13 May 2013 at 19:30 | Published by: Freebird | Views: 9948 | News search  | source: BMGA

Rutherford aces the final lane to secure the title  (Photo by Marion Homer)

The two day BMGA British Minigolf Championships were contested at Wroxham Barns in Norfork (the course having previously hosted the event in 2010) across the weekend of 11th and 12th May.

After seven rounds of outstanding minigolf James Rutherford (Cambridgeshire Minigolf Club) took the title for the second time in his minigolf career with a superb performance including setting a new course record of 27 in round 4 of the competition.

Speaking after picking up the trophy and gold medal James said “It is a fantastic feeling to get my hands on this trophy again. The course at Wroxham Barns is one of my favourites in the country and I was delighted to secure my second major there. I have been so close to winning a number of tournaments in the past few years, but not managed to get past that final hurdle, so this is a massive win for me and it is something that I determined to build on. I went into the last round with a commanding lead and I managed to turn what should have been a relaxing 18 holes into quite a nail biting finish, but this is only testament to the players that I was playing against and their determination to never give up. This is the first major that my club (Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club) have won and I would like to thank all my team mates for their support over the weekend. We have a lot of talent at the club, so let’s hope this is the first of many more!"

James was pushed all the way across the weeking by a number of players at the top of their game but after a nervy final few holes he picked up the title again. Adam Kelly took 2nd place with Michael Smith 3rd, Sean Homer 4th and Tony Kelly 5th (all members of the Kent Minigolf Club)

As well as the overall British Champion being crowned, the event also see the British Senior and British Junior titles being fought out across the 2 day, seven round event. Sean Homer won the Senior title (making his debut in the class) with Tony Kelly 2nd and Chris Smith 3rd. Adam Kelly made his own piece of BMGA history by winning the junior title for the 4th year in a row with Will Donnelly 2nd and Ben Waller, making his BMGA tour debut, in 3rd place.

Brad Shepherd won the category 1 Aces prize, Alan Norman won the category 2/3 aces prize and Sean Homer and Gareth Holmes won the team event (with the teams comprising of the players grouped together for round one of the championship).

BMGA Chairman Sean Homer said “We always have a tremedous event when we visit Wroxham and this years event was no exception. It is amazing to see how much our players have improved over the past few years. When Wroxham hosted the British Championships in 2010 we saw some superb scores and it's worth noting that the top 4 players this year all finished with a better average than the winner that year. James' new course record was a highlight of the event and he is a worthy champion once again. I would like to thank all who played at the event, our Tournament Director Marion Homer. Brenda Smith for running the Hole In One Challenge on Sunday and Ian Russell and his team at Wroxham Barns for their superb hospitality."

Following their respective successes at the Championships, James and Sean are now preparing to represent Great Britain at the upcoming WMF Nations Cup being held in Bad Munder, Germany on 18 /19 May. The Great Britain squad will be taking on all comers in a number of events this season. As well as the Nations Cup, Great Britain will be competing in the World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings, the WMF Youth Championships in Portugal before taking a full strength mens team to Germany in August to compete against the best teams in the World at the WMF World Championships.

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