28 Oct 2014 at 15:43 | Published by: Freebird | Views: 10771 | News search  | source: KMGC

Chris on his way to his third title infront of the Hastings crowds  (Photo by )

The twelfth-annual World Crazy Golf Championships took place at the Hastings seafront Adventure Golf Complex in Hastings, East Sussex on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th October. 62 players from across England, Scotland, Ireland, Finland, the Czech Republic and Portugal competed in the two-day event that was won by Chris Harding (Midlands Minigolf Club).

The tournament saw the players compete across six qualifying rounds on the 18-hole Hastings Crazy Golf course before a cut was made and the top 18 players went on to contest the final round. Chris, the previous 2 time champion took control of the event on day 2 and saw off a strong field to take the title, 7 shots clear of runner-up Nuno Cunha from Portugal. In third-place was Adam Kelly (Kent Minigolf Club) winning a play off for the bronze medal position against Marc Chapman (also Kent Minigolf Club) and Pasi Aho from Finland. Keith Kellard (Cambridgeshire Minigolf Club) came sixth with former Champion Michael Smith (Midlands Minigolf Club) rounding out the prize money in seventh place.

Speaking after the event, Chris said “I honestly thought the days of competing at the top of the leaderboard at major competitions had finished for me so to be a three time World Crazy Golf Champion feels really good. I managed to ace holes at crucial times and stayed calm after playing a poor shot. I was so in the zone in the final round that I didn't even know I'd had 4 aces in a row towards the end of the round until someone told me on 18. Can't wait until next year and I already know which holes I need to improve on!”

Stephen Langford again won the World Crazy Golf Championship Novice Category prize (for the highest placed non BMGA tour pro) for the third year in a row, finishing in 26th place overall as well as picking up the Category three trophy.

Emily Gottfried won the Aces Trophy - the Gommery (donated and presented by Liz and Dave Gomm) - for being the highest placed player outside of the top 18 finalist scoring the most holes-in-one at the event with a total of 19 during rounds one to six. Other prize winners over the weekend were Marc Chapman who won the Category Two trophy and Helen Dodd (Kent Minigolf Club) who won the Category 4 trophy.

Saturday evening also saw the traditional HOLE IN ONE Challenge of the season with over 50 players taking part at the notoriously tough hole 2 on the course. Players paid £1 for one shot at aceing the hole, with 50% of the entry fees goong towards our nominated charity for 2014 - Cancer Research - and the remainder split between any players who got a hole in one. In a thrilling climax to day 1, James Rutherford managed to bang in an ace an scoop the prize fund. This season the players taking part in these challenges and the Players Championship have raised over £200 for the charity - a brilliant effort by all concerned.

World Crazy Golf Championship Roll of Honour:

• 2014 Chris Harding (ENG)
• 2013 Olivia Prokopova (CZE)
• 2012 Michael Smith (ENG)
• 2011 Michael Smith (ENG)
• 2010 Chris Harding (ENG)
• 2009 Keith Kellard (ENG)
• 2008 Tim Davies (WAL)
• 2007 Chris Harding (ENG)
• 2006 Tim Davies (WAL)
• 2005 Tim Davies (WAL)
• 2004 Tim Davies (WAL)
• 2003 Tim Davies (WAL)

The next event on the tour is the Kent Open at the Lost Island Encounter course in Sidcup on Sunday 9th November. All players taking part receive the Official Kent Open ball included in their entry fee and full details of the competition can be found on the Kent Minigolf Club website

The British Minigolf Association (BMGA) is the governing body for Minigolf Sport, including Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf. Formed in 1998 the BMGA organises Minigolf competitions for its members across the UK.

SHARE Share Tweet