Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Happy Olympic Day

Today is Olympic Day.


Olympic Rings at St Pancras railway station in January 2012

About Olympic Day


The first Olympic Day took place on the 23rd June 1948.

Olympic Day aims to unite the whole world behind the Olympic dream and the Olympic movement.

Putt at Home


Back in April the Olympic Channel suggested building a Crazy Golf course during isolation. It was nice to see the Olympic movement getting involved in the craze for Putting at Home during lockdown.

World Minigolf Sport Federation and the Olympic movement


The World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) is the governing body for minigolf and has 63 member nations. There are currently a further three countries awaiting recognition as full members.

The WMF is a member of GAISF (Global Association of International Sports Federations), AIMS (Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport) and TAFISA (The Association For International Sport for All).

On the 12th January 2020 it was announced that AIMS had become a fully recognised International Olympics Committee (IOC) umbrella group.

Olympic collecting


As well as playing, organising and promoting sports I am also an avid collector of sporting memorabilia and ephemera. As such I'm a member of both the Olympin Club and Sports Philatelists International.

Olympic Torches in 2012
I got to see a lot of Olympic Torches in 2012. I was also a Paralympic Flame Assistant in Luton that year

Miniature Golf and the Olympic Games


Did you know - Miniature Golf was once played during the Olympic Games!

While it was not officially part of the Games programme, the participants in the Golf tournament at the 1904 Olympic Games held in St Louis, USA also competed in a Putting Championship on a specially built miniature golf course.

The 9-hole Putting Course was specifically built at the Glen Echo Country Club for a Putting Championship and was constructed with electric lights surrounding the layout.

The Putting competition was won by Burt McKinnie of Normandie GC. McKinnie defeated Clement Smoot of the Exmoor Club in Chicago for the trophy after McKinnie scored a total of 21. Both players had been tied going into the last hole!

The 1904 Games were quite a wild affair - with a number of other sporting events taking place out of the scope of the 'official' sports. They also took place over several months and organised alongside the World's Fair, rather than as a standalone event.

Olympiapark München


On a related note, the Olympiapark München is home to a Miniature Golf course that was set-up in the athletes village for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Now open to the public you can find more information on the Olympiapark München and the Minigolf & Pit-Pat Olympiapark München websites.

We're hoping to visit and play the courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

The Oslympic Games


Back in the summer of 2012 we were proud to be a part of the Oswestry Games. The festival of sport in Shropshire saw the sport of minigolf included in a multi-sport games event in the UK for the first time. The Oslympics consisted of more than 50 sports and cultural events held over ten-days in July 2012.

Oswestry Games medals in 2012
Medals from the Oswestry Games

Related blog posts:
- Olympic
- Olympics

Links:
- The Olympics
- Olympic Day

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Build a Crazy Golf course during isolation

Things to do while in quarantine.


The Olympic Channel has suggested building a Crazy Golf course during isolation.

Home minigolf hole
I built a home minigolf hole as part of the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt a few years ago. I've got a few ideas for a new home minigolf layout

It's nice to see the Olympic movement getting involved in the craze for putting at home during lockdown.

Olympic Torches London 2012
The last 8 years since the London 2012 Olympic Games have flown by!

It's one of the suggestions we made on the Big Mini Golf Bucket List created at the start of the lockdown.

The Big Mini Golf Bucket List

Our friends at the Putting Penguin are hosting a Pandemic Putt Off encouraging people around the world to create minigolf holes, obstacles and courses during these times of social distancing.

Have you built a minigolf hole or course? What other 'competitive isolation' fun are you having?

Sunday, October 09, 2016

Sports Philatelists International and the Journal of Sport Philately

This year I joined the Olympin Club and through that I heard about Sports Philatelists International! As a collector of sporting postcards and Olympic memorabilia I had to join that club too.

This week I received the Fall 2016 issue of the Journal of Sports Philately in the post. Not only is the journal a great read and packed full of great images and info, but the club have taken the time and effort to mail it out with some fantastic stamps on the envelope. Take a look at the photo below to see what I mean!

I never knew there had been a re-issue of the infamous Inverted Jenny stamp
What an envelope

The Inverted Jenny stamp reissue
Seeing these two stamps on the piece of post made me incredibly happy - and surprised! I never knew there had been a re-issue of the infamous Inverted Jenny stamp

For more information and joining instructions check out the Sports Philatelists International website and Facebook page.

Links:
- Sports Philatelists International
- Olympin Club
- The Inverted Jenny stamp 

Sunday, August 07, 2016

Memories of the 2012 Oslympic Games

Looking back at the 2012 Oswestry Games multi-sport event in Shropshire.


Back in the summer of 2012 we were proud to be a part of the Oswestry Games. The festival of sport in Shropshire saw the sport of minigolf included in a multi-sport games event in the UK for the first time.

The Oswestry Games, or 'Oslympics' as they became known, were a mammoth undertaking for the organisers at the Oswestry Sports Council and it was a real pleasure and honour for Emily and I to organise the minigolf events along with other coaches and players from the national tour.

The coaches and competitors in the Pro-Am minigolf tournament at Cae Glas Park

The Oswestry Games consisted of more than 50 sports and cultural events held over ten-days in July 2012.

Minigolfing at the Oswestry Games

Things got off to a great start on our first night in the town - not only were we recognised while on our way to the sporting quiz night at the town's cricket club, but we also won the bronze medal in the quiz itself.

The bronze medal winning quizzing minigolfers

The Saturday morning of the Games saw us organise coaching sessions for locals youth and adult players on the 18-hole 'Eternit' miniature golf course in Cae Glas Park in the town centre. This was followed by the BMGA Oswestry Games Pro-Am Minigolf Classic team tournament in the afternoon - won by Marc 'The Force' Chapman, Steve Sturdy and Chris Powell.

On the tricky Cae Glas Park miniature golf course

Sunday was the closing day of the Games and a large number of clubs, regional organisations and national governing bodies gathered at the Leisure Centre for a jam-packed day of sporting fun, games and competition.

Playing the Putterfingers Crazy Golf course at the Oswestry Games

With a Putterfingers modular Crazy Golf course we took centre stage and had a large number of the public, athletes and competitors from other events joining us for a round on the 9-hole course.

We scooped Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the Games - and what very fine medals they are too

We ended our trip to the Oslympics by contesting the BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Minigolf Championship - which I won!

The podium for the pro-tournament - Marc Chapman, me and John Moore

Did you know - Miniature Golf was once played during the actual Olympic Games! While it was not officially part of the Games programme, the participants in the Golf tournament at the 1904 Olympic Games held in St Louis, USA also competed in a Putting Championship on a specially built miniature golf course at the Glen Echo Country Club.

It'd be great to see miniature golf become an Olympic sport one day. And we'd also like to see the Oswestry Games return once more. Perhaps when the UK next hosts the Olympics, minigolf will be an event, and Oswestry will host their Games again.

The future for the sport of miniature golf looks bright, with the international governing body - the World Minigolf Sport Federation - gaining further recognition on the global stage all the time. The WMF is a member of SportAccord and an organisation called AIMS (the Alliance of Independent Members of SportAccord) - who's goal it is to achieve International Olympic Committee recognition for its members.

Back in 1989 the sport (Bahn Golf) was a demonstration event in the IWGA World Games in Karlsruhe, Germany. The WMF is also hoping to have minigolf included in other multi-sport events in the future.

As the umbrella organisation of minigolf sports association's worldwide and continental associations in Asia, Europe and America the WMF has 55 members. The sport is played on an organised level in Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Chinese Taipai, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Kenya, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, USA and Vietnam.

There are more than 38,000 competitive minigolf players registered with the WMF via the 55 member nations, with 900-plus clubs between them. Over 1,000 courses are approved for official competitions and around 1,500 minigolf tournaments are held each year.

Aside from the March 2011 list Emily and I have been in the sport's international rankings since November 2008 following our debut for the Great Britain team at that year's Nations Cup championships in Tampere, Finland.


We're hoping to one day visit the Olimpiapark Munchen too as the venue has an eternit miniature golf course that was set-up in the Athletes Village for the 1972 Olympic Games. That'd be a great course to play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Related blog posts:
- The Oswestry Games
- Miniature Golf and the Olympic Games

Links:
- Oswestry Sports Forum
- The Oswestry Games 2012
- World Minigolf Sport Federation
- Minigolf Report from the 2012 Oswestry Games Multi-Sport Event

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Miniature Golf and the Olympic Games

Did you know - Miniature Golf was once played during the Olympic Games!

While it was not officially part of the Games programme, the participants in the Golf tournament at the 1904 Olympic Games held in St Louis, USA also competed in a Putting Championship on a specially built miniature golf course.

The 9-hole Putting Course was specifically built at the Glen Echo Country Club for a Putting Championship and was constructed with electric lights surrounding the layout.

The Putting competition was won by Burt McKinnie of Normandie GC. McKinnie defeated Clement Smoot of the Exmoor Club in Chicago for the trophy after McKinnie scored a total of 21. Both players had been tied going into the last hole!

Check out the Olympic Golf Replica Program from 1904 and the 'Little Known Olympic Facts' section on the Glen Echo Country Club website for further info on the event.

On this year's Olympic Day (23 June) I tweeted about the Putting course and championships and Glen Echo tweeted back.

The 1904 Games were quite a wild affair - with a number of other sporting events taking place out of the scope of the 'official' sports. They also took place over several months and organised alongside the World's Fair, rather than as a standalone event.

More information about the 1904 Olympic Golf Matches can be found on the Glenn Echo Country Club website.

On a related note, the Olympiapark München is home to a Miniature Golf course that was set-up in the athletes village for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Now open to the public you can find more information on the Olympiapark München and the Minigolf & Pit-Pat Olympiapark München websites.

International Minigolf Sport is governed by the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF). The WMF currently has 46 member associations. The WMF is a member of SportAccord, an organisation comprised of a wide-range of Olympic and non-Olympic international sports federations.

Richard Gottfried playing a shot on the World's First Miniature Golf course in April 2012 - The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland. The course was founded in 1867 when The Ladies' Putting Club began playing.
Richard Gottfried playing a shot on the World's First Miniature Golf course in April 2012 - The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland. The course was founded in 1867 when The Ladies' Putting Club began playing.

Links:
- Glen Echo Country Club website
- Glen Echo Country Club on Twitter
- Glen Echo Country Club on Facebook
- 1904 Olympic Golf Matches
Olympic Golf Replica Program from 1904
St Louis 1904 at Olympic.org

Related blog posts:
- The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland
- Two Miniature Golf Firsts
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
The Other Olympics

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Friday, July 27, 2012

It’s not just winning that counts, it’s as much about taking part!

If you’re regular reader of this blog, follow me on Twitter, or know me out there in the real world, you’ll know that I’m very competitive. No matter what the sport, game or activity!

All this week Adidas have been running a daily #takethestage competition on their Twitter page to win tickets to the Opening Ceremony at the London 2012 Olympic Games! Each day a tweet has been posted and an advert has been in the Sun newspaper asking people to put on their official Team GB sweatbands, strike a different sporting pose and send the photo to the @adidasUK twitter account with the hashtag #takethestage.

In my endeavours to win I’ve been a Weightlifter, Boxer, Javelin Thrower and Cyclist. However I didn’t win. Congratulations to the other competitors though. I’m looking forward to watching the Opening Ceremony on the box tonight and seeing the parade of athletes as they make their way into the stadium.

It’s been a brilliant online marketing campaign and great fun in trying (in my case in vain) to find a winning sporting pose. Take a look at my efforts below and see what you think...

Striking a Weightlifting Pose - a quite Herculean feat to lift "1 Ton"

My favourite of the week - a bit of face punching for the Boxing Pose. I actually missed the deadline with this photo as well! What a Ham & Egger.

Full recovered from my pugilism I attempt to 'clean up' in the competition with a spot of Mop Javelin throwing

In what appears to be a race between a man in a 'Yellow Jersey', me and an Alsation I appear to have finished second while riding a 'bike' in Luton town centre for my Cycling Pose!

Many thanks to my long suffering wife, opponent, coach and photographer Emily for snapping away at my efforts.

I’ll be proudly wearing my Team GB sweatbands and enjoying watching the Olympic athletes in action as they take part on the biggest stage of them all. I'll be cheering them all whether they win, or just take part!

Links:

Twitter Links:
- 23rd July 2012 - Weightlifting Pose
- 23rd July 2012 - Boxing Pose
- 23rd July 2012 - Javelin Pose
- 23rd July 2012 - Cycling Pose
- #takethestage 

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Selfridges to get a Crazy Golf course and Tea Room on Rooftop Garden

Minigolf to return to the rooftop of iconic London department store this summer.

Reading Fabulous magazine in The Sun newspaper today I read that Selfridges in London will be installing a Crazy Golf course on the roof as part of The Big British Bang - a celebration of all things British spanning the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympic Games in 2012.

There are more details about The Big British Bang in a news release about the event. Part of The Big British Bang is the 'The Big British Tea Party' where people will be able to experience "The Highest Tea" on Oxford Street and Crazy Golf on Selfridges' Rooftop. The tea room and crazy golf course will be open from the 31st of May to the 2nd of September 2012. The Big British Bang launches on the 4th of May.

Emily and I are looking forward to making a visit as part of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour! We're also big fans of Tea Rooms so it'll be a double treat.

You can see photos of the 1930's Miniature Golf course on the rooftop garden in a Daily Mail website story here. A mention of the rooftop 'mini golf' course is made on the Selfridges Wikipedia entry too. Having a look for further information online I spotted a mention of the planned miniature golf course at Selfridges on the website of eFIG, the trade association for the Interior Landscaping Industry.

Links:

Related Blog Posts:

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Olympic Rings at St Pancras - 180 Days to Go to the start of London 2012!


Emily and I have managed to get tickets to watch some of the Handball at the 2012 Olympic Games!