Crazy Golf at The Beaver Inn, Appledore, Devon

There's a Crazy Golf course at The Beaver Inn, Appledore, Devon.

Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Alan 'Storming' Norman for sending over these photos of the Crazy Golf course at The Beaver Inn in Appledore, Devon.

It looks like a very nice layout and one we've added to our To Play list when we're next down that way on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

It's always fun finding minigolf courses in pub beer gardens.

Visit The Beaver Inn website for more information.

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A Mini Golf Apocalypse

A look back at the Golf Apocalypse crazy golf course in London.

As we're in the midst of a pandemic I thought it'd be interested to look back at an apocalypse - the Golf Apocalypse crazy golf course from 2012.

Looking back to 2012

We played the Golf Apocalypse miniature golf course back in August 2012. The layout had been created as part of the London Pleasure Gardens, an area set-up to tap into the passing trade between the DLR and the London 2012 Olympic Games at the ExCel centre.

A BIG piece of OBEY street art in the distance

Golf Apocalypse was the first really really really mad-cap pop-up course we played on our travels.

What a sight!

A crazy set-up

The layout contained all manner of strange minigolf obstacles and we found ourselves playing through the fuselage of a crashed aeroplane, around a pinball machine, a snooker table and into a volcano.

What a thing to putt through

Pinball wizard

Snooker loopy

The End

Pop-up crazy golf

The pop-up miniature golf course was the first to use reclaimed materials in its construction. Something that has become commonplace these days and we've seen and played a number of funky, junky, scrap, ghetto, trash, garbage, graffiti, wreck and art-based courses since.

Playing hole 2

Competitive minigolf

In our minigolf match-up Emily picked up the win with a score of 25. I was second with 26, with Gareth Holmes third with 27 and Alan Norman on 28.

Emily playing hole 3

22 was a very good score to get on the 9-hole course

The course’s designer and owner, Dave Lovatt, was also responsible for the 9-hole Crazy Golf course that staged the Welsh Open Crazy Golf Championships as part of the Newport Big Splash Festival in 2010. Following the 2012 pop-up in London the course moved on to Bristol.

Crazy golfing at the end of the world - from l-r Gareth Holmes, Richard Gottfried, Emily Gottfried, Dave Lovatt, Alan Norman

Our challenge match with Dave went to a sudden-death play-off between Dave and Alan after both players had shot rounds of 22. Dave picked up the win on the deciding hole to take the title. I had finished on 24, Gareth had a 25 and Emily had shot a 29.

Alan snookered

Gareth putting on hole 1

A different sort of podium

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

The 9-hole Golf Apocalypse course was the 304th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

More photos of the Golf Apocalypse course.

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The Brewmaster's Open at the Camden Town Brewery in London

A look back at The Brewmaster's Open minigolf tournament at the Camden Town Brewery in London.

We competed in The Brewmaster's Open at the Camden Town Brewery eight years ago today. It was part of the brilliant summer of sport in the capital.

Ready to compete

It was a superb event played on a portable 5-hole minigolf course from UrbanCrazy set up in a brewery! More than 200 players competed in the tournament.

Playing hole 1

The scorecards were some of the best I've ever seen.

Beermat scorecards!

It was a marvellous day out.

Taking a 'refreshment break' at the Camden Town Brewery during The Brewmaster's Open tournament

Christopher Gottfried playing in The Brewmaster's Open at the Camden Town Brewery in London as Emily and Simon Hall look on

  

Hole 1

Inside the brewery miniature golf course

Alan Norman teeing-off the competition

Alan 'Stormin' Norman won The Brewmaster's Open with his round of 8. I finished in tied 2nd place alongside Seth Thomas.

The podium - me, Alan Norman and Seth Thomas

The leaderboard

We also played our own three-round tournament, you can read about it in my blog post Mini Golf at the Camden Town Brewery in London.

In action

Check out the Camden Town Brewery website.

Visit UrbanCrazy's website for more info on portable putting courses.

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Minigolf in Prishtina, Kosovo - World Adventure Golf Masters

On the 25th and 26th June 2016 the World Adventure Golf Masters will be held in Prishtina, Kosovo - the first major international miniature golf tournament to take place in the country.

You can find out more about the World Minigolf Sport Federation's 2016 calendar of international championships online.

The 2016 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Kosovo will be the sixth edition of the tournament.

At the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings, Alan 'Stormin' Norman and I took on Kosovo's first international players in a doubles match. From l-r Arben Alija, Richard Gottfried, Alan Norman, Lavdim Zylfiu

Emily and I played in the first staging of the event in 2011, as well as the 2012 and 2013 editions in Hastings. The event has also been held in Sweden.

Prishtina Golf previously hosted the Kosovo Open in 2012.

All the very best to the organisers and hosts of the event. The course looks brilliant. Emily and I have played a few similar layouts and enjoy the long, mostly borderless tricky 'lanes' as they're a real test of putting skill. The course in Prishtina was built by City Golf.

Links:
- World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) website
- Kosovo Minigolf Federation (FMGK) website
- Prishtina Golf on Facebook

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Skegness Minigolf Championship 2015

Report from the Skegness Minigolf Weekender.

The Crazy Mini Golfers in Skegness

Over the weekend of the 9th and 10th of May 2015 we headed to Skegness in Lincolnshire for a seaside outing full of traditional British seaside fun and games.

Four Jolly Fishermen in Bracing Skegness

Part of the trip involved the Skegness Minigolf Championship that saw ten players compete across five-rounds on five courses in the town.

Emily playing one of the hardest holes on the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course

Starting at the Arnold Palmer Putting Courses on Saturday 9th May (which also happened to be National Miniature Golf Day) six of the competitors lined-up on the 18-hole Crazy Golf course.

Alan playing the classic Windmill hole

During round one John 'Big Al' Moore arrived to take over on scoring duties and was ready to compete in round two.

Alan putting on hole 6. The Big Wheel is especially tricky if you don't plan your tee-shot properly. As Chris found out

Brad Shepherd had scored a very good two over par 38 in the first round to take the lead. There was a three-way tie for second place with Emily Gottfried, Richard Gottfried and Seth Thomas all scoring 42. Alan Norman was one-shot further back on 43, with Chris Jones shooting a 45.

Richard playing the Rocket Ship hole

After winning a free game on the lucky last hole, tournament leader Brad led out the groups on the 9-hole Crazy Golf course.

Brad about to Ring The Bell on the Lucky Last Hole

Brad and his winnings

Following the second round there was a tie for first place, with Brad and Seth on 62. Emily was one-shot back on 63.

Seth putting

The grass Putting course at the Arnold Palmer centre would be the final course played in the tournament on the Sunday, so the players then made their way along the prom to course number three - the Pebble Beach Adventure Golf course.

John Moore making a cameo appearance on the Pebble Beach Adventure Golf course

Once again seven players teed-off, with Brad just about arriving in time to play having been waylaid en route between the North Parade and the Pleasure Beach.

Chris playing the tough last hole

The 9-hole Pebble Beach Adventure Golf saw some more close scores and Brad was able to extend his lead by one-shot having scored par. Seth remained in second place after a 19, with Emily, Alan and Richard all scoring 20. John and Chris had disappointing rounds of 24 and 25 respectively.

Richard at Pebble Beach

With a break scheduled, the group played the two shooting shacks in the Pleasure Beach before part of the contingent headed to the town's charity shops, while others went to play some Bingo and have a spot of lunch.

A face full of manky water at the Faulty Repair Shop shooting shack at the Pleasure Beach

The Hill Billy shooting shack fun

Emily with her one and a half wins worth of Bingo prizes - a cheese knife and a building block type toy kit

During the break in play the group was joined by Rhyl's #1 minigolfer Peter 'The Crazy Aced Assassin' Jones who warmed-up for the next round proper in an impromptu Aces Competition on the Original Crazy Golf course on South Parade.

The Crazy Aced Assassin scoring an Ace

The event saw four-players play the 12-hole course using an 11-Wood that Chris had bought in a charity shop as the course was not open (it hadn't been open on the Friday either. It was however open on the Sunday).

A well struck shot from Seth manages to hit Brad

The tied winners of the Aces contest were Peter and Richard who both scored one hole-in-one. In a play-off on hole two Richard managed to score another ace to take the overall victory. Alan and Chris finished in tied second-place after regulation play.

Richard managing to get the ball through the dolphin

With John's stay in Skegness a short one as he had an athletics meeting to attend in Coventry, seven-players continued to the Gold Mine Adventure Golf course at the Pleasure Beach for round four.

Seth putting at the Gold Mine

The Gold Mine would prove a happier hunting ground for Alan and Richard as they tied for the half-win after scoring rounds of 19 on the 9-hole layout.

Richard playing his second shot through a pipe

Brad once again held onto the lead by one-shot from Alan, with Seth a shot further back having scored a 23 at the Gold Mine. Peter Jones scored a 25, with Chris scoring 25, while Emily hit a 29.

Alan playing at the Gold Mine Adventure Golf course

At the end of day one the rankings were:
1. Brad Shepherd = 102
2. Alan Norman = 103
3. Seth Thomas = 104
4. Richard Gottfried = 106
5. Emily Gottfried = 112
6. Chris Jones = 116
7. John Moore = DNS & DNF, but played 18-holes
8. Peter Jones = DNS & DNF, but played 12-holes
Note: These results were also the final rankings of the 2015 National Miniature Golf Day Championship.

After a great night out in Skegness the players awoke ready to play the final of the Skegness Championship. The first round of day two was planned to take place at the Lost World Adventure Park on North Parade. However this was cancelled as the theme park was found to have closed down! The final 18-holes would be played out on the grass Putting course at the Arnold Palmer Putting Centre.

Seth teeing-off on hole 2 of the Arnold Palmer Putting Course

Joining the six players left standing were local competitors Eric Huckle, the 2014 Butler Cup Champion, and Steven Huckle. The round would also constitute the Holiday on the Buses Reunion Mini Golf Competition.

Brad putting

In the Mini Golf Putting course round Richard won with a score of 42. Brad and Alan tied for second-place with rounds of 45. Chris and Seth both hit 46, with Emily on 49. Eric scored 58 and Steven shot a 74.

The podium of the Skegness Minigolf Championship

The overall event went to the wire, with Brad managing to hold off a late challenge from Richard, while Alan narrowly missed forcing a play-off, as Seth's challenge slipped on the grass playing surface.

Brad receives the Skegness Minigolf Championship trophy from reigning Holiday on the Buses Butler Cup Champion Eric Huckle

The final Skegness Minigolf Championship results were:
1. Brad Shepherd = 38+24+18+22+45 = 147
2. Alan Norman = 43+21+20+19+45 = 148
2. Richard Gottfried = 42+25+20+19+42 = 148
3. Seth Thomas = 42+20+19+23+46 = 150
4. Emily Gottfried = 42+21+20+29+49 = 161
5. Chris Jones = 45+19+25+27+46 = 162
6. John Moore = DNS & DNF, but played 18-holes scoring 48
6. Eric Huckle = DNS but played 18-holes scoring 58
6. Steven Huckle = DNS but played 18-holes scoring 74
7. Peter Jones = DNS & DNF, but played 12-holes scoring 25

The Crazy Mini Golfers at the Arnold Palmer Putting Course

All of the players agreed the seaside resort was a marvellous place for a weekend away. With plenty of things to see and do, great places to eat and drink, and a nice pier and beach.

Emily and Seth cleaned up at the Arabian Camel Derby on Skegness Pier

Richard and another mascot

Skegness is the town with the most miniature golf courses in the UK - with a current count of 110-holes, spread over ten Crazy, Mini, Adventure, Putting and Pitch & Putt courses!

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf Courses on the Lincolnshire Coast

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Skegness
- National Miniature Golf Day Championship report
- Holiday on the Buses Reunion Mini Golf Competition report