Lost minigolf courses - Crazy Golf on Exeter Road in Bournemouth, Dorset

There's an abandoned minigolf course on Bournemouth's Exeter Road.

A look at the derelict minigolf course on Exeter Road in Bournemouth, Dorset.

We found a minigolf course in Bournemouth on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2009 and when we revisited in July 2013 it was still there. On Emily's recent trips to the seaside town in December 2024 and this month she found it was still in place, but in a derelict state, with many of the holes lost.

The former 18-hole course is on Exeter Road and next to the café/restaurant.

The course is very similar in design to the busy course that can be found over the road in the Lower Gardens and the championship course in the Boscombe Chine Gardens, though in an entirely unplayable state.

Mini Golf at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC (2013)

Noting a Mini Golf course at the National Building Museum back in 2013.

As big fans of minigolf, and curators of the Crazy Golf Museum, it's always interesting seeing minigolf/museum crossovers.

The National Building Museum in Washington, DC, USA had a Mini Golf course exhibition between May and September 2013.

The Mini Golf exhibition featured two 9-hole indoor courses with holes and obstacles designed and built by leading Washington-area architects, landscape architects, and contractors.

The demise of Blockbuster Video in the UK

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.

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.

It's amazing that there are still clearly visible remnants of the brand on the high street and on retail parks eleven years later.

If you're lucky, and know where to look, you might find a QuikDrop box hiding in plain sight

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

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

Until January this year 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 in Fallowfield, Manchester

The sign about the closure was still visible on the window there before it was demolished.

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.

Blockbuster certainly wasn't the first video rental shop brand, but it was at one time the market leader.

Blockbuster Video store locations we've visited on our travels

Our interest in lost brands and retail history has taken us to several former Blockbuster stores:

• Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Ashton, Bristol
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Basingstoke, Hampshire
• Billingham, Teesside
• Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Chester, Cheshire
• Chorley, Lancashire
• Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
• Colne, Lancashire
• Failsworth, Manchester
• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Filton, Bristol
• Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Hastings, East Sussex
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Luton, Bedfordshire
• Marple, Greater Manchester
• Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
• Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Oldham, Greater Manchester
• Prescot, Lancashire
• Shanklin, Isle of Wight
• Southampton, Hampshire
• Telford, Shropshire
• Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
• Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
• Wythenshawe, Manchester

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.

The end of Blockbuster Video in the UK

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.

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.

It's amazing that there are still clearly visible remnants of the brand on the high street and on retail parks ten years later.

If you're lucky, and know where to look, you might find a QuikDrop box hiding in plain sight

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

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

We live near an abandoned Blockbuster Video store here in Manchester. It's always an eerie, interesting and nostalgic thing to drive past the old shop at Fallowfield Retail Park.

Blockbuster Video in Fallowfield, Manchester

The sign about the closure was still visible on the window there before it was boarded up earlier this year.

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.

Blockbuster certainly wasn't the first video rental shop brand, but it was at one time the market leader.

Blockbuster Video store locations we've visited on our travels

Our interest in lost brands and retail history has taken us to several former Blockbuster stores:

• Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Ashton, Bristol
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Basingstoke, Hampshire
• Billingham, Teesside
• Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Chester, Cheshire
• Chorley, Lancashire
• Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
• Colne, Lancashire
• Failsworth, Manchester
• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Filton, Bristol
• Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Hastings, East Sussex
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Luton, Bedfordshire
• Marple, Greater Manchester
• Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
• Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Oldham, Greater Manchester
• Prescot, Lancashire
• Shanklin, Isle of Wight
• Southampton, Hampshire
• Telford, Shropshire
• Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
• Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
• Wythenshawe, Manchester

The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing

Check out my minigolf marketing ebook - The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing.

The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing

Created after years of playing, promoting and consulting in the world of minigolf, the ebook gives players, courses, federations, associations and clubs a guide to the world of marketing.

You can see a preview, read the reviews, and buy The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing from Amazon.

Quest Krazy Golf

A look back at the Quest Krazy Golf course at Merry Hill shopping centre in Dudley.

We headed to Dudley to play the Krazy Golf course at Merry Hill shopping centre nine years ago this weekend.

Krazy Golf course at Merry Hill shopping centre

The challenging 9-hole course was the 528th we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Sadly the unique and colourful layout is no longer there.

Krazy Golf course at Merry Hill shopping centre

End of Season BMGA Tour Minigolf Rankings for 2013

Richard & Emily Gottfried's End of Season British Minigolf Association Tour Rankings for 2013.

The British Minigolf Association has published the final rankings for the 2013 UK Miniature Golf tournament season.

This year Emily and I were in our seventh year as British Minigolf Association Tour Pro players.

In the 2013 BMGA’s Official Strokeplay Order of Merit Rankings I finished in 11th place of 163 players, with Emily in 48th position.

Richard playing the final hole at the BMGA British Crazy Golf Open held in Hastings

In the 2013 BMGA Season Only Rankings I finished in 18th spot of 115 players with Emily ranked 27th.

Emily in a play-off against Paul Godding in the BMGA British Masters at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing. Ted McIver tends the flag

After achieving a 4th place finish in the 2013 BMGA British Masters competition I reached a career-high BMGA Tour ranking of 5th in the BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit National Ranking List. My previous highest Minigolf rankings had been 7th in the 2010 BMGA Order of Merit and 5th in the BMGA Season Only Rankings for 2012.

My end of season position this year is the highest in the Strokeplay-only version of the Order of Merit, having previously finished the 2009/10 season in 11th place in the old combined strokeplay and matchplay Order of Merit.

Emily has had a great year on the BMGA Tour finishing third in the BMGA British Matchplay Championship in Boscombe, Dorset as well as winning the Category 3 title in the BMGA British Masters, and she was the Category 3 runner-up at the BMGA British Crazy Golf Open in Hastings.

Emily also became a two-time WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women's Champion when she defeated reigning champion Ruth Burke in a play-off for the title. At the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters we competed as part of Great Britain 3 and finished in fifth place in the team event.

2013 BMGA Tour Season Results for Richard and Emily Gottfried:
- BMGA Star City Open - Richard = 13th, Emily = 18th (24-players)
- BMGA British Crazy Golf Open - Richard = 11th, Emily = 20th and Category 3 runner-up (33-players)
- BMGA British Masters - Richard = 4th, Emily = 12th and Category 3 winner (27-players)
- BMGA British Adventure Golf Open - Richard = 10th, Emily = 19th (23-players)
- BMGA British Matchplay Championship - Emily = 3rd, Richard = DNP (17-players)
- World Crazy Golf Championship - Richard = 21st, Emily = 51st (78-players)

Video of the 2013 BMGA British Masters at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing, by 2 Dog Imaging.


2013 WMF Season Results for Richard and Emily Gottfried:
- WMF World Adventure Golf Masters - Richard = 20th, Emily = 27th and Women's Champion (37-players)
- WMF World Adventure Golf Team Masters - Great Britain 3 (Richard Gottfried, Emily Gottfried, Craig Patterson and John Moore) = 5th of 7 teams

Great Britain 3 at the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament in Hastings, East Sussex from l-r John Moore (c), Emily Gottfried, Richard Gottfried, Craig Patterson

There is one competition left on the 2013 BMGA Tour, with the BMGA British Club Championship taking place at Basingstoke Golf Centre.

The 2014 BMGA Tour tees-off at the BMGA Star City Open at Adventure Island Mini Golf in Birmingham on Sunday 26th January.

In the BMGA 2013 Season Rankings for Clubs Emily and the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club finished in second place. Richard and the Midlands Minigolf Club finished in third place of six teams.

The British Minigolf Association is the governing body for Minigolf Sport, including Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf. Formed in 1998 the BMGA organises Minigolf competitions for its members across the UK. The BMGA is a member of the World Minigolf Sport Federation and the European Minigolf Sport Federation. Two options are available for Membership of the British Minigolf Association. Further details can be found on the BMGA website.

World Minigolf Sport Federation Rankings

In the March 2013 edition of the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) Minigolf Rankings Emily is in tied 130th place of 130 positions alongside players from Iran, China, Portugal, China and Thailand. A total of 140 players are listed in the WMF General Class (Adults) Women’s category.

In the WMF General Class (Adults) Men's category I am ranked in tied 406^th place of 406 positions. A total of 413 players are in the list and I sit alongside GB team-mates Scott Lancley and Brad Shepherd, and players from Russia, Hong Kong, Norway and China.

Overall Great Britain is ranked 18th of 29 Nations, with Germany at number one, Austria at two and Sweden at number three.

The November 2013 edition of the WMF Rankings is due to be published soon.

Related Blog Posts:

- Miniature Golf Player Profile of Richard Gottfried

- Miniature Golf Player Profile of Emily Gottfried
- A New Career High Minigolf Ranking!

Links:

- British Minigolf Association

- BMGA Roll of Honour 2013

- Final Season Only Rankings published

- End of season BMGA Strokeplay Order Of Merit
- World Minigolf Sport Federation

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

All the very best and have a great 2013.

Cheers,

Richard & Emily