players from Great Britain and across the globe for giving us another outstanding minigolf competition across the two days at Hastings and I look forward to hopefully seeing them all again next year.”

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