Showing posts with label Basingstoke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basingstoke. Show all posts

Thursday, March 21, 2024

A minigolf move in Basingstoke

There are plans for a new Great Wolf resort in Basingstoke, Hampshire.


A proposed Great Wolf resort in Basingstoke would be created on the site of Basingstoke Golf Centre and would feature a mini golf course

The proposed Great Wolf resort in Basingstoke would be created on the site of Basingstoke Golf Centre.

The new Great Wolf resort is an indoor water park - that would also feature a mini golf course as one of the activities.

Basingstoke Golf Centre is home to a Knights Realm Adventure Golf course. We haven't played the Knights Realm course yet, but did play the course it replaced several times, including some tournaments.

Visit the Basingstoke Golf Centre and Great Wolf Lodge resort websites for more information.


Hopefully we get back to Basingstoke to play the Knights Realm Adventure Golf course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour before it is removed. And we'll have to return again to have a game on the new Great Wolf mini golf course when that opens in the future.

Work is underway on the first Great Wolf Lodge in the UK that is set to open in Chesterton, Bicester, Oxfordshire. Like the US locations, that site looks set to be home to a miniature golf course too.

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

Toys R Us at Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke

Visiting the old Toys R Us store at the Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke, Hampshire.


Toys R Us at Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke


Toys R Us at Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke

There was still a lot of signage on display at the former store.

Toys R Us at Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke

Toys R Us at Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke

Toys R Us at Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke

Toys R Us at Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018.

It's been very interesting to find that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK and we've visited a number of these closed, abandoned, derelict and demolished Toys R Us locations on our travels.

My first job while at university in the year 2000 was as one of Geoffrey's helpers at the Luton store. I worked on the video game and electronics section.

Former Toys R Us locations we've visited on our travels:

Wednesday, July 05, 2023

New Putt Putt Noodle Crazy Golf courses

There are new Putt Putt Noodle minigolf courses opening in several locations in the UK.


Putt Putt Noodle Crazy Golf
Those katakana characters on the left of the logo translate as 'Lucky'

The new Putt Putt Noodle minigolf venues will include:
  • Aberdeen
  • Bedford
  • Basingstoke
  • Bristol
  • Central London
  • London E6
  • Colchester
  • Glasgow
  • Liverpool

There are currently Putt Putt Noodle courses in Norwich, Poole and Telford.

Visit the Putt Putt Noodle website for more information.

Wednesday, June 02, 2021

Toys R Us in Basingtoke

A visit to the old Toys R Us store at the Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke, Hampshire.


Toys R Us store at the Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke, Hampshire

We visited the old Toys R Us store in Basingstoke last month. There was still a lot of signage on display at the former store.

I worked in the Gipsy Lane Toys R Us store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000.

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. It's amazing to see that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK. 

Check out my blog posts below about other former Toys R Us stores:

Blockbuster Video in Basingstoke

A visit to the former Blockbuster Video store in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

We took a look at the old Blockbuster Video store at the Chineham shopping centre in Basingstoke last month. The unit is still vacant, but somewhat recognisable as a Blockbuster shop - especially as the QuikDrop box is still there.

Former Blockbuster Video store at Chineham shopping centre in Basingstoke

Former Blockbuster Video store at Chineham shopping centre in Basingstoke

With our interest piqued by the discovery of the abandoned Blockbuster Video store in Fallowfield in 2019 we've now visited a number of former Blockbuster locations, including:

Tuesday, November 06, 2018

Knights Realm Adventure Golf in Basingstoke

The new 18-hole Knights Realm Adventure Golf course recently opened in Basingstoke.

Knights Realm Adventure Golf is now open in Basingstoke
You can find the Knights Realm Adventure Golf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre

Check out the Knights Realm Adventure Golf course website for more info.

It's another course we'll have to visit on our seemingly never-ending quest to visit every minigolf course in the UK. When we began in 2006 there were 600 courses. To date we've visited 853, including 38 courses overseas.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Check out Minigolf on the Pub Sport Portal

Film of the BMGA British Minigolf Club Championship in Basingstoke.

The recent BMGA British Club Championship Minigolf tournament held at Basingstoke Golf Centre in Hampshire was visited by Craig Rodhouse from the Pub Sport Portal website.

Following the competition, the final event of the British Minigolf Association Tour’s 2013 season, a film showing the event highlights was put together – and what a great video it is too, with plenty of holes-in-one on show.

Check out the blog and video at the Pub Sport Portal.


Related blog posts:

Links:

Monday, November 25, 2013

Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Final Results of the 2013 BMGA Season

25th November 2013
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Final Results of the 2013 Season

Report from the BMGA British Club Championship in Basingstoke.

Luton Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried closed out the 2013 British Minigolf Association Tour season at the 9-hole Mini Golf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre in Hampshire.

Richard Gottfried playing hole 2 at the Basingstoke Golf Centre's Mini Golf course. Photo by Mark Swain

In the BMGA British Club Championship on Sunday 24th November Richard played for the Midlands Minigolf Club and he and this three team mates finished the event in third-place for the third year in a row. Emily and her Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club team were ninth in the event, which featured teams from five of the BMGA’s Minigolf Clubs.

Richard captained the Midlands A-team which consisted of Newcastle’s John Moore, Bangor, Northern Ireland’s Mark Swain and Jon Drexler from Memphis, USA.

The Midlands Minigolf Club A-team, from l-r Mark 'The Horse Whisperer' Swain, Jon 'The Black Knight' Drexler, 'Squire' Richard Gottfried, John 'Uncle Al' Moore

Following the British Club Championship Strokeplay Qualifier the Midlands A-team were in tied four place in the seedings. The team then fought through to the semi-finals but were on the losing end in their match against eventual champions the Kent Minigolf Club.

In the bronze-medal match the team faced the London Minigolf Club and won the game at the second extra-hole of a sudden-death play-off.

The Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club, from l-r Chris Smith, Emily Gottfried, Brenda Smith, Seth Thomas



The British Minigolf Association’s 2014 Tour tees-off in January at the BMGA Star City Open at the 36-hole indoor Adventure Island Mini Golf course in Birmingham.

Ends

Monday, November 26, 2012

Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Final Results & End of Season Review

26th November 2012
Press Information
For Immediate Release
 
Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Final Results & End of Season Review
 
Luton Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried’s 2012 British Minigolf Association Tour season came to an end on the 25th November at the 9-hole Mini Golf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre in Hampshire with both player's teams reaching the semi-final stage in the BMGA British Club Championship team tournament.
 
BMGA British Club Championship
 
In the BMGA British Club Championship on Sunday 25th November Richard played for the Midlands Minigolf Club and he and this three team mates finished the event in third-place for the second year in a row. Emily and her Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club team were fourth in the twelve team event, which featured teams from seven of the BMGA’s Minigolf Clubs.
Richard Gottfried plays a shot on hole 1 of the Basingstoke Golf Centre Mini Golf course in a sudden-death play-off against the Midlands Minigolf Club B Team.
Both Richard and Emily's teams battled through to the semi-finals but were on the losing end in their games and had to face-off in the Bronze medal play-off match. In the 12-hole matchplay contest the Midlands Minigolf Club were victorious with a 2up scoreline.
CMGC Team Captain Emily Gottfried lines up a shot on hole 2 of the Basingstoke Golf Centre Mini Golf course in a match against Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club.
Emily said “The British Club Championship this year was a fantastic tournament. I was really pleased to be selected as Captain of one of the two Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club teams, and to lead them to fourth place in our first tournament as a group was a much better than I expected! We played really well as a team, and kept each other positive if we had a bad round. Hopefully next year we will achieve a podium finish!”
 
End of 2012 Minigolf Season Review
 
In the twelve full BMGA Tour events Richard entered in 2012 he achieved one BMGA Tour title victory, one third place and five other top ten finishes. The win came in July’s BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Championship.
 
Emily played in four full BMGA Tour competitions this year achieving three top ten finishes, with her best individual result coming as the runner-up in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open in October.
 
2012 was the pair’s sixth year as BMGA Tour Pro players and both Richard and Emily gained their fourth Great Britain caps when they competed in the second WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament in Hastings in May. Richard finished the event in 14th place and finishing in 11th place in the men’s competition. Emily was runner-up in the women’s event and 17th overall. The pair’s Great Britain B team finished the international championship in fourth place.
 
At October’s ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings Richard was once again a finalist and finished the tournament in 17th place of 53 players in his sixth appearance for England.

Richard finished the season ranked in a career-high of 5th place in the 2012 BMGA Season Only Rankings. Emily was ranked 37th in the 120 player strong rankings. In the BMGA Strokeplay Order of Merit Rankings Richard finished in 15th place of 96 players, with Emily in 41st place. In the BMGA Matchplay Order of Merit Richard was ranked 15th of 60 players, with Emily in 41st place. The World Minigolf Sport Federation Rankings are due to be updated in December.
 
In non-ranking BMGA events Richard finished in 6th place of 30 players in the Crazy Golf Pro Championship in London, while Emily and her team were runners-up at the BMGA Oswestry Games Pro-Am Minigolf Classic.
 
Richard and Emily also competed in a number of independent Minigolf competitions in 2012 with wins coming for Richard in the Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr June Championship Playoff and overall victory in the grand final at the rooftop Crazy Golf course at Selfridges London.
 
Richard said “It’s been a great season and I was very pleased to win a BMGA Tour title event at the Oswestry Games along with two of the championship events at the Bompas & Parr rooftop Crazy Golf course at Selfridges London. My fifth place ranking in the 2012 BMGA Season Rankings was my best placing to date and apart from a couple of disappointing results this year I’ve played really well. Closing out the year with a podium finish in the national club championship was a good end to a long and successful season.”
 
Emily said “This year has gone by so fast! We’ve had some really great tournaments in some interesting and fun places. Hastings, as always, was a brilliant venue on the multitude of times we visited there and will always be one of my favourite Mini Golf destinations, especially as I managed a second place finish in the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Champions this year. That was definitely my highlight.”

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Doggone Minigolf!

Animal Crackers on the UK Minigolf Circuit.

2012 has been a cracking year for minigolf, but this year has seen three curious incidences of Dogs making appearances at a British Minigolf Association Tour event!

At today's BMGA British Club Championship held at the 9-hole Mini Golf course Basingstoke Golf Centre in sunny Basingstoke a small scamp of a dog interrupted proceedings by making its way onto the course, have a sniff of a few players, roll in some bushes, sit on my foot, pose for a photo and run off into the trees next to the nearby Putting Green.

The small dog gets to know Emily Gottfried from the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club as the rest of her team look quite bemused
The Basingstoke intruder makes its getaway

At last month's tenth annual Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championship the BMGA Tour welcomed it’s newest, and some might say biggest, fan in a dog that went crazy for the Minigolf action on holes 16, 17 and 18 of the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course on Hastings Seafront! Many a veteran player was enchanted by its behaviour and confusion as it marvelled at the multitude of multi-coloured Golf Balls dropping off a small ledge and disappearing down a hole.

One dog with no man at the World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

The first dog encounter of the season was at the BMGA British Masters held at the 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing's Denton Gardens back in April. The park area is popular amongst dog walkers and their pets and during the action (handily filmed by the team at the coincidentally named 2dogimaging) one 'lovable' canine called "Bonnie", perhaps looking for its own 'Fenton' moment, made itself known to the players in the tournament and the wider world by running all over the course!



There was also a cat on the course at the BMGA British Club Championships at Basingstoke. However, no photos of this feline were snapped as players were too busy shooing it off of the course.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

We Spotted a Brown Tourist Sign for a Milestones Museum in Basingstoke...

Museum Sign in Basingstoke
One of the Brown Tourist Signs we spotted on our way to the launch of the new minigolf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre

...although the museum is of the living history variety, rather than a museum of milestones!

Another brown tourist sign spotted for the Follow the Brown Signs website though!

We didn't have time to visit on this occasion as we were heading down to Southsea.

Links:
- The Milestone Society
- Follow the Brown Signs
- The Milestones Museum, Basingstoke

Related Blog Posts:
- A Landmark On Our Travels - Photographing Our First Milestone
- The Brown Sign Way - A Website and Blog Dedicated to Tourist Attraction Signs

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Basingstoke Golf Centre - New Mini Golf courses played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Visit to the new 9-hole Minigolf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre and results of Minigolf Challenge Matches.

Basingstoke Golf Centre's new Mini Golf course
A view of the new 9-hole Minigolf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre

On Sunday 25th March Emily and I visited and played the 283rd and 284th Miniature Golf courses on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour at the Open Day Launch of a new Mini Golf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre in Hampshire. The weather for the day out playing minigolf could not have been better.

In our first round on the new 9-hole course I defeated Emily by two shots with a score of 19(+1) to her 21(+3).

Emily plays Hole 4
Emily plays Hole 4

In our next round we were joined by fellow GB international and two-time World Crazy Golf Champion Chris Harding. Chris scored a 16(-2), I had a 17(-1) and Emily hit a 19(+1).

At the event there were also two challenge matches, the first saw me, Emily, Chris and Basingstoke Golf Centre’s PGA Golf Professional Tony Cook play a one-round, 9-hole contest.

In the match Emily was the outright leader for the first seven holes, before Chris and I scored an ace each. This left a three-way tie for the lead with two to play. On hole eight I scored a two, while the other players each took a three. On the ninth Chris and I were both close to getting a hole-in-one but took twos, while Emily and Tony scored threes, meaning that I took the win. The scores from the match were:

- Richard Gottfried - 16(-2)
- Chris Harding - 17(-1)
- Emily Gottfried - 18(par)
- Tony Cook* - 22(+4)
* Tony is the course record holder, having previously scored a round of 14(-4)

Tony Cook, Richard Gottfried, Emily Gottfried & Chris Harding at Basingstoke Golf Centre's new Minigolf Course
From l-r Tony Cook, Richard Gottfried, Emily Gottfried & Chris Harding

In the team contest two teams of three players, led by me and Chris Harding, faced-off in a closely fought cumulative score strokeplay event. The players were selected by each of the team captains. I got first pick having upset Chris with a shock victory in a (best-of-3) Rock Paper Scissors match!


Minigolf at Basingstoke Golf Centre
I play a shot on hole 2 - I scored an ace!

On my team were Jon Angel and Danny Angel from the Great Britain Minigolf Team sponsors UrbanCrazy, with Chris’ team containing David McConnachie and Steve Gorton.

Mini Golf at Basingstoke Golf Centre
Team UrbanCrazy - Danny, Jon and Richard


Mini Golf at Basingstoke Golf Centre
Team Invincible - Chris, David and Scott


Mini Golf at Basingstoke Golf Centre
Me and Chris play Rock Paper Scissors to decide who gets the first pick of the players in the team challenge

My team won the challenge match with a total of 62(+8), with Chris’ team hitting 64(+10). The match was very back and forth, with the teams tying on a number of holes too. The final hole to be played - hole 5 - is probably the toughest on the course, so there was a nervy finish to the match.

I was once again the lowest scoring player, this time with a round of 18(par). Chris Harding and David McConnachie tied for second on 19(+1). Jon Angel scored a 21(+3), with Danny Angel on 23(+5) and Steve Gorton on 26(+8).

Mini Golf at Basingstoke Golf Centre
Playing hole 9 of the Mini Golf course during the team match

Chris, Emily and I also had one final friendly round on the course, with me and Chris both shooting a 16(-2) and Emily hitting a 24(+6).

The Mini Golf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre was designed and built by UrbanCrazy – the sponsors of the Great Britain Minigolf Team. Photos of the course are below:

Hole 1

Hole 2 and the Putting Course in the background

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5 - a nasty dog leg left!

Hole 6

Hole 7 - a very short, but tricky hole

Hole 8

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 9

A view of holes 7, 8 & 9

The five-hole minigolf practice area






We also took the opportunity to test our Putting skills on the 8-hole Putting Green at the centre. Chris and I faced-off in a challenge match, with Chris getting the upper-hand and winning with a score of 19(+3) to my 20(+4).

I play hole 1 on the Putting Green

Miniature Golf Putting Course at Basingstoke Golf Centre
Chris on the Putting Green

The two courses were the first new ones to be visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2012 and the first since #282 at London’s Alexandra Palace back in December 2011.

Next stop... who knows where...!

Links:

Related Blog Posts: