The growth of shopping centre crazy golf.
It's wonderful to see miniature golf courses popping up in different places. Minigolf courses are becoming a fixture on the high street and at out-of-town shopping malls where customers are looking to be entertained while they shop.
Minigolf is becoming more and more popular and has grown from being a traditional outdoor seaside summer activity to become a year-round game that can be played indoors, outdoors and at pretty much any time of the day.
On Saturday we made a short trip up the road to the Walkden Town Centre shopping mall in Worsley, Salford, Greater Manchester to have a game on the pop-up Crazy Golf course there.
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| Crazy Golf at Walkden Town Centre |
The 9-hole Crazy Golf layout was set-up for three days as part of the shopping centre's Summer of Fun events.
We got there nice and early and had a clear course ahead of us.
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| Crazy Golf at Walkden Town Centre |
After our game we had a wander round the shopping centre as we hadn't been there before. As we walked past the course a few more times it was nice to see lots of people enjoying a game and were glad we got there early.
The course at Walkden Town Centre was the 924th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 526th played.
When our travels began back in September 2006 there were just two permanent indoor minigolf venues among the 600 courses in the UK. One of those was in Felixstowe and the other in Great Yarmouth. There are now close to 100 indoor venues, with more opening up every week.
This summer has seen pop-up miniature golf courses in shopping centres including Affinity Outlet Staffordshire and Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull.
New permanent courses have opened at retail venues this year including Treetop Adventure Golf at the Highcross shopping centre in Leicester. There are also Treetop Adventure Golf courses at St David's shopping centre in Cardiff and at The Printworks in Manchester.
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| There are now three Treetop Adventure Golf venues, each with two indoor courses |
More Junkyard Golf venues have opened, with courses at the Westgate Shopping Centre in Oxford and at The Light in Leeds. There is also a Junkyard Golf course at the Liverpool ONE shopping, leisure and entertainment complex.
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| Junkyard Golf in Oxford |
The new Angry Birds Adventure Golf course at the intu Metrocentre in Gateshead is nearing completion and will open this year.
The minigolf boom is also continuing in London, with a new Puttshack course set to open in the city this December. The first Puttshack course opened at the Westfield shopping centre in White City last year. The second Puttshack opened at the Lakeside shopping centre earlier this year and there are plans for a fourth venue to open at intu Watford next year.
While in Greater Manchester the new Riverside entertainment, leisure and shopping centre in Rochdale will be home to an indoor minigolf venue called Puttstars when it opens in April next year.
One of the first indoor Adventure Golf courses to open at a shopping mall was Paradise Island Adventure Golf. Back in 2008 the first of the PIAG venues opened at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. It's now our local course and we've won some tournaments there too.
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| Paradise Island Adventure Golf in Manchester, one of seven PIAG locations. A new course is opening in Plymouth soon |
A new entertainment centre, including an Adventure Golf course, is also being planned for the Market Walk Shopping Centre in Chorley, Lancashire.
Some of the courses we've seen on our travels have been more seasonal pop-up layouts.
In 2013 the Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough hosted a Christmas-themed 9-hole Miniature Golf course from Mini Golf and Games. I'd played the course when it was set-up, without the festive decorations, in Letchworth Garden City that summer.
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| Minigolf in Letchworth Garden City |
Lakeside Village Shopping Centre in Doncaster has also hosted minigolf courses, with summer and Christmas pop-ups.
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| Crazy Golf in Doncaster |
Over the years we've played pop-up Crazy Golf, Jurassic Golf and Pirate Golf courses at The Centre MK in Milton Keynes.
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| Jurassic Golf in Milton Keynes |
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| Pirate Golf in Milton Keynes |
I also visited the Pirate Mini Golf course when it was set up at the Galleria Shopping Centre in Hatfield.
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| Pirate Golf in Hatfield |
Having fun activities on offer like minigolf where people of all ages and abilities can take part is a nice way to attract both new and old customers to a shopping centre, and to help them stay at the venue for a little longer too.
If you are interested in installing or building a minigolf course and would like to receive specialist help, Richard Gottfried is able to provide experience, knowledge and support for all aspects of minigolf business, at any stage of the process. Get in touch to find out more.
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A look at Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf at the Cabot Circus shopping centre in Bristol. The two-course, 36-hole indoor adventure golf course was one of the first to set-up in a shopping centre in the UK.
A week ago today I played the pop-up Crazy Golf course at Coal Drops Yard shopping, bar and dining area in King's Cross, London.
The course was the 948th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.
The artist designed pop-up was a nice use of the space and a fun way to attract people to the area.
On our way home from a weekend away in Doncaster we made a stop at the entertainment, leisure and retail area at Junction 32 of the M62 as it's a real minigolf hotbed.
There are six miniature golf courses with a total of 87-holes to play in a very small area!
We had a very nice day out in Warrington, Cheshire last December and visited Superbowl Warrington in the Golden Square shopping centre.
The 12-hole indoor Adventure Golf course has a funfair and circus theme and looks amazing.
Minigolf has become very popular in recent years and has developed from being a traditional outdoor seaside summer activity to become a year-round game that can be played indoors or out.
Much like at shopping malls, outlet centres and on the high street, customers are looking to be entertained while they shop and garden centres are a perfect spot for a game of minigolf.
A new Roxy Ball Room is opening at the Arndale Centre in Manchester.
It'll be home to a minigolf course among other games including tenpin bowling, beer pong, shuffleboard and pool.
You won't just find minigolf at shopping malls in the UK. Our friend Philip Walsh spotted Mini Golf and Billiard Golf at the shopping centre in Puerto Colón, Tenerife.
A new indoor games venue is opening at the Castle Quarter shopping and entertainment centre in Norwich.
Boom: Battle Bar will open at Castle Quarter, Norwich in April 2020.
A look at Junkyard Golf in the Westgate Centre, Oxford.
Cardiff will soon be home to another new miniature golf course as Par 59 opens in the city.
Par 59 is planned to open up in the basement level of the Capitol Shopping Centre in Cardiff in April 2020.
A look at the Crazy Golf course at The Olde Watermill Shopping Village in Barton-Le-Clay, Bedfordshire.
Plans have been submitted for a new Treetop Adventure Golf course to be built in Glasgow.
It is hoped that the indoor adventure golf centre will open at St Enoch Centre in Glasgow city centre.
The first of Hollywood Bowl's new Puttstars minigolf centres is opening in Leeds this month.
The location at The Springs at the Thorpe Park shopping and entertainment site will be home to three 9-hole indoor crazy golf courses.
The new Rochdale Riverside entertainment, leisure and shopping centre in Rochdale will be home to an indoor minigolf venue called Puttstars.
Check out my blog posts about 'retailtainment'.
A new Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf venue is opening in Putney, London this year.
The indoor minigolf venue will be another addition to the UK high street during this boom period for retailtainment.
A new Roxy Ball Room is opening at the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester. The venue will include an indoor minigolf course.
A new indoor Crazy Golf course is hoped to open as part of a new adventure play centre in Dundee. The venue will also have tenpin bowling lanes.
The proposal is another example of the popularity of using former retail spaces for retailtainment options giving a people to visit, revisit and stay in a shopping area.
We swung by The Lost Valley Adventure Golf course at Amazonia in Bolton's Market Place shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.
The course was designed and built by the team at HM Adventure Golf.
The new Puttstars indoor minigolf centre at Rochdale Riverside entertainment, leisure and shopping centre is opening in August. It had been due to open earlier in the year but was delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The first Puttstars location opened at the Thorpe Park shopping and entertainment site in Leeds in March this year.
A third Puttstars location is opening up in York next month too.
A new indoor Treetop Adventure Golf centre is planned for Birmingham's Bullring.
Lincoln city centre is currently home to a pop-up Crazy Golf course as Cornhill Cove is open in Lincoln's Cornhill this summer.
There was a pop-up crazy golf course in Fleet town centre in Hampshire yesterday.
Hull will soon be home to a new UV Crazy Golf course as the team from the East Park Pirate Golf course are opening a venue at the Princes Quay shopping centre in the city.
A new Adventure Golf course is opening at Dobbies Garden Centre in Gloucester.
A new Boom: Battle Bar with minigolf and more is planned to open in Liverpool next year.
Boom: Battle Bars are a relatively new entrant to the world of competitive socialising and retailtainment. A number of shopping malls, town centres and retail parks are adding minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf and other experiential entertainment and activity leisure offerings to their sites to attract and retain customers.
A new mini golf course has opened as part of an Airtastic entertainment centre in Newtownabbey, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It's in a former Toys R Us unit.
Putt Noodle Crazy Golf is planned for the Castle Quarter in Norwich, Norfolk.
A new Gutterball Alley venue with tenpin bowling and crazy golf is opening at the St Enoch Centre in Glasgow in August 2021.
Par 'n' Bar, a cities of the world themed indoor mini-golf course, is opening at the Swan Centre in Rugby, Warwickshire.
There's a free-to-play crazy golf course at the centre:mk's Summer Fair in Milton Keynes.
There's a pop up crazy golf course set up at the Touchwood shopping and entertainment centre in Solihull town centre for the summer.
There's a free-to-play pop up minigolf course in Kirkwall, Orkney running until the 9th August.
Here's look at the Puttshack indoor miniature golf venue at Lakeside shopping centre in Grays, Essex. Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Simon Brown for sending me some photos from his recent visit.
A mini-golf course is opening as part of the new Urban Playground at the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester.
Zingers Adventure Golf is opening at The Bridge Shopping Centre in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
A new Boom: Battle Bar could be opening at the Buttermarket shopping centre in Ipswich, Suffolk.
The former Debenhams shop unit at the West Orchards Shopping Centre in Coventry is set to become a tenpin bowling and adventure golf venue.
Puttstars Minigolf is opening a venue at the New Mersey Shopping Park in Speke, Liverpool in 2022.
A new Boom: Battle Bar will open at the Buttermarket in Ipswich, Suffolk next year.
The new Putt Noodle indoor crazy golf and Asian food venue at the Castle Quarter shopping and entertainment centre in Norwich is planned to open this month.
We were a little too early when we swung by on a trip to Norwich last weekend.
The new Lane7 venue at St James Quarter in Edinburgh will soon be home to a mini golf course.
A new Puttstars Mini Golf venue is planned to open at the Queensgate shopping centre in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.
A new Birdies Crazy Golf venue is opening in Angel, London.
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