24 Sep 2012 at 21:09 | Published by: Hans | Views: 12614 | News search

Michael Smith winner of the 2012 British Open  (Photo by KMGC 2012)

BMGA News report
Supplied by Richard Gottfried

British Number One and World Crazy Golf Champion wins his third Major Minigolf Title at International Miniature Golf tournament at Strokes Adventure Golf course.

Oxford Minigolfer Michael Smith became only the second Englishman to win the prestigious BMGA British Open title in its fifteen year history as he was victorious in the 44-player two-day championship on Sunday 23rd September. With players from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand competing, Smith, a member of the Kent Minigolf Club, stormed to victory, winning the event with a total of 187 (-29). Smith’s total saw him finish twelve shots clear of runner-up Johan Ahlander of Sweden. The 2005 & 2007 BMGA British Open champion Jouni Valkjärvi from Finland finished in third-place with a score of 201 (-15).

New BMGA British Open champion Michael Smith said "I'm delighted to have won the BMGA British Open and to have become the first ever player to have won all three of our major championship titles. I played my best ever minigolf and am thrilled to beat such a high quality field on what is, despite the low scoring of the top four players, a very difficult course. I'd like to say a big thank you to the Wood family for their wonderful hospitality. Strokes Adventure Golf is a truly amazing course and hopefully we'll be back there in the future. And of course a special thank you to our tournament directors: Sean, Marion, and Emily, who ran the tournament as flawlessly as always, despite the difficult weather conditions."

Michael Smith’s second round score of 28 (-8), which consisted of nine holes-in-one, set a new course record at Strokes Adventure Golf, beating the previous record held by Sweden’s Björn Dinau and England’s Nick Chitty by two shots.

The 18-hole Strokes Adventure Golf course on Westbrook Promenade in Margate was hosting the BMGA British Open for the fourth time and the field of players included four previous champions, the defending champion Marc Chapman and a field of skilled minigolf competitors battling to win the title. The two-day tournament was scheduled for seven-rounds, but after torrential rain caused flooding on part of the course on the Sunday the competition was halted and results declared at the end of the sixth round, with 108-holes completed.

Michael Smith’s BMGA British Open win means he is the only player in the British Minigolf Association’s history to have won all three of the BMGA’s major competitions. He is the reigning Castle Golf World Crazy Golf champion and won the 2012 BMGA British Championships. He is also the reigning BMGA British Masters champion and BMGA British Matchplay champion and a member of the BMGA British Club Championship winning team, the Kent Minigolf Club. Other titles won in 2012 include the BMGA British Adventure Golf Masters, the Crazy Golf Pro Championship (hosted by Bompas & Parr and UrbanCrazy) and the Pirate Cove Open.

Other prize winners at the 2012 BMGA British Open were Adam Kelly finishing in fourth place. The 2006 British Open champion Karsten Hein from Germany finishing in fifth spot and 2009 champion Torgny Kjellström of Sweden finishing in sixth place. The BMGA British Open Novice Champion was Pete Bradshaw of New Zealand. England's Richard Linden was runner-up and New Zealand's Mandy Bradshaw was third. Richard Linden also won the Novice Aces Champion prize for most holes-in-one in the category. England's Ruth Burke won the overall tournament Aces Champion prize scoring 19 holes-in-one in the competition. In the BMGA British Open Team Championship contested amongst the seven club teams in the tournament the Kent Minigolf Club won by 23 shots.

BMGA Chairman Sean Homer said “Many thanks to all who took part across the weekend and the tournament Directors, Marion Homer and Emily Gottfried. Thank you to the Mayor and Mayoress of Margate, Councillor Will Scobie and Councillor Jodie Hibbert for attending the prize giving ceremony on Sunday afternoon. Special thanks to Matt, Brian and Frankie Wood, the Strokes Adventure Golf course owners, for their hospitality and welcome they offered to everyone at the event.”

BMGA British International Open Roll of Honour:
2012 Michael Smith (ENG)
2011 Marc Chapman (ENG)
2010 Eirik Seljelid (SWE)
2009 Torgny Kjellström (SWE)
2008 Mattias Ståhl (SWE)
2007 Jouni Valkjärvi (FIN)
2006 Karsten Hein (GER)
2005 Jouni Valkjärvi (FIN)
2004 Thierry Cruybeeck (BEL)
2003 Christian Zimmermann (GER)
2002 Heinz Weber (AUT)
2001 Heinz Weber (AUT)
2000 Heinz Weber (AUT)
1999 Thomas Zeininger (AUT)
1998 Thomas Zeininger (AUT)

Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate has been the venue for many prestigious BMGA Miniature Golf tournaments and has hosted the BMGA British Open four times. Other competitions played on the course include the BMGA Players Championship, BMGA International Players Championship, BMGA British Masters, Kent Open, Kent Invitational Tournament and a number of KMGC Club Events.

On Friday 21st September 39 players competed in the two Players Championship contests held at Strokes Adventure Golf. The traditional warm-up event for the BMGA British Open saw 21 home players compete in the BMGA Players Championship and 18 players take part in the BMGA International Players Championship.

In the BMGA Players Championship Michael Smith was successful in the defence of his title that he won in Sidcup in 2011. Björn Dinau won the BMGA International Players Championship.

Eight players advanced to the second round of Matchplay contests in the BMGA Players Championship where Sean Homer defeated Scott Lancley, Michael Smith defeated Andy Exall, Adam Kelly defeated John McIver and James Rutherford defeated Chris Smith. In the final Strokeplay round Michael scored 31 (-5), James shot a 34 (-2) and Sean and Adam tied for third-place on 36 (par).

In the second round of the BMGA International Players Championship Germany's Karsten Hein defeated Finland's Petri Tossavainen, Björn Dinau defeated Sweden's Johan Ahlander, Sweden's Mattias Ståhl defeated Sweden's Torgny Kjellström and Germany's Gerno Grapengeter defeated Sweden's Patrik Wessman. In the final round of Strokeplay Björn scored 32 (-4), Karsten and Gerno shot 33 (-3) to tie for second place and Mattias was one-shot back on 34 (-2).

A total £97.50 was raised for the charity of Michael Smith's choice and will be donated to Cancer Research.

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