This page summarises the club’s history from its formation in 2005 through to the present day.
Formation
Midlands Minigolf Club was formed in 2005 by founding members Chris Harding and John Moore. They wanted to enjoy the benefits of being a member of a minigolf club, but at the time, all other minigolf clubs in Britain were based in South-East England. The formation of the club took place at a special ceremony at Four Ashes Golf Centre, Dorridge, and was attended by representatives from the BMGA, including Secretary Jon Angel. Chris Harding became the first Midlands captain.
The club was initially called Midlands and the North, as most of the early members lived in the Midlands but founding member John Moore was from the North (Newcastle). More recently the club has simply been called Midlands Minigolf Club.
2005
The club’s first event was the inaugural Midlands Invitational Tournament (MIT), held in 2005 at Stratford-upon-Avon in a bid to help players prepare for the forthcoming British Championship. John Moore won the 36 hole tournament by 4 shots from Chris Harding, with Phil Bousfield 3rd and John Bousfield 4th. Along with Michael King, those were the five earliest members of the club. A team of John, Phil, Michael and John finished a very creditable 2nd place out of 5 teams in MMGC’s first appearance at the BMGA Club Championship, held at Dorridge. The team recorded 3 wins from 4 matches, and only a very narrow loss to the champions Planet Hastings prevented MMGC from winning the title.
2006
The club grew quickly in the early years. The number of entrants (8) at the 2006 Midlands Invitational Tournament, held at Dorridge, was double that of 2005’s tournament. This included new members Jonathan Abel, Matthew Harding, Michael King and James Trubridge. A dominant performance from Chris Harding saw him claim a 10 shot victory over John Moore over 36 holes and 3 rounds, with James beating Matthew on the 1st sudden-death play-off hole to finish 3rd.
22 players competed in the inaugural Midlands Open, also held at Dorridge. The tournament saw a major upset with 11-year-old Rocky Bullin hitting an ace at the 3rd play-off hole to beat arguably the greatest British minigolfer of all time Tim Davies and win the title. Another British minigolfing legend, John McIver, finished just 1 shot behind in 3rd place. Several new players entered the Midlands Open and later became club members, which helped the club enter two teams at the British Club Championship, again held at Dorridge. The ‘A’ team won 4 out of their 6 matches on their way to finishing 2nd for a second consecutive year, while the ‘B’ team finished 7th and last.
2007
The club continued to grow in 2007 with new members including the soon-to-be-infamous Richard Gottfried and the Kukielka family (Cindy, Jas, Leo and Seve), who joined the club despite living in Wales. The second Midlands Open was held at Warwick, and again saw 22 entrants competing for the title. The 3 rounds, 54 hole tournament was won by James Trubridge with an excellent 109 total. He finished 2 shots clear of Bill Bullin, with John Moore four shots back in 3rd place. The 2007 MIT was decided by the opening two rounds of the Midlands Open. Unsurprisingly this was also won by James Trubridge, with John Moore 2nd and Seve Kukielka 3rd.
2008
2008 was a historic year for Midlands Minigolf Club on two counts. Firstly new members including Rob Dodd and Kevin Moseley saw a record 13 players (including 2 guests) contest the 4th Midlands Invitational Tournament. Held at Stratford-upon-Avon in late April, a new course record of 31 in the second and final round saw Chris Harding take the title by 1 shot from John Moore. Richard Gottfried finished 3rd, 1 shot clear of James Trubridge.
Also held at the popular Stratford-upon-Avon course was the 2008 British Club Championship. Thanks to an outstanding performance of 6 wins from 6 matches, the Midlands 1 team of Richard Gottfried, Chris Harding, John Moore and James Trubridge won the tournament! Midlands 2 finished 5th out of 7 teams, two places higher than Midlands 3.
2009
Membership of the club continued to grow with Emily Gottfried, Arthur Harding, Peter Jones and Owen and Paul Johnson joining the club and playing in the biggest ever (14 players) Midlands Invitational Tournament. Held at Stratford-upon-Avon over 36 holes, two excellent rounds of 32 saw Kevin Moseley record a 5 shot victory over Chris Harding, with James Trubridge 3 shots further back in 3rd.
Back at Stratford-upon-Avon a month later, the club hosted its 3rd Midlands Open. 20 players competed for the title, which was won by John Moore. John recorded an outstanding 93 shot total including a new course record of 29. He finished 2 shots clear of Peter Emmerson, with Kevin Moseley 7 shots further back in 3rd place.
The 2009 Club Championship was held on the ‘unique’ Sandbanks course. Our teams were captained by Richard Gottfried. Midlands B finished 5th equal out of 8 teams, with Midlands A finishing 7th.
2010
Chris Harding dominated 2010 by winning both ‘Major’ tournaments. An excellent 3 round total of 94 shots saw him win the 4th Midlands Open, again held at Stratford-upon-Avon. Owing to the fact the BMGA British Doubles Championship was to be held the following day at the same course, a record field of 37 entrants competed for the title. Kent’s Marc Chapman finished 2nd thanks mainly to a phenomenal 28 in the final round – a new course record! John McIver finished 3rd.
14 players including new member Marc Bazeley contested the 6th Midlands Invitational Tournament, held at Dorridge. An excellent first 36 holes saw Richard Gottfried put himself in pole position for the title. Unfortunately a final round 27 combined with an excellent 20 from Chris saw Chris Harding take the title by 3 shots to win his 3rd MIT title. James Trubridge finished 3 shots behind Richard to finish 3rd.
2011
Another extremely consistent performance from the club captain saw Chris Harding win his 2nd successive Midlands Open with a total of 88 shots. That was 2 shots clear of Kent captain Sean Homer, after Homer beat Marc Chapman (3rd) and James Rutherford (4th) in a sudden-death play-off. Rutherford did have the consolation of shooting a superb new course record of 17. The British Club Championship was also held at Dorridge, with Midlands A putting in another strong performance to finish 3rd out of 7 teams. The Midlands Allstars finished 7th.
2012
After doing a fantastic job as captain for the first seven years of the club’s existence, Chris Harding handed over the captaincy to Paul Johnson.
In the Midlands Open at Dorridge, Chris became the first ever player in BMGA history to complete a ranking tournament without dropping a shot. The bad news for Harding was while his 85 total would have won by 5 shots in 2011, it was only good enough for 3rd place! The then British number 1 Michael Smith produced an exceptional performance to score a total of 78 and win the tournament by 6 shots from reigning British Open champion Marc Chapman.
The British Club Championship moved to the neutral venue of the 9 hole course at Basingstoke. MMGC again put in an excellent performance, with the Midlands A team finishing 3rd out of 11 teams and Midlands B finishing 9th.
2013
2013 was a quiet year for the club with no Midlands Open or Midlands Invitational Tournament being held. The club did have another decent performance at the British Club Championship. Again held at Basingstoke, Midlands 1 finished 3rd out of 9 teams, while Midlands 2 finished 7th.
2014
With no major tournaments during the first half of the year continuing a quiet 18 months for the club, fresh momentum arrived when Michael Smith transferred from Kent and became the 3rd Midlands captain. Several other new members joined the club in 2014, including the Farmers (Geoff and Simon), the Smiths (Brenda and Chris), the Tetleys (Anthony and Jake), Ruth Burke, Max Plaice, Becky Statham, Steve Sturdy and Seth Thomas.
The 2 Major tournaments returned in 2014 and were both held at Dorridge. After being delayed 1 week by the remnants of a hurricane hitting Britain, 9 players contested the Midlands Invitational Tournament. After a dramatic duel between the current captain and the first captain, it was Chris Harding who came out on top by 1 shot on 86. Michael Smith was 2nd, with Chris Smith a further 4 shots back in 3rd place. The same three players won the medals at the Midlands Open a few weeks later but this time it was Michael winning on 82. That was 3 shots clear of Chris Harding in 2nd, with Chris Smith a further 2 shots behind in 3rd.
MMGC completed the year by sending three teams to the Club Championship. Unfortunately torrential rain meant the tournament had to be abandoned.
2015
The momentum gained from the 2nd half of 2014 continued into 2015. For the first time in our history, MMGC won the British Club Championship away from home, as the tournament was played at the Pirate course in Hastings. The winning Midlands Wulfhere team was Richard Gottfried, John Moore, Michael Smith and Seth Thomas. The Midlands Beowulf team finished 7th out of 8 teams.
The Midlands Open was again held at Dorridge with a field of 24 players. Michael Smith produced a remarkable performance to record a 4 round total of 76 and win the title by 13 shots. Will Donnelly finished 2nd, two shots clear of Richard Gottfried in 3rd. New member Rocky Bullin won the inaugural MMGC Masters as the club held its first tournament at Stratford-upon-Avon for 5 years. Rocky won with a 3 round total of 97 shots. Chris Harding was 2nd on 100, with John Moore 3rd on 103. Also joining the club in 2015 were Will Donnelly, Tiger Pragnell and Tina Tetley.
Another record achieved in 2015 was a record 16 competitors in the Midlands Invitational Tournament. This was also the first time the tournament had been won by a non-Midlands player, with Sussex Wasps’s Andy Wilde winning with an excellent total of 91, and Steve Lovell and Michael Smith finishing tied 2nd on 95.
2016
26 players contested the 3rd consecutive Midlands Open to be held at Dorridge. Michael Smith again won, this time on 84 shots. Nuno Cunha was 2nd on 89, with Steve Lovell 3rd on 91 shots after beating Chris Wood in a play-off. Rocky Bullin successfully defended his MMGC Masters title with a 103 total. Steve Lovell finished 2nd on 107, with Steve Sturdy in 3rd on 109.
MMGC sent two teams to the British Club Championship, which was held for the first time at Strokes Adventure Golf, Margate. The Midlands Wulfhere team finished 5th out of 8 teams, while the Midlands Beowulf team finished 6th.
10 players contested the Midlands Invitational Tournament, which was again held at Nottingham. Michael Smith won the title by 12 shots after shooting an excellent three round total of 86. After a 3 hole play-off, Chris Smith finished 2nd, with Ruth Burke 3rd. Michael also won the inaugural MMGC Matchplay Championship. He beat Chris Smith (2nd) in the final, with Will Donnelly (3rd) beating Tiger Pragnell (4th) for the bronze medal. The inaugural MMGC Star City Classic was won by Ruth Burke (102). Michael Smith finished 2nd (103) with Chris Smith in 3rd (104).
2017
2017 was a year of change for the club as a five person Management Committee took control of the day-to-day running of MMGC. On the course, the continued uncertainty over the fate of the 12 lane course at Dorridge ensured that the Midlands Open was held indoors for the very first time. 17 players competed in the tournament, which was superbly won by Rocky Bullin with a new 3 round record at Nottingham of 83 strokes. Rocky also set a new course record of 26. Michael Smith was 2nd on 86 with Andy Wilde 3rd on 89.
In other tournaments, Michael Smith won the MIT and MMGC Strokeplay Championship (Chris Smith 2nd, Seve Kukielka 3rd), the MMGC Masters (Ruth Burke 2nd, Rocky Bullin 3rd) and the Star City Classic (Chris Smith 2nd, Ruth Burke 3rd). In a thrilling, top-quality final to the Matchplay Championship, Michael shot 9 aces at Nottingham to beat Rocky by 1 hole.
Yet the MMGC highlight of 2017 was arguably not one of our own tournaments. The MMGC team consisting of Rocky Bullin, Ruth Burke, Chris Harding and Chris Smith put in a sensational performance in the British Club Championship. Played at the fast and picturesque course at Wroxham Barns, the team played to a consistently high standard to remain unbeaten all day, only drawing once, and ultimately, winning the championship for the 3rd time in our history.
Formation
Midlands Minigolf Club was formed in 2005 by founding members Chris Harding and John Moore. They wanted to enjoy the benefits of being a member of a minigolf club, but at the time, all other minigolf clubs in Britain were based in South-East England. The formation of the club took place at a special ceremony at Four Ashes Golf Centre, Dorridge, and was attended by representatives from the BMGA, including Secretary Jon Angel. Chris Harding became the first Midlands captain.
The club was initially called Midlands and the North, as most of the early members lived in the Midlands but founding member John Moore was from the North (Newcastle). More recently the club has simply been called Midlands Minigolf Club.
2005
The club’s first event was the inaugural Midlands Invitational Tournament (MIT), held in 2005 at Stratford-upon-Avon in a bid to help players prepare for the forthcoming British Championship. John Moore won the 36 hole tournament by 4 shots from Chris Harding, with Phil Bousfield 3rd and John Bousfield 4th. Along with Michael King, those were the five earliest members of the club. A team of John, Phil, Michael and John finished a very creditable 2nd place out of 5 teams in MMGC’s first appearance at the BMGA Club Championship, held at Dorridge. The team recorded 3 wins from 4 matches, and only a very narrow loss to the champions Planet Hastings prevented MMGC from winning the title.
2006
The club grew quickly in the early years. The number of entrants (8) at the 2006 Midlands Invitational Tournament, held at Dorridge, was double that of 2005’s tournament. This included new members Jonathan Abel, Matthew Harding, Michael King and James Trubridge. A dominant performance from Chris Harding saw him claim a 10 shot victory over John Moore over 36 holes and 3 rounds, with James beating Matthew on the 1st sudden-death play-off hole to finish 3rd.
22 players competed in the inaugural Midlands Open, also held at Dorridge. The tournament saw a major upset with 11-year-old Rocky Bullin hitting an ace at the 3rd play-off hole to beat arguably the greatest British minigolfer of all time Tim Davies and win the title. Another British minigolfing legend, John McIver, finished just 1 shot behind in 3rd place. Several new players entered the Midlands Open and later became club members, which helped the club enter two teams at the British Club Championship, again held at Dorridge. The ‘A’ team won 4 out of their 6 matches on their way to finishing 2nd for a second consecutive year, while the ‘B’ team finished 7th and last.
2007
The club continued to grow in 2007 with new members including the soon-to-be-infamous Richard Gottfried and the Kukielka family (Cindy, Jas, Leo and Seve), who joined the club despite living in Wales. The second Midlands Open was held at Warwick, and again saw 22 entrants competing for the title. The 3 rounds, 54 hole tournament was won by James Trubridge with an excellent 109 total. He finished 2 shots clear of Bill Bullin, with John Moore four shots back in 3rd place. The 2007 MIT was decided by the opening two rounds of the Midlands Open. Unsurprisingly this was also won by James Trubridge, with John Moore 2nd and Seve Kukielka 3rd.
2008
2008 was a historic year for Midlands Minigolf Club on two counts. Firstly new members including Rob Dodd and Kevin Moseley saw a record 13 players (including 2 guests) contest the 4th Midlands Invitational Tournament. Held at Stratford-upon-Avon in late April, a new course record of 31 in the second and final round saw Chris Harding take the title by 1 shot from John Moore. Richard Gottfried finished 3rd, 1 shot clear of James Trubridge.
Also held at the popular Stratford-upon-Avon course was the 2008 British Club Championship. Thanks to an outstanding performance of 6 wins from 6 matches, the Midlands 1 team of Richard Gottfried, Chris Harding, John Moore and James Trubridge won the tournament! Midlands 2 finished 5th out of 7 teams, two places higher than Midlands 3.
2009
Membership of the club continued to grow with Emily Gottfried, Arthur Harding, Peter Jones and Owen and Paul Johnson joining the club and playing in the biggest ever (14 players) Midlands Invitational Tournament. Held at Stratford-upon-Avon over 36 holes, two excellent rounds of 32 saw Kevin Moseley record a 5 shot victory over Chris Harding, with James Trubridge 3 shots further back in 3rd.
Back at Stratford-upon-Avon a month later, the club hosted its 3rd Midlands Open. 20 players competed for the title, which was won by John Moore. John recorded an outstanding 93 shot total including a new course record of 29. He finished 2 shots clear of Peter Emmerson, with Kevin Moseley 7 shots further back in 3rd place.
The 2009 Club Championship was held on the ‘unique’ Sandbanks course. Our teams were captained by Richard Gottfried. Midlands B finished 5th equal out of 8 teams, with Midlands A finishing 7th.
2010
Chris Harding dominated 2010 by winning both ‘Major’ tournaments. An excellent 3 round total of 94 shots saw him win the 4th Midlands Open, again held at Stratford-upon-Avon. Owing to the fact the BMGA British Doubles Championship was to be held the following day at the same course, a record field of 37 entrants competed for the title. Kent’s Marc Chapman finished 2nd thanks mainly to a phenomenal 28 in the final round – a new course record! John McIver finished 3rd.
14 players including new member Marc Bazeley contested the 6th Midlands Invitational Tournament, held at Dorridge. An excellent first 36 holes saw Richard Gottfried put himself in pole position for the title. Unfortunately a final round 27 combined with an excellent 20 from Chris saw Chris Harding take the title by 3 shots to win his 3rd MIT title. James Trubridge finished 3 shots behind Richard to finish 3rd.
2011
Another extremely consistent performance from the club captain saw Chris Harding win his 2nd successive Midlands Open with a total of 88 shots. That was 2 shots clear of Kent captain Sean Homer, after Homer beat Marc Chapman (3rd) and James Rutherford (4th) in a sudden-death play-off. Rutherford did have the consolation of shooting a superb new course record of 17. The British Club Championship was also held at Dorridge, with Midlands A putting in another strong performance to finish 3rd out of 7 teams. The Midlands Allstars finished 7th.
2012
After doing a fantastic job as captain for the first seven years of the club’s existence, Chris Harding handed over the captaincy to Paul Johnson.
In the Midlands Open at Dorridge, Chris became the first ever player in BMGA history to complete a ranking tournament without dropping a shot. The bad news for Harding was while his 85 total would have won by 5 shots in 2011, it was only good enough for 3rd place! The then British number 1 Michael Smith produced an exceptional performance to score a total of 78 and win the tournament by 6 shots from reigning British Open champion Marc Chapman.
The British Club Championship moved to the neutral venue of the 9 hole course at Basingstoke. MMGC again put in an excellent performance, with the Midlands A team finishing 3rd out of 11 teams and Midlands B finishing 9th.
2013
2013 was a quiet year for the club with no Midlands Open or Midlands Invitational Tournament being held. The club did have another decent performance at the British Club Championship. Again held at Basingstoke, Midlands 1 finished 3rd out of 9 teams, while Midlands 2 finished 7th.
2014
With no major tournaments during the first half of the year continuing a quiet 18 months for the club, fresh momentum arrived when Michael Smith transferred from Kent and became the 3rd Midlands captain. Several other new members joined the club in 2014, including the Farmers (Geoff and Simon), the Smiths (Brenda and Chris), the Tetleys (Anthony and Jake), Ruth Burke, Max Plaice, Becky Statham, Steve Sturdy and Seth Thomas.
The 2 Major tournaments returned in 2014 and were both held at Dorridge. After being delayed 1 week by the remnants of a hurricane hitting Britain, 9 players contested the Midlands Invitational Tournament. After a dramatic duel between the current captain and the first captain, it was Chris Harding who came out on top by 1 shot on 86. Michael Smith was 2nd, with Chris Smith a further 4 shots back in 3rd place. The same three players won the medals at the Midlands Open a few weeks later but this time it was Michael winning on 82. That was 3 shots clear of Chris Harding in 2nd, with Chris Smith a further 2 shots behind in 3rd.
MMGC completed the year by sending three teams to the Club Championship. Unfortunately torrential rain meant the tournament had to be abandoned.
2015
The momentum gained from the 2nd half of 2014 continued into 2015. For the first time in our history, MMGC won the British Club Championship away from home, as the tournament was played at the Pirate course in Hastings. The winning Midlands Wulfhere team was Richard Gottfried, John Moore, Michael Smith and Seth Thomas. The Midlands Beowulf team finished 7th out of 8 teams.
The Midlands Open was again held at Dorridge with a field of 24 players. Michael Smith produced a remarkable performance to record a 4 round total of 76 and win the title by 13 shots. Will Donnelly finished 2nd, two shots clear of Richard Gottfried in 3rd. New member Rocky Bullin won the inaugural MMGC Masters as the club held its first tournament at Stratford-upon-Avon for 5 years. Rocky won with a 3 round total of 97 shots. Chris Harding was 2nd on 100, with John Moore 3rd on 103. Also joining the club in 2015 were Will Donnelly, Tiger Pragnell and Tina Tetley.
Another record achieved in 2015 was a record 16 competitors in the Midlands Invitational Tournament. This was also the first time the tournament had been won by a non-Midlands player, with Sussex Wasps’s Andy Wilde winning with an excellent total of 91, and Steve Lovell and Michael Smith finishing tied 2nd on 95.
2016
26 players contested the 3rd consecutive Midlands Open to be held at Dorridge. Michael Smith again won, this time on 84 shots. Nuno Cunha was 2nd on 89, with Steve Lovell 3rd on 91 shots after beating Chris Wood in a play-off. Rocky Bullin successfully defended his MMGC Masters title with a 103 total. Steve Lovell finished 2nd on 107, with Steve Sturdy in 3rd on 109.
MMGC sent two teams to the British Club Championship, which was held for the first time at Strokes Adventure Golf, Margate. The Midlands Wulfhere team finished 5th out of 8 teams, while the Midlands Beowulf team finished 6th.
10 players contested the Midlands Invitational Tournament, which was again held at Nottingham. Michael Smith won the title by 12 shots after shooting an excellent three round total of 86. After a 3 hole play-off, Chris Smith finished 2nd, with Ruth Burke 3rd. Michael also won the inaugural MMGC Matchplay Championship. He beat Chris Smith (2nd) in the final, with Will Donnelly (3rd) beating Tiger Pragnell (4th) for the bronze medal. The inaugural MMGC Star City Classic was won by Ruth Burke (102). Michael Smith finished 2nd (103) with Chris Smith in 3rd (104).
2017
2017 was a year of change for the club as a five person Management Committee took control of the day-to-day running of MMGC. On the course, the continued uncertainty over the fate of the 12 lane course at Dorridge ensured that the Midlands Open was held indoors for the very first time. 17 players competed in the tournament, which was superbly won by Rocky Bullin with a new 3 round record at Nottingham of 83 strokes. Rocky also set a new course record of 26. Michael Smith was 2nd on 86 with Andy Wilde 3rd on 89.
In other tournaments, Michael Smith won the MIT and MMGC Strokeplay Championship (Chris Smith 2nd, Seve Kukielka 3rd), the MMGC Masters (Ruth Burke 2nd, Rocky Bullin 3rd) and the Star City Classic (Chris Smith 2nd, Ruth Burke 3rd). In a thrilling, top-quality final to the Matchplay Championship, Michael shot 9 aces at Nottingham to beat Rocky by 1 hole.
Yet the MMGC highlight of 2017 was arguably not one of our own tournaments. The MMGC team consisting of Rocky Bullin, Ruth Burke, Chris Harding and Chris Smith put in a sensational performance in the British Club Championship. Played at the fast and picturesque course at Wroxham Barns, the team played to a consistently high standard to remain unbeaten all day, only drawing once, and ultimately, winning the championship for the 3rd time in our history.