British players compete in the Nations Cup of Minigolf in Porto, Portugal

June 1, 2012 - PRLog -- British Minigolf Association members Marc Chapman and James Rutherford represented Great Britain at the EMF Nations Cup international Minigolf championship in Porto, Portugal on the 26th and 27th May.

In the two-day contest played on the two 18-hole courses at the Clube de Minigolfe do Porto James Rutherford from Cambridge finished 28th in the men’s individual rankings, with Marc Chapman in 31st place.  

James Rutherford, captain of the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club said “First of all, a huge thank you to the people of Foz do Douro. I can only speak for myself but they made us all feel so welcome in their city. They were always willing to offer advice or take the time to help. I cannot wait to see everybody again in August. I was very nervous for my first rounds on each course, as when you are standing over the holes in competition for the first time they feel about 10 times bigger! By the end of day one I felt I had found my feet and was naturally delighted to shoot the British record on Beton. I still have a lot to learn and I would like to thank Marc for all his guidance. His thirst for knowledge and improvement in Europe is contagious and admirable. Lastly, thank you all for your support back in England. It was a very proud moment for me to play for Great Britain for the first time and to see everyone rallying behind the team was fantastic. Bring on the European Championships in August!”

GB Team Manager Marc Chapman, a member of the Kent Minigolf Club said “It was a very successful trip sampling and learning the courses that will be used at the European Championships later this August. The real bonus was the speed at which James tuned into the different style of continental play on types of course that do not currently exist in the UK. This resulted in James setting an unexpected new GB record score on the Concrete style of Minigolf course and a new GB record for a cumulative score for eight competitive rounds. This is a very positive sign for the GB team at the major EMF championships in August, as it shows how excellent scores can be attained on both courses by players on debut this year and that James himself should be looking to improve his scores with the additional training time.

Marc added “This year's European Championships in Porto will have a very large and very high quality field. The primary focus will be to gain collective experience playing abroad, with three players making their continental debuts, and working on player’s technique and the mental side of the game. By setting these foundations and getting into good habits while training as a group and using team lines and ball selections results will continue to improve in future.”

The Nations Cup was organised by the European Minigolf Sport Federation and saw 43 players from eight countries take part in the tournament held at the Clube de Minigolfe do Porto. The team contest saw ten teams from seven nations compete, with Germany defeating Austria in the final.

At the Nations Cup Canterbury’s Marc Chapman made his fifth appearance for the Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team. He made his minigolf debut in 2009 and is the reigning BMGA British International Open champion. Marc is currently ranked 5th in the Official BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit Rankings List.

James Rutherford from Cambridge has made two appearances for the Great Britain Team and is the current BMGA British Champion. James made his BMGA Tour debut in 2010 and is currently ranked 2nd in the Official BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit Rankings List.

During the tournament two British Minigolf records were broken as James Rutherford scored the best round on the Concrete (Beton) form of minigolf with a score of 26(-10). His eight round total score of 224(-64) was a new record for a tournament played on Concrete and Miniaturegolf (Eternit) types of Minigolf.

Full results of the 2012 Nations Cup can be viewed at http://www.fp-minigolfe.com/results/115/result.htm

In August the British Minigolf Association will be sending a team to the EMF European Minigolf Championships in Portugal. The team line-up will be:
•   Marc Chapman – Team Manager/Captain
•   Freddie Blackburn-Shaw (Continental Debut)
•   Adam Kelly (Continental Debut)
•   Tony Kelly
•   James Rutherford
•   Seth Thomas (Continental Debut)

In the latest World Minigolf Sport Federation Rankings List Great Britain is ranked 19th of 31 countries. The top three places are taken by Germany, Sweden and Austria.

To date 41 BMGA Tour Players have made a total of 109 appearances representing Great Britain in adult and youth World and European Championships, Nations Cup competitions, the Asia Open, the World Adventure Golf Masters and the Czech Open since 1999. Peter Parr was the first Great Britain International and made his debut at the 1999 WMF World Minigolf Championships in Papendal, The Netherlands.

The BMGA Tour consists of Minigolf ranking events that take place at Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses across the UK. In 2011 there were 22 Ranking BMGA Tour competitions and a total of 12 players lifted BMGA Tour titles in Open, Invitational, Club and Doubles events. For further details about the BMGA and UK Minigolf please email mail@minigolf.org.uk or visit http://www.minigolf.org.uk

The Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team’s kit is supplied by UrbanCrazy. Based in London, UrbanCrazy is an innovative and exciting company, designing and building permanent and portable Crazy Golf, Mini Golf and Adventure Golf courses. Its permanent courses are ideal for parks, leisure centres and back gardens - and the portable courses are available to rent for corporate events, parties and so on. UrbanCrazy also supplies a wide-range of high grade Miniature Golf equipment and accessories. UrbanCrazy has sponsored the Great Britain team in a number of International Minigolf tournaments since 2007. For further details about UrbanCrazy please visit http://www.urbancrazy.com

Further details about the European Minigolf Sport Federation can be found at http://www.minigolf-europe.org  

The official website of the 2012 EMF European Championships and Nations Cup is http://www.minigolfporto2012.com

Further details about the World Minigolf Sport Federation can be found at http://www.minigolfsport.com