Rutherford wins the 2025 British Adventure Golf Masters and clinches WAG Tour Final place in 2026
The 26th annual British Adventure Golf Masters took place in the height of summer on Sunday 27th of July, with 50 competitors, including a few international guests battling it out over 4 rounds on the railway themed course at Play2Day Wisbech, a brand-new venue for the event after 7 successive years at Mr Mulligans, Sidcup. There was some added intrigue with this year’s edition of the Masters as it was part of the WMF World Adventure Golf Tour calendar. The winner would receive automatic qualification into the tour final in May 2026 which is taking place at Aces Minigolf Gloucester. The event was also broadcast live with comprehensive highlights produced and is now available to watch on Olympics.com, you can check it by clicking here
The field of competitors was strong. The defending champion Will Donnelly was looking to become the first player since 2005 (Ted McIver) to win back-to-back Masters titles. James Hollinrake was seeking to better his impressive 3rd place finish here at the Foxes Open back in May, and Rick Baird from the USA, one of only 4 men in history to shoot a perfect 18 round in putt putt was looking to add an international title to his long list of accomplishments.
After a long day of intense competition, it was the experienced James Rutherford of Strokes Minigolf Club that took his first Masters title with 4 impressive rounds totaling 128 (-16), only dropping on 2 separate holes all day. Seve Kukielka of the Gloucester Aces finished 2 shots off in 2nd place after a spirited comeback from an initial disappointing opening round of 37. He was joined by his teammate, Chris Randell in 3rd place who continues his impressive form over the last few months.
This year we introduced a Women’s, Junior and Novice trophies alongside the main championship. Eight females from four countries including the current female seniors World Adventure Golf Masters Champion Vanette Block took part. But it was the current World Crazy Golf Female Champion, Rachel King of the Gloucester Aces that took the trophy, 10 shots ahead of Ruth Sturdy of Gemini with local Louise Pearse from the Foxes Minigolf club coming in 3rd after an impressive showing.
Like the Women’s division, the junior title was also won by a reigning champion from the World Crazies at Hastings. It was Leah Cassidy of the Gloucester Aces who won the Junior Crazy Golf Championship back in June. Leah was consistent throughout the day and shot an impressive 37 which smashed the course record for any junior player. The Novice Champion was Richard Mandeville from the Foxes Minigolf Club, Richard improved round on round over the tournament and sealed the title with a fantastic 36 to finish the day.
It was a fantastic event and there were a number of impressive performances across the field. Relative newcomers Murray Thompson and Gary Combs put in excellent displays with both securing top 6 finishes and winning their respective categories. Ben Cassidy shaved 5.3 shots off his average score from the Foxes Open event back in May, and we had some fantastic low rounds from category 3 players Luigi Amato with a 32 in round 2, and Nick Harman, who shot a 33 in round 3.
We’d like to thank all the staff at Play2Day Wisbech for hosting us throughout the weekend and a big thank you to the WAGT team for covering the event. We look forward to returning to Wisbech in the coming years.
You can find the full results here
