18th February 2010
News Release
For Immediate Use
MiniatureGolfer.com 2009 UK Crazy Golf Price Survey
MiniatureGolfer.com, in association with the Ham & Egger Files Crazy World of Minigolf Golf blog, has produced the first survey of its kind in order to find the UK’s best value Crazy Golf course.
Details of over 100 Crazy Golf courses countrywide were looked at and the most important factors in deciding the best value were cost and fun!
Information on the normal adult price for a single round on a sample of UK Crazy Golf courses was gathered, excluding special offers and courses within an attraction where a separate entrance fee is applicable. To do a proper comparison, the adult cost of one round was divided by the number of holes, giving a cost per hole. The cost per hole difference between the cheapest and most expensive courses was enormous, ranging from 7 pence to 56 pence.
Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies webmaster of MiniatureGolfer.com said "As for the best course in the UK you'll have to visit Planet Hastings! Which this year is hosting the British Minigolf Association British Open on the 18th & 19th September."
‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried of the Ham & Egger Files Crazy Golf blog said "The price survey was very interesting to put together. Since September 2006 my wife and I have been on a mission to play all the UK’s minigolf courses and so far we’ve visited 206. We were able to put together a comprehensive price survey for all the countries this year as we did a nine-day Tour of Wales in the summer and the 28 Welsh courses we played account for approximately 80% of all the Minigolf courses in Wales (according to Miniaturegolfer.com) and 93% of the public courses there."
Best value courses by country
England
It was decided that the best value course in England was at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge near Birmingham at £1.50 for 12 holes (13p). This course was also the host venue of the British Minigolf Association British Club Championships in 2005 and 2006. Dorridge narrowly edges out Newcastle (14p) and Cheddar (14p).
And while you're in the Midlands do check out the excellent course in Stratford-upon-Avon and the best value Indoor course in England and the UK, Star City, Birmingham. Both come highly recommended.
Oswestry (Cae Glas Park) – 18-hole Eternit Miniature Golf, is the cheapest course in the UK at only 7p per hole! Sutton Fields came in at £1 for nine holes.
Special mentions should also go to Kingsway Golf Centre in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, where for £2.20 you can play for as long as you like. And Tea Green Golf at Wandon End near Luton, Bedfordshire where for £2.00 you can get unlimited play with a ball purchase. To our knowledge neither of the courses has met the marathon week-long player with the miner's helmet yet.
Rhylstone Gardens on the Isle of Wight also deserves a mention as it has been around for 50 years!
Scotland
Perth is the cheapest and the best value course we found north of the border. It’s an outdoor 18-hole course but 9 holes are covered, it has a members club and it's floodlit! It comes in at 17 pence per hole! Also highly recommended is Fife.
As for indoor courses, Scotland has two – in Aberdeen and Glasgow. Aberdeen wins it at 32p a hole but both are well worth a visit. Aberdeen will be hosting the first ever BMGA Scottish Open in May this year.
Wales
Is it Rocky Pines Adventure Golf, at the summit of the Great Orme Mountain in Llandudno at 14p per hole? (Which can also lay claim to the honour of being the highest minigolf course in the British Isles!) Or was it Prestatyn?
The honour goes to Prestatyn. A fine example of an Arnold Palmer Putting Course which comes in at 13p per hole, and a chance to win a free game on the lucky nineteenth hole.
Wales has no known indoor courses.
Northern Ireland
The best value course found was at Carnfunnock at 17p per hole.
Highly recommended is Belfast, which held the BMGA Irish Open in 2006 & 2007.
Northern Ireland has no known indoor courses.
Channel Islands
Jersey's Living Legend course has 36-holes and comes in at 35p per hole, and is slightly more expensive than Guernsey's Oatlands at 32p. The Living Legend wins out.
The Channel Islands has no known indoor courses.
Worst value in the UK
Attractions where an entrance fee is payable were excluded.
Woking, at only 9-holes and in poor condition wins this ignominious title. The course does have concessions for locals but you’d have to be a very crazy Crazy Golfer to pay £4 to play the course! It is also the second equal most expensive course in the UK at 44p per hole.
Overall best value Crazy Golf courses in the UK
Outdoor - The Arnold Palmer Putting Course, Prestatyn
Indoor - Aberdeen narrowly beating Star City, Birmingham
Weblinks:
http://www.miniaturegolfer.com/ - the number one website for information on all things minigolf, run by five-times World Crazy Golf Champion Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies
http://www.miniaturegolfer.com/miniaturegolfer%20price%20survey%202009.html - online reference to the survey and links to the courses
http://hamandeggerfiles.blogspot.com/ - Richard & Emily Gottfried’s Crazy World of Minigolf Tour blog, charting their journeys and adventures in miniature golf
http://www.minigolf.org.uk/ - website of the British Minigolf Association (BMGA), the UK governing body for minigolf sport
Ends
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