| Crazy Golf? |
| The next stop on our virtual minigolf tour is London, England where we will meet crazy golf and minigolf course designer, Jon Angel. This 32 year old has only been playing professionally for 5 years, but he has participated in almost all the national and international events in the UK since 2002, in additional to also playing in many events aboard |
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(06/18/07)
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Our next player hails from the land where minigolf is commonly called crazy golf and is played on surfaces which are not as geometrically sound as those of its closely related cousin, minigolf. In fact, some people who are used to the skill-based courses of minigolf may even say that crazy golf is, just plain crazy. If truth be told, in Britain there are no standard competition minigolf, miniature or felt courses, but instead one may find courses that harbour such obstacles which may see balls flying through a clown’s mouth or even skilfully dodging the rotating sails of a windmill as it tries to find its home in the hole on the other side. However, Jon Angel, 32, from London England, says of the British courses «crazy golf courses aren’t always designed the same way (as minigolf), but they often have interesting and wacky obstacles, some of which are motorised», and goes on to add «both games are great fun!» And Angel, being a minigolf and crazy golf course designer should know something about this. The designer came up with the concept to create a unique portable
crazy golf course in the 1990’s, however he put this dream on hold for awhile, as at the time he was busy using his creativity as a jewellery designer and salesman. Then in 2002 Angel decided to commit to designing and building these zany courses with his London based company, UrbanCrazy (www.urbancrazy.com). While looking for inspiration for his new adventure he came across the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) for the first time. It was this fateful meeting with the BMGA that made minigolf more than a project for Angel; his passion for the sport was officially born. Soon after discovering the British Federation, Angel was invited to compete in a national minigolf tour and after his first competition he was fully hooked on both the crazy obstacles and the precision of the game.
Although he has been playing at a professional level for only five years, Angel has a surprisingly full record of both national and international competitions in which he has played. Since 2002, he has competed in almost all the national and international competitions held
in the UK, in addition to having participated in numerous tournaments abroad, including the World Championships in 2003 (in Bad Munder, Germany) and 2005 (in Steyr, Austria), the European Championships in 2004 (in Timisorara, Romania) and 2006 (in Geldrop, Holland). Angel’s results in competitions are also very impressive. In 2005, he won the biggest national event in England, the British Championship. He has also come out on top in other various tournaments in his homeland, such as the 2004 Players Championship and in 2006 he won both the English Open and the British Doubles Championship. To keep in tip-top shape for all the tournaments he competes in, Angel practices with his fellow members of the London Minigolf Club- a top notch club that was victorious in the British Club Championships two times since Jon has been a member there. This year we will have the opportunity to see Jon Angel in action at the 2007 edition of the World Championships in Canegrate, Italy, but without the “crazy” obstacles that Jon is used to in England, will he feel at home?
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