Thursday, December 25, 2025

Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas!

Christmas-themed Minigolf course at Devonshire Square in London

I’m a Champion Miniature Golfer on a tour of the UK’s minigolf and crazy golf courses. Guinness World Record Holder for 'Most miniature golf courses visited'. Coeliac living a gluten free life. Mediocre polymath. Train nerd. Retro gamer. Urban explorer. Always feeling nostalgic about something.

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour is 20 years old in 2026

Next year will be the 20th year playing on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

2026 will see us hit another big minigolf milestone as we mark 20 years of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels.

How it started.

We played the Victory Trail course at Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea, Hampshire, England on Saturday 30th September 2006. At the end of our 9-hole round I won a free game by firing the cannon on the lucky last hole!

When we got home from the weekend away we found a list of 600 or so minigolf courses in the UK and wider British Isles on the excellent MiniatureGolfer.com website that Tim 'Ace Man' Davies had compiled. We thought it'd be fun to see how many of them we could visit on day trips and weekends away to the seaside.

How its going.

To date we've been to 1,114 miniature golf courses. 1,053 of them have been in the British Isles.

As well as playing minigolf in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Jersey and the Isle of Man we’ve travelled to minigolf courses in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain (including Lanzarote and Majorca), Sweden and the USA.

From 600 courses in the UK to more than 1,300.

When our crazy golfing travels began in 2006 there were around 600 miniature golf courses in the UK and wider British Isles.

There are now more than 1,400 - and there are lots of new places to play the game opening all the time.

Unfortunately, several courses have closed over the years. But on a brighter note, some others have been refurbished, redeveloped, or completely transformed into new layouts.

All of the changes and updates have meant that our minigolfing quest to visit every course is becoming never-ending!

When we originally set off to visit as many courses as possible the target list was 600 in the British Isles. And almost 20 years later, we've still got around 50 of those original courses to visit!

Minigolf record makers.

Our travels have been recognised by the Guinness World Records, and I'm a record holder for "Most miniature golf courses visited" (902 at the time of going to press). Check out the Guinness World Records 2024 book and the GWR website to see a lot more minigolf records too!

Where next on our crazy minigolfing adventures?

Where do you think we should visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour next? Do get in touch to let us know your suggestions and recommendations, or drop your top picks for minigolf places in the comments.

Link:

Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea

Richard Gottfried

19 years ago on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

A look back at the 10th course played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We visited the 10th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on this day 18 years ago.

On a bitterly cold 23rd December 2006 Emily, my brother Christopher and I headed along to the Horse & Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire to have a game on their beer garden Crazy Golf course.

And what a course it was - we'd not seen anything like it before! And we haven't seen anything quite like it since!

Crazy Golf at the Horse and Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire - December 2006

We visited the course again in April 2011 and while it was a bit drier, it was still a very mossy layout.

Crazy Golf at the Horse and Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire - April 2011

Little did we know back then that our interest in crazy golf would become an obsession and that we'd visit 1,114 courses over 19 years.

Together with Christopher and his family we've now been to a grand total of 1,168 courses since we all picked up a putter in Southsea on the 30th September 2006.

Richard Gottfried

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Blogiversary of the Ham and Egger Files

I've been blogging for 19 years today.

I'm often asked how is it that a blog about minigolf has the name the 'Ham and Egger Files'? The answer is that it didn't initially start out life as a minigolf blog.

My first blog post.

I published my first blog post about how I planned to participate in as many obscure and minority sports as I could and see what would happen with the (limited amount of) sporting ability I had!

What is a 'Ham & Egger'?

The term 'ham and egger' has connotations ranging from that of 'ordinary person' to that of 'loser'. The origin of the term comes from prize fighters whose modest skills wouldn’t let them win large purses. Therefore, the fighter or their manager - who received a percentage of any purses won - were never able to afford to eat better than ham and eggs.

Lots of blogs.

Since that first post 19 years ago I have published 6,648 blog posts and received 7,160,609 pageviews!

This time last year I had published 5,900 posts and received 3.5 million pageviews.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Our interest in minigolf, and what would soon become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, had actually begun on the 30th September 2006, but I didn't publish a post about the sport until the 29th January 2007 when I announced that I had joined the British Minigolf Association - a competition circuit I made my actual debut on in Southend-on-Sea on the 28th April 2007.

We've now been to over 1,114 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Our travels have been recognised by the Guinness World Records, and I'm a record holder for "Most miniature golf courses visited" (902 at the time of going to press).

When we began our travels there were around 600 courses in the UK. There are now more than 1,300, with new courses opening all the time.

Other sports & games are available

If you're wondering what happened to the quest to play lots of different sports, that has continued and I've participated in some very interesting events over the years!

A massive thank you goes out to everyone who has ever read one of my posts, commented, shared, or guest blogged on the site, it really is very much appreciated.

Richard Gottfried

Happy Winter Solstice

Today marks midwinter and is the 'shortest day' and 'longest night' of the year.

Stonehenge The Big Mini Golf course in Hemsby, Norfolk (August 2021)

Did you know there's a Stonehenge-themed minigolf course in Hemsby, Norfolk?

Stonehenge The Big Mini Golf was the 174th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in June 2010 when it was a 15-hole layout. We first visited it in May 2009 when it was a 12-hole course. It's now an 18-hole course.

Here are two videos of us playing the course in June 2010.

Here are some videos of the course on our most recent visit in May 2022.

Richard Gottfried

Friday, December 19, 2025

Christmas Crazy Golf in 2009

A look back at a festive pop-up crazy golf course in London.

Christmas-themed Minigolf course at Devonshire Square in London in 2009

Back in 2009 there was a Christmas-themed Minigolf course at Devonshire Square in London.

You had to putt into Santa's mouth - look in the photo above to see where it exited!

We'd played the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in October of that year when it was a 'normal' pop-up.

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Ephemera from The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf at St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds

A look at some items from The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf at St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

We recently played The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf course at St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds and added these items to our collection.

A badge for scoring a hole-in-one at The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf in Leeds

A Guidebook from The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf in Leeds

A Guidebook for the venue

A scorecard from The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf in Leeds

The scorecard inside the Guidebook

The scorecard

The rules side of the scorecard

Leaflets from The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf in Leeds

A card from The Wand & Tankard - the pub at The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf in Leeds

A card from The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf in Leeds

A pressed penny from the penny coin press

Penny Coin Press at The Hole in Wand Wizard Golf minigolf course in Leeds

Find out more.

You can find The Hole In Wand miniature golf courses in Blackpool, Chester, Leeds, Seaham and York.

Check out The Hole In Wand website for more information on the Leeds course, and the other venues.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf at St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds was the 595th course played and 1,092nd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Link:

The Hole In Wand

Videos

Richard Gottfried

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

The end of Blockbuster Video in the UK

Blockbuster Video closed in the UK on the 16th December 2013.

The last Blockbuster Video shop ceased trading in the UK on this day in 2013.

Blockbuster Video entered the UK video rental market in 1989 following the purchase of Ritz Video.

Blockbuster Video Membership Card and the store in Nuneaton

In 2013 there were over 500 Blockbuster locations in the UK. Throughout that year the number dwindled until October when only 264 shops remained. On the 16th December 2013 all stores ceased operations.

Even now in 2025 there are still some clearly visible remnants of the brand on the high street and on retail parks.

Former Blockbuster Video Store in Wisbech with QuikDrop box

The first Blockbuster Video.

The first Blockbuster Video store had opened in Dallas, Texas, USA on the 19th October 1985.

The last Blockbuster Video on Earth.

The very last Blockbuster Video store in operation is in Bend, Oregon, USA.

Our 'local' store.

Until January 2024 there was an abandoned Blockbuster Video store near us here in Manchester. It was always an eerie, interesting and nostalgic thing to drive past the old shop at Fallowfield Retail Park.

Blockbuster Video at Fallowfield Retail Park Manchester

From 9,000 to 1.

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 Blockbuster stores around the world. 500+ of which were in England, Scotland and Wales. Interestingly in Northern Ireland the Xtra-Vision brand was used by the owners in-line with the Republic of Ireland.

Nowadays it you want to rent a film from Blockbuster you'll have to travel to the last Blockbuster Video on the planet - Bend Blockbuster in Oregon.

Visiting the last bits of Blockbuster Video in the UK.

Check out these posts about other former Blockbuster Video stores we've been to in:

Lost brands.

Emily and I have spent the last few years reminiscing about 'the good old days'. One of our areas of interest is in old retail brands - we're both marketers by profession and two of my first jobs in the 1990's and the year 2000 were at Tandy and Toys R Us, while Emily's first job was at a Happy Shopper shop. It's been fascinating to find remnants of these brands - and a number of other lost, dead and defunct brands - on the high street and at retail parks around the UK.

Richard Gottfried

Thursday, December 11, 2025

Crazy Pool at StrikeYard Bowling in Glengormley, Northern Ireland

StrikeYard Bowling in Glengormley, Northern Ireland will soon be home to a Crazy Pool course.

Crazy Pool is heading to StrikeYard Bowling in Glengormley, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.

It'll be interesting to see what the Crazy Pool at StrikeYard Bowling looks like.

Find out more.

Check out the StrikeYard Bowling website for more information.

Crazy Golf at StrikeYard.

StrikeYard Bowling is also home to a 21-hole indoor crazy golf course called ScrapYard Golf.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

ScrapYard Golf and the Crazy Pool are two new courses for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Richard Gottfried

Mulligans Crazy Golf in Romford, Essex

Mulligans Crazy Golf is now open in Romford, Essex.

The former Bunkers! venue at The Brewery Shopping Centre in Romford, Essex has been taken over by its sister-brand Mulligans and is now open as Mulligans Crazy Golf.

Mulligans Romford is home to two indoor crazy golf courses.

The venue is also home to a range of other games and activities, including Sixes Party Cricket.

Mulligans venues.

There are 15 Mulligans minigolf venues in the UK. As well as Romford you can find Mulligans in Basildon, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cheltenham, Guildford, Hemel Hempstead, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Norwich, Sidcup, Stevenage, Tonbridge and Worcester.

Find out more.

Visit the Mulligans website for more information.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We didn't get the chance to visit the venue when it was Bunkers! and so it'll still be a new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We've visited several of the Mulligans venues on our travels over the last two decades, most recently in Hemel Hempstead.

Link:

Mulligans Crazy Golf

Richard Gottfried

Crazy Golf at Skirlington Coast holiday park

There are plans for a new crazy golf course at Skirlington Coast holiday park in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Find out more.

Visit the Unity Holidays website for more information on Skirlington Coast holiday park.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

It'll be a new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Richard Gottfried

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Playing The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf at St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds

A Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf at St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf at St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds

We recently had a day out in Leeds and after a superb meal at The Oxford Place in the city centre we had a wander to find an activity - and remembered that when we last visited Leeds in the summer that a new minigolf course is under construction at St Johns Shopping Centre, and that it was now open.

The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf is a 9-hole indoor crazy golf course with a magical theme - and it certainly is immersive!

A map of the Wizard Golf course at The Hole In Wand

The layout contains nine unique holes - and there's a variety of gameplay apart from the putting itself.

Playing hole 6

Emily playing on hole 5

Teeing-off on hole 7 of the course was quite different to normal!

Find out more.

You can find The Hole In Wand miniature golf courses in Blackpool, Chester, Leeds, Seaham and York.

Hole 8

Check out The Hole In Wand website for more information on the Leeds course, and the other venues.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf at St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds was the 595th course played and 1,092nd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.