Monday, March 11, 2013

Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Dorset

Details of the Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf, Minigolf and Golf Putting Green courses we've played in Dorset since October 2008.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels Emily and I have visited over 500 courses to date. The furthest along the south coast of England we've managed to reach so far is the county of Dorset, where we've played a variety of Miniature Golf courses.

The first course I visited in the county (and 76th overall) was the 18-hole Pirate Adventure Mini Golf course in Weymouth. Situated at the town's Sea Life Centre at Lodmoor Country Park, the course hosted the first-ever Weymouth Open Minigolf tournament in October 2008, a contest I won!

2008 Weymouth Open Minigolf champion

We revisited the town for further editions of the event, when I finished as the runner-up in 2009 & 2011, and seventh in 2010. Alongside Chris Harding I won the Weymouth Open Team Tournament in 2011.

2011 Weymouth Open Team Champions

The next visit to Dorset came in June 2009 when the 106th course played was the 18-hole Crazy Golf course in Sandbanks. We were in the area for the British Minigolf Association's British Doubles Championship event at the Boscombe Chine Gardens Minigolf course and took the opportunity explore the courses down there.

Me and my Minigolf Doubles Partner Kevin Moseley at Boscombe Chine Gardens Minigolf course

In total we've visited fifteen courses in Dorset and played eleven of them. Check out the list below for links to blog posts about our visits.

Miniature Golf Courses Played in Dorset:
76 Weymouth (Sea Life Centre) - Adventure Golf



77 Weymouth (Bowleaze Cove) - Crazy Golf



106 Sandbanks - Crazy Golf


107 Bournemouth (Lower Gardens) - Minigolf



108 Boscombe (Chine Gardens) - Minigolf



109 Southbourne/Fisherman's Walk (Cafe Riva) - Crazy Golf - this course has been refurbished since our visit



110 Fordingbridge (Tudor Rose Inn) - Miniature Golf - Update: October 2012 - the beer garden has had a makeover and the course is no longer there


153 Poole (Poole Park) - Crazy Golf - Course removed and replaced in Summer 2010. See also 203
154 Poole (Poole Park) - Putting Green
203 Poole (Poole Park) - New 12-hole Crazy Golf - revisit in October 2011



204 Weymouth (Greenhill Gardens) - Putting



Unplayed Miniature Golf Course Visits in Dorset:
Weymouth - Putting Green - Now played, see #204
- Bournemouth (Near Lower Gardens) - Derelict course
Sandbanks - Putting Green
- Weymouth (Riviera Hotel) - Crazy Golf - Visited again in October 2010 - the Hotel and Course were derelict!
- Christchurch (Hoburne Holiday Park) - Crazy Golf

Note: The number next to the course denotes the 'visit number' on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. You can click through from the list above to the webpage on the Ham & Egger Files detailing our visit to the course.

Two of the most viewed videos on my YouTube Channel were filmed on Poole Park's old Crazy Golf course. Hole 9 used to be a Pinball layout and in the video I show you how the 'Pro's play it'...


If you've got a spare £375,000 knocking about the place you can currently purchase a house in Bournemouth that comes with its own Huxley Golf Putting Green!

The Southbourne Crazy Golf course had the strangest prices I've ever seen!

In 2013 the British Minigolf Association Tour will be returning to Dorset when the Boscombe Chine Minigolf course hosts the BMGA British Matchplay Championships and the Sandbanks Crazy Golf course hosts the Dorset Pro-Am Crazy Golf Championship.

Photo of the Midlands Minigolf Club at the 2009 BMGA British Club Championships at Sandbanks Crazy Golf course in Dorset
The Midlands Minigolf Club at the 2009 BMGA British Club Championships in Sandbanks

According to the excellent Miniature Golf course list at MiniatureGolfer.com there are also Minigolf / Crazy Golf courses in Bere Regis, Bridport, Charmouth, Rousden, Warmwell and Wimbourne. The journey continues...

Putting at the 'Flintstone's' Crazy Golf course at Bowleaze Cove, Weymouth

Links:

2 comments:

Richard Gottfried said...

I've heard from the team at UrbanCrazy via Twitter that Haven's Weymouth Bay Holiday Park will soon have a new Minigolf course!

Check out a photo of the course - mid-build - here. See if you can spot the old course in the pic too?

Do you know of any other Minigolf or Crazy Golf courses in Dorset? Let me know via the comments below.

Richard Gottfried said...

During our holiday in the south west of England during the summer we visited two more minigolf courses in Dorset.

The Jurassic Adventure Golf course at Santa Fe Fun Park in Swanage was the 364th we've played, and the 600th we visited overall!

The Crazy Golf course at Lister Gardens in Lyme Regis became the 365th played on our tour.