KMGC
THE KENT MINIGOLF CLUB
"unus putt rego lemma totus"

THE KENT INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT 2007

STROKES ADVENTURE GOLF COURSE, MARGATE

RUTH 'PLATE THROWER' BULLIN wins
SEAN 'FREEBIRD' HOMER 2nd
BILL 'THE CONQUEROR' BULLIN 3rd


Ruth Bullin receives the KIT trophy from the 2006 winner, Sean Homer.

For Photos from the day click here

So after 7 months and hundreds of rounds at Strokes, the Kent Minigolf Club's year ending Invitational Tournament - the KIT - was played out under clear skies as 16 of the clubs finest gladiators (and one special guest player and even a special guest referee - many thanks to Ted for overseeing our junior members Rocky, Jake and Sally through the first round!!) took up the fight over two final rounds.
 
With prizes up for grabs for the lowest phase 1 score (Bill's for his UK course record 32), the lowest score of the day, the most aces across the two rounds along with a top guest prize and the KIT trophy itself we were in for a fitting end to a terrific season (and a great pre-courser for the following days Kent Open).
 
A rolling start across two rounds proved to be a great way to round off the tournament. Bill led the field with a 34 after phase 1, with Ruth and Sean (the reigning KIT trophy holder) next up with 35's, Andy with a 36 and then Matt on 38 (tied with none other than the UK number 1, Tim 'Aceman' Davies gracing the competition as the leading guest!!). Who would hold their nerve, who would take home the coveted KIT trophy... only time would tell.
 
Round 1 of the day got underway with some steady play as the players warmed up to the task, settling those early nerves, only to be stunned into silence when an almighty explosion ripped through the calm Thanet morning, rumbling the ground and leaving a plume of smoke and water rising into the air out to sea. Without missing a beat on hole 2 after a decent tee off shot, Dave Forrest, master of understatement turned to Sean and said "Oh that would be the bomb they were towing out to explode this morning!!". Yes, I kid you not, but we had an interuption in the play due to a BOMB!!! A big one at that!!! Something that Dave had neglected to mention as we took the field!!! But unruffled and true to form, Dave calmly stepped over to his ball, sank the putt for a steady two and moved onto hole 3 as the rest of the KMGC stood in shock watching the plume receed back into the water...
 
With the shock wave subsiding, the play continued and despite the interuption, Team captain Sean led the field by 2 shots (with a 36) from Andy and Ruth, with Bill 4 shots further back and out of the KIT points. Sue took the honours in the round by producing a competition PB of 40 to move into the reckoning.
 
After a short break for teas, coffes and counselling, Round 2 got underway in reverse leaderboard order. Dave produced an excellent 37 to move into 7th place, one stroke behind the leading guest, Tim, who bagged the Bailey's truffles in recognition of his support and involvment in the KIT this year. Matt banged in the equal lowest round of the day with a 36 (including 5 aces) and secured the most aces trophy (kindly donated by the Forrest's) in the process. Which left the leading 4 players... Bill and Andy tied in 3rd place on 114 and Ruth and Sean tied for 1st with a strange final few holes where each player seemed determined to give the other the lead... it was clearly destiny to head for play offs to decide the final placings (as we did in 2006).
 
Bill and Andy were first up, with Bill edging the third place (and the 50 ranking points) with an ace on the first. Then came Ruth and Sean for the title decider. 2's a piece for the first and second holes saw the play-off move to the Ski-Jump third. Sean went first, missed the ramp, rolled in the gutter (his ball, not him!) and finally got down for a 3. Ruth stepped up and bagged the ace that gave her the KIT trophy, the 200 ranking points, all in her first year with the KMGC - great stuff. At this point it dawned on Sean that he and Matt also needed to play off for the lowest score of the day prize... 2's each at the first 2 holes saw Sean standing at the third, again teeing off first to try and win the play-off. This time fortune smiled upon him as he took a 2 and Matt could only take a 3... and that was that.
 

Following the prize ceremony for the KIT, the gathered members of the KMGC retired to the officials hut for the first annual KMGC Awards presentation. The festivities were kicked off by Sean's mini movie on the history of the Kent Minigolf Club and once the laughter had died down, Marion and Sue got on with the serious business of handing out this years awards as follows;

 
Thanks to all who took part across the year, and worthy mentions for those that couldn't make the Saturday (Philip, Scott, Chris, Peter Parr, Dave Harding and Andy Exall ) which just leaves me to say to my fellow KMGC'ers, keep an eye on the website because the KIT will be back bigger and better in 2008 co-inciding with the Easter opening of Strokes. Can't wait...
 
Viva Team Kent!!!!

FINAL STANDINGS    

  Name Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Total Average Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Total  
1  Ruth 'Plate Thrower' Bullin 33 34 35 35 35 36 208 34.67 35 38 39 112

 
2  Sean 'Freebird' Homer 34 34 35 35 35 36 209 34.83 35 36 41 112

 
3  Bill 'The Conqueror' Bullin 32 34 34 35 35 35 205 34.17 34 43 37 114

 
4  Andy 'Sarge' Booth 34 35 35 35 37 38 214 35.67 36 37 41 114

 
5  Matt 'Woody' Wood 37 37 38 38 39 40 229 38.17 38 41 36 115  
6  Tim 'Aceman' Davies (G) 36 37 38 38 39 40 228 38.00 38 40 38 116  
7  Dave '4 Strings' Forrest 37 38 39 39 40 40 233 38.83 39 41 37 117  
8  Rocky 'Harry Putter' Bullin 39 41 41 42 43 43 249 41.50 42 38 42 122  
9  Tim 'The Slim White Duke' Witherden 42 42 43 45 45 49 266 44.33 44 40 38 122  
10  Susan 'Duffy Moon' Forrest 42 43 44 45 45 45 264 44.00 44 40 43 127  
11  Jane Booth 42 44 46 46 48 49 275 45.83 46 41 52 139  
12  Richard Hopkins 45 47 47 47 47 48 281 46.83 47 47 45 139  
13  Gary ' The Gambler' Davies 48 49 50 50 50 50 293 48.83 49 48 43 140  
14  Marion 'Double Trouble' Homer 36 40 40 41 41 41 239 39.83 40 51 53 144  
15  Sally Booth 48 52 52 54 54 56 316 52.67 53 51 49 153  
16  Jake 'The Hurricane' Booth 43 45 49 51 52 52 292 48.67 49 54 52 155  
17 Jennifer Forrest 60 67 67 68 71 73 406 67.67 68 66 62 196  

The KMGC prides itself on its wide ranging membership (started in 2006 and growing all the time) and the competition is open to anyone (although if you are currently affiliated with one of the other UK minigolf clubs then you can only play in a guest capacity). Everyone is welcome! Whether you are a member of the British Minigolf Associaton (BMGA) and a veteran of competition play, or whether you just fancy meeting up with like minded minigolfers and see how you fare, the Kent Invitiational Tournament  (KIT) is just what you are looking for!!! 

Participating in this event not only gives you a lifetime entry into the Kent Minigolf Club (as if this isn't prize enough!) but also the chance to win the illustrious Kent Invitational Tournament Trophy (pictured below) and the opportunity to pit your minigolfing skills against the rest of Team Kent.

Phase 1: Ran from 31st March onwards and ran for the duration of the season upto the 2nd November. At the end of this period an average score was be taken from the 6 best rounds of the season that each player has shot at Strokes.

The rules were  simple - An official KIT round has to have at least 2 Team Kent players playing, using the Strokes scorecards (and BMGA competition rules) with the word KIT and the date marked at the top of the card, before the round has started. Once started, the player must play to the end of the round (all 18 holes) and the score will be recorded as an official KIT score (players just need hand the cards into the kiosk at the course and e-mail the individual scores to admin@kentminigolfclub.co.uk)

There are no retrospective KIT scores allowed – if you happen to shoot a 33 (which would be a new course record) but have not met the criteria above, sorry but this won’t count towards your phase 1 score (or be elligible as a new course record!). Scores can be made from Saturday 31st March to Friday November 2nd inclusive. The 6 best scores of each player will be posted on this page of the website so all players can see what the latest league table is. At the end of the period the average scores will be worked out and each player will have this score to take forward into phase 2 – the Grand Final!!!

Phase 2: – The KIT tournament – 2 rounds of tournament play (BMGA rules apply) on 3rd Nov, day before the Kent Open and these 2 rounds were added onto the average score and - hey presto – the lowest combined score won the KIT 2007!!! T

 

If you want any more information regarding the Kent Invitiational Tournament then please contact us at admin@kentminigolfclub.co.uk

We're always keen to hear from Kent based minigolfers
- where do you play? what's your favourite course?
and if you're interested in playing in the Kent Invitational Tournament and want to know more
then why not drop us a line at admin@kentminigolfclub.co.uk