Saturday, November 30, 2019

Chrizy Golf

A look back at the Chrizy Golf Masters in Manchester.


Chrizy Golf Christmas-themed Crazy Golf in Manchester

Seven years ago this evening I won the first and to-date only Chrizy Golf Masters crazy golf tournament.


Chrizy Golf Christmas-themed Crazy Golf in Manchester
The Chrizy Golf Master

The event took place on the pop-up Chrizy Golf course set up at Piccadilly Place in Manchester on Friday 30th November 2012.


The 9-hole indoor minigolf course was open for six weeks in the run-up to Christmas 2012.

Chrizy Golf Christmas-themed Crazy Golf in Manchester

The Chrizy Golf course was the 313th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Do you know of any Christmas-themed Crazy Golf courses popping-up this festive season?

Thursday, November 28, 2019

New miniature golf courses in the UK

There are lots of new miniature golf courses opening in the UK!


We hear about new courses opening all the time

When our travels began in 2006 there were around 600 courses in the country.


That number has grown massively in recent years and the game is booming. We estimate there are now 1,200 courses.


When we first set out to visit all the courses in the country there were only two indoor locations. Both are still open and have been joined by 100 other indoor minigolf venues.

We've now been to 898 miniature golf courses in the British Isles and 937 courses overall.

About the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Happy Bedfordshire Day

Today is Bedfordshire Day.


Bedfordshire county flag

The 28th November is Bedfordshire Day.


I lived in Luton, Bedfordshire for 16 years before moving north to Stockport in 2016.


I've got some great memories of exploring the county.

I might make myself a Bedfordshire Clanger later to celebrate the day.

Visit the Friends of Bedfordshire Society's website to find out more about Bedfordshire Day.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Volcano Adventure Golf at the Trafford Golf Centre

The new Volcano Adventure Golf course at the Trafford Golf Centre in Manchester opens next month.


The new Volcano Adventure Golf course at the Trafford Golf Centre in Manchester opens on Tuesday 17th December 2019

Work is almost complete on the new 18-hole Adventure Golf course at the Trafford Golf Centre in Manchester.


The Volcano Adventure Golf layout opens on Tuesday 17th December and joins the Dino Falls Adventure Golf course at the centre.


Adventure Golf at the Trafford Golf Centre

We're looking forward to checking out the new Volcano Adventure Golf course when it opens in December.

Visit the Dino Falls Adventure Golf website for more information.

The existing 18-hole dinosaur-themed course opened at the Trafford Golf Centre in November 2017 and has proved to be incredibly popular.

It was the 476th course played and 792nd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Last April 2018 I won the first-ever Dino Falls Masters Adventure Golf competition at the Trafford Golf Centre.

Plonk Golf's Christmas pop-up in London

The team at Plonk Golf are creating a festive-themed pop-up Crazy Golf course in London this Christmas.


There's a Plonk Golf Christmas pop-up minigolf course in London

The Plonk Golf pop-up minigolf course will launch on Sunday 1st December and is open all the way through to Christmas Eve.


You'll be able to find the Plonk Golf Winter Wonderland Miniature Golf course at their Hoxton Clubhouse near Old Street.


For more information visit the Plonk Golf website.

Plonk Golf in Shoreditch
Plonk Golf in Shoreditch, one of a number of Plonk Golf courses we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

A dull evening in Manchester

We had an enjoyable evening of mild excitement at the Dull Men's Club Anorak of the Year Award event in Manchester yesterday evening.


The Dull Men's Club celebrates the ordinary

It was good to catch-up with our fellow dullsters and see presentations on topics including roundabouts, boredom and drains.


The evening was topped off with the presentation of the 2019 Anorak of the Year Award which this year went to Archie Workman for his outstanding work in celebrating the ordinary in his passionate pursuit of drainspotting.


Dull Men's Club Anorak of the Year Award

Archie was presented with his certificate and a hi-vis waistcoat, rather than an actual anorak, by Leland Carlson Assistant Vice President of the Dull Men's Club and Kevin Beresford of the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society who was also the outgoing Anorak of the Year from last year.

I was delighted to be able to give a presentation to the group about the crazy world of minigolf, the history of the game, the sporting side and tournaments, equipment used and the wide-range of ephemera and collectibles related to miniature golf.



For more information visit the Dull Men's Club website.

Adventure Golf at the New York Thunderbowl in Kettering

There's a new indoor Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl in Kettering, Northamptonshire.


There's a new indoor Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl in Kettering, Northamptonshire

While planning a route to Ipswich we checked out some potential stop-off points and saw there was a tenpin bowling centre in Kettering that is also home to a recently opened indoor Adventure Golf course.


The Pirates Cove themed Crazy Golf course is a 9-hole layout.


We're looking forward to checking it out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the New York Thunderbowl website for more information, opening times and prices.

Putters Adventure Golf now open at Superbowl Merthyr

The new Galactic Putting Adventure Golf course is now open at the Superbowl UK fun centre in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.


Putters Adventure Golf now open at Superbowl Merthyr

There's a new adventure golf course now open at Superbowl in Merthyr Tydfil.


The 12-hole indoor adventure golf course has a space-theme.


We're looking forward to playing the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the Superbowl UK website for more information, opening times and prices.

The layout at Superbowl Merthyr is the second from Superbowl following the circus-themed course at Superbowl Warrington.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Galactic Golf in Halifax

A visit to Galactic Golf in Halifax, West Yorkshire.


Galactic Golf in Halifax

On Saturday we visited Halifax to play at Galactic Golf.


Galactic Golf in Halifax

The venue is home to two space-themed indoor adventure golf courses - the Cosmic Quest and Moon Mission.


Galactic Golf in Halifax

Galactic Golf in Halifax

Galactic Golf in Halifax

Galactic Golf in Halifax

Galactic Golf in Halifax


We both scored 45 in our round on the 18-hole Cosmic Quest course.

Galactic Golf in Halifax

The Galactic Golf courses in Halifax were the 934th and 935th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The Cosmic Quest layout was the 536th course played on our travels.

Galactic Golf in Halifax

Check out the Galactic Golf website for more information, opening times and prices.

Galactic Golf in Halifax
The UV section of the Moon Mission course

Galactic Golf in Halifax




Pitch & Putt and Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax

A look at the Pitch & Putt and Crazy Golf courses at Shibden Park in Halifax.


We visited Halifax in West Yorkshire for the first time on Saturday. We've been meaning to go there since we moved north in 2016 and finally found some time to a look round. We really liked the town and are looking forward to a return visit.


While there we played at the new Galactic Golf indoor adventure golf. Once we'd wandered around the town centre we drove out via Shibden Park where we knew there was a four-hole(!) Crazy Golf course.


Pitch & Putt and Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
The entrance to the two miniature golf courses

Pitch & Putt and Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Up these steps is the strangest Crazy Golf course we've ever seen

Our friend and minigolf rival Brad Shepherd had played the course in 2015 and we were intrigued by the layout.


It certainly looks a lot different now to the summer of 2015!

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Unplayable

Shibden Park is a nice spot and we enjoyed our walk round it. We also found it's home to a miniature railway.

As the park is quite large and we didn't fancy a wild goose chase looking for the Crazy Golf course I called Brad and he told me the course was next to a Pitch & Putt course. Another bonus.


Unfortunately as it's currently out of season neither the Pitch & Putt or Crazy Golf was playable on this occasion.

Pitch & Putt Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
The Pitch & Putt course

But the Crazy Golf was certainly a sight to behold!

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Blimey!

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
It looked like a minigolf course graveyard

The Pitch and Putt course at Shibden Park was the 936th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The Crazy Golf course the 937th.

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Hole 1

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Hole 2 is there

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Hole 3

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Hole 4

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
A closer look at an obstacle

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
One of the best worst course visits we've made in the last thirteen years

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Hole 1

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Hole 2

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Hole 3

Crazy Golf at Shibden Park in Halifax
Hole 4

Shibden Park Miniature Railway in Halifax

A visit to the Shibden Miniature Railway at Shibden Park in Halifax.


Shibden Park Miniature Railway in Halifax

While in Halifax on Saturday we visited Shibden Park to check out the Pitch & Putt and Crazy Golf courses there.


As a nice bonus we also found the park is home to a miniature railway.

Shibden Park Miniature Railway in Halifax

Shibden Park Miniature Railway in Halifax

Shibden Park Miniature Railway in Halifax

Shibden Park Miniature Railway in Halifax

Shibden Park Miniature Railway in Halifax


We're looking forward to a return visit to ride the railway in the summer.

Shibden Park Miniature Railway in Halifax

Visit the Shibden Park Miniature Railway Facebook Page for more information and opening times.


We also saw The Shibden Express while at the park. What a fine park bench.

The Shibden Express

The Shibden Express park bench

The Shibden Express park bench

There was a nice tree trunk bench in the park too. It'd been carved in the shape of a viaduct and tunnel, including a train.

Park bench at Shibden Park in Halifax

Park bench at Shibden Park in Halifax

Park bench at Shibden Park in Halifax

Park bench at Shibden Park in Halifax