Latest BO news from BMGA website:
The second Major of the year takes place at Strokes for the 5th time in the history of the event.Players from across the UK along with international minigolfers from Germany and Sweden will be making their way to the legendary Strokes Adventure Golf Course in Margate for the 2013 British Open, taking place over the weekend of the 21 & 22 September.
The players from the 2012 British Open before the 1st round at last years event.This is the fifth time that the course has hosted the event and always guarantees some outstanding minigolf across the two day competition. This year sees a number of changes to the format. The competition for 2013 is expanding from a 7 round event to a 9 round event with 5 rounds being played on Saturday and 4 rounds on Sunday. This year will also see all players qualifying for Sunday (there will be no cut as per the past few years). As is traditional, the final round on Sunday will be contested amongst the top 18 players with the winner taking home the top cash prize and the trophy (as seen in the picture below).
Another new addition for the 2013 competition will see live results from the British Open, for the first time on the British Minigolf tour, being streamed in 'real time' from Saurday morning at
http://bmga.co.uk/2013BO/result.htm. By utilising mobile scoring handsets at the competition developed and used at World Minigolf Sport Federation events worldwide, players and spectators at the course as well as those watching across the world online will be able to watch real time, hole by hole results as they happen, adding an exciting new dimension to the premier event on the British Minigolf Association tour.
There will also be prizes on offer for the best players in the Category 2 (players currently ranked between 17 & 32 in the order of merit) and Category 3 (all players outside of the top 32 UK ranked players and not an international) competitors as well as for the Aces champions within each of the three player categories.
Michael Smith, the reigning champion will be back to defend his title in a strong field of over 30 players, featuring the current top 6 players in the UK rankings along with two other previous winners, Mattias Ståhl from Sweden (the 2008 Champion) and Karsten Hein from Germany (the 2006 Champion).
Friday 20th will also see the Players Championship take place, the traditional curtain raiser to the British Open weekend. This is open to all players and entry costs £5 per person (payable on the day) and the competition will tee-off at 2pm. All players compete in the 1st round with the lowest scores across 1 round of strokeplay moving into the semi finals (all Matchplay ties) with the winners taking on each other at one final round of strokeplay to decide the title. The winner gets to nominate a charity of their choosing to donate 50% of the entry fees to, along with all of the the Hole In One Charity Challenge funds for the season (there will be a challenge as well at the Players Championship, the Saturday of the Open along with the a final one for the season at the World Crazy Golf Championship). There is no need to pre-register for the Players Championships, just make sure you are at the course and registered on the day by 1.45pm
Who will take home the trophy on Sunday afternoon?Sean Homer, Chairman of the BMGA said "Strokes is one of the best courses in the UK and always proves to be a great venue to host any event on the tour. The British Open is one of the most eagerly awaited events on our tour and I am delighted that we are back at Strokes for the 2013 event. The expansion of the number of rounds, the lack of a day 1 cut and the arrival of the new mobile scoring system, combined with the hospitality and welcome all the players receive for the Wood family - the course owners - will ensure that this British Open will be a terrific competition and a fitting venue for our second Major of the year".
There is still time for players to enter the British Open (final cut off for entries is 11pm Thursday 19 September) and full details including an entry form can be found at
http://www.minigolf.org.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_eventlist&view=details&id=100&Itemid=56The tournament tees off from 9.00am on Saturday 21 September and spectators are welcome to come and witness what will be a superb 2 day event, culminating on Sunday afternoon with the crowning of the 2013 Champion.
