E-mail
Password
Lost password »
Register »
      

LATEST FORUM POST

Argentina  INESfun

22 Feb 2020 at 13:37

There are about 300 recesses on one golf ball, and thanks to them, the ball flies three times farther than a smooth one. ... Balls of the same size...

Go to latest post »


LATEST COMMENT  More »

United States of America  Smitty

07 Jun 2023 at 04:45

Jason and team make this place beautiful and the tournament is fun and well run.

Go to latest comment »




LATEST BLOG POSTS

Hungary  Magician | 4122 views | 0 comments

31 Dec 2023 at 17:32

End of 2023


United States of America  PatPenguin | 9381 views | 0 comments

17 Nov 2023 at 13:07

A 2023 Masterful Experience


United States of America  PatPenguin | 7283 views | 0 comments

22 May 2023 at 13:19

We’re All Loony Here....


All blogs »



POLL

From which country will the World Adventure Golf Tour Final (April 27-28, 2024) come from?


- Czech Republic

- Sweden

- Germany

- United States

- New Zealand

- Austria

- Wales

- Finland

- Slovakia


To vote, you need to log in.


You have to vote to see the results.


Total 0 votes, since 27 Mar 2024.

Recent polls »

United Kingdom Steve Lovell's blog« See all Sheila's blogs

The Kent Open - a players guide
16 Nov 2016 at 22:21 | Posted in: General | Views: 4846 | Comments: 0
The Kent Open - a players guide
Steve Lovell with his playing partners, Paul Johnson and John Sharpe.

Throughout the tour, British pro Steve Lovell gives an inside look on the wonderfully colourful events that make up the British Minigolf Association.

Friday: After arriving home from work and performing my usual routine stripping of my clothes on the way up to the bathroom, I feel I've earned a night out before another enthralling weekend of minigolf in Sidcup, at the newly named Mr Mulligan's Dino Golf. After all, they famously dug up skeletal remains of the Stegosaurus clutching a putter and a Nifo 2... I jest. The plan is to cook but I pick up a curry and a pint instead. This makes me sleepy but I find the stamina to watch England defeat the Scottish at football, which means tour journeyman Freddie Blackburn-Shaw will go into hiding. I become very tired by 10 pm and so, it being a Friday night where I should be out having ale and getting turned down by women, a shot of sensibility strikes and I go to bed.

Saturday: Up early and I fling the curtains open. It is pouring from the sky like the mighty Niagara river over the falls. Do I really want to go and stand in that after driving 95 miles to get there? Yes. Yes I do. I just hope the weather forecast is the usual bout of guesswork. The journey is not the best, the roads are laden with standing water so there is no need to rush, although I get there for 9.45 am and sit in the cafe for half an hour. I don't really need to be at the course until the Kent Invitational Tournament, which tees of around 1.30 pm. A nice warm up event for all concerned. There are some fun rules which are the same for everyone. 36 holes split up into four lots of nine holes played with different balls, a meander through the history of Kent Minigolf Club. The weather has cleared up significantly by the start and the course is very playable. Sidcup is notoriously tough to make aces on and it shows its teeth to me, with only my 36th and final hole yielding a one. Still, a nice way to start the weekend.

Plans have been afoot for most of the day as to the evening's entertainment. I am staying at Terry's house, who was my roommate in Cardiff for the Welsh Open. Firstly, we're off to the Hackney Carriage micropub as the guest of local player, Martin Greenhead. Fantastic place, I'll probably book a hotel room next year just so I can experience this more. After an hour, we head back to Chez Tel with Big Top Ted to be told we are gatecrashing a birthday party at a golf club. We meet up with a good friend of mine and Terry's brother, Andy. Beer was cheap and the food, well, free. The evening ends early as Ted needs to be dropped back to the station. Terry offers me the chance to go out drinking in Crowborough but once again, feeling my age, we decline and go home to sleep it off, ready for the 11th running of the Kent Open.

Sunday: 2.11 am. Yes, I woke up at that time. I famously get up before the alarm on minigolf days but this is idiocy. After opening up my big file of minigolf stats on the laptop, that does the job. Bacon sarnies and a coffee before heading off to the station to pick up Ted and Tiger. The weather is so much better today, bright sunshine, cloudless skies. Typical weather for this tournament, it has been the same for my three previous visits. The Kent Open is one of only two tournaments where you can only use one ball, the Kent 'Tomato'. For the completists, bounce 30, shore 50 and weight 70. Practice has gone well and maybe, with the lack of British number one Michael Smith, this could finally be the day. I'm grouped with Paul Johnson and John Sharpe, two people I get on well with. After four or five holes, I can't explain it but I feel so relaxed and it is reflected in my stroke. The furthest putt I have is around two feet from the hole and it is one of the best rounds I have ever played for a 34, enough for a share of the clubhouse lead.

Round two starts pretty much in the same vane and I take the outright lead on the seventh at four under, although I drop that back to three under at the eighth. Then, the wheels come off. Two more drops follow but as I approach the pivotal Volcano hole, I have managed to stabilise the scoring. What followed will haunt me for a while. I laid up to the foot of the hill and prepared to get the par. Meanwhile, on the adjacent course, a family show little regard for health and safety and are climbing over the rock formation with the child screaming with delight. I wait, hoping they will move on but no, they're going mountaineering. I try to block it out which I nearly manage to do... until the moment at the top of my down swing, the child falls off the rocks and smacks into the ground ensuring a piercing 'WAHHHHHHHHHH'. The putt misses by some distance and I mutter under my breath 'what where the chances'. Concentration gone, I register a 6 in a round of 41, pushing me back six off the lead in 15th.

That's mingolf for you.

I clear my head for the final round eventually. I'm with Terry and Scott so I know we're in for a laugh at the very least. I don't make a fast start so I know any slender chance I did have evaporated at the sound of a crying child. The second half of my day is summed up at the last where in front of about a third of the field, my ball gets stuck behind a post. Laughter rings out and to be fair, I laugh too. What's done is done. I finish 14th on five over, eleven shots behind Will Donnelly, who deservedly picked up his second Kent Open title.

Prize giving was a fun affair and it had been a fun day. Kent had invested heavily in gifts for their guest and as the worst performing member of my club, I pick up... wait for it... a DIY bee hive. I didn't even know these were a thing you could buy. The moment of the weekend was the announcement of the Kent Member Of The Year being Owen, who was overwhelmed to be bestowed this honour. Thoroughly deserved.

I say my goodbyes after another great day in the BMGA and consider my future in the world of honey production.

Comments
There are no comments

Add comment
Please note that you have to login, to be able to add comments


 

UPCOMING EVENTS   More »




LATEST RESULTS   More »

 29 Oct 2022

Olde Scotland Yard Course Championship

 22 Oct 2022

Clifton Heights Course Championship

 29 Sep 2022

European Champions League Final

 23 Sep 2022

Open African Championship

 17 Sep 2022

Miniest Open

 17 Sep 2022

Branson Open

 17 Sep 2022

6th Matterhorn International Pro-Am




LATEST NEWS

World 08 Mar 2024 at 19:50 | 
Celebrating International Women's Day!

Czech Republic 12 Feb 2024 at 15:14 | 
Adventure Golf Tournament Updates

United Kingdom 10 Nov 2023 at 12:50 | 
Foul Play at the Seaview Hotel - Interview with Glenda Young

United States of America 16 Oct 2023 at 13:27 | 
Gary Hesters Grabs First USPMGA Masters Tournament

Sweden 11 Oct 2023 at 12:54 | 
2023 World Championships General Class Held in Sweden

Italy 17 Aug 2023 at 14:07 | 
German Domination at the Youth European Championships

Austria 03 Jul 2023 at 13:10 | 
Women of WAGM 2023 - A Perspective from Vanette Block

Sweden 29 Jun 2023 at 12:39 | 
World Championship Training Groups Announced

Austria 20 Jun 2023 at 13:26 | 
Austria Reigns at WAGM 2023

United States of America 06 May 2023 at 14:10 | 
Mosk Grabs the Buckle in Texas

Minigolfnews 06 Apr 2023 at 12:41 | 
International Day of Sport for Development and Peace