Crazy Golf at Bedford's Christmas Lights Switch-On

There will be a free to play Crazy Golf course at Bedford's Christmas Lights Switch-On on Saturday 23rd November.

Pumpkin Patch Mini Golf at Frosts Willington Garden Centre in Bedford

Frosts Garden Centre in Willington, Bedford has a pop-up mini golf course as part of its Pumpkin Patch attraction.

The Pumpkin Patch is open weekends from the 5th October until the 31st October, and is open 7 days a week from the 26th October.

Visit the Frosts Garden Centres website for more information.

Putt Putt Social Crazy Golf Tournaments in Norwich, Gloucester, Telford and Bedford

Putt Putt Social indoor minigolf centres in Norwich, Gloucester, Telford and Bedford will be holding Crazy Golf tournaments at the venues on Friday 17th May.

The event format will see teams compete for the prizes.

Visit the Putt Putt Social website for more information.

Putt Putt Social Crazy Golf Tournament in Bedford

A Crazy Golf tournament is being held at Putt Putt Social in Bedford on Friday 17th May.

The team event will be contested at the indoor Crazy Golf venue.

Visit the Putt Putt Social website for more information.

New mini golf at Russell Park in Bedford

Bedford's Russell Park will be home to a new mini golf course.

The new mini golf course at Russell Park in Bedford, Bedfordshire will be a 12-hole layout and will replace the existing grass miniature golf course.

The Putting Green at Russell Park in Bedford, July 2010

The Russell Park outdoor mini golf course will be themed with holes and obstacles containing local history.

The Putting Green at Russell Park in Bedford, July 2010

The Putting Green at Russell Park in Bedford was the 184th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in July 2010 and we played it several times when we lived nearby.

Putt Putt Noodle in Bedford

A new Putt Putt Noodle indoor minigolf centre is now open in Bedford.

The katakana characters on the left of the logo translate as 'Lucky'

Bedford's Harpur Centre is now home to a new Putt Putt Noodle indoor minigolf venue.

Putt Putt Noodle Bedford has three indoor adventure golf courses to play.

It'll be another new place to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Check out the Putt Putt Noodle website for more information.

New Putt Putt Noodle Crazy Golf courses

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

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.

Where there was once a Crazy Golf course

A look at the site of a one-day only art pop-up crazy golf course in Bedford.

Alexandra Road, just off Midland Road, in Bedford was once the site for a one-day-only art installation minigolf course. There are plans for the vacant site is to be used for residential and commercial premises

Related blog posts:
- M!MS Empire Sunset Nine Hole Mini Golf course in Bedford

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Bedford

Mini Golf Putting Course in Bedford

Playing the minigolf grass Putting course in Bedford's Russell Park.

The minigolf course in Russell Park, Bedford

On Saturday 18 April 2015 I made the short journey up the line from Leagrave to Bedford for a day out in the Spring sunshine. One of my things to do in the town was a visit to the Putting Green at Russell Park on The Embankment.

The Kiosk at the Park on The Embankment in Bedford offers food & drink, putting, tennis and ping pong

I first played the course in July 2010 and revisited in August 2011. It's in a very nice location next to the River Ouse.

Holing out for a two on the 15th

In my match-up against Biggleswade's number one miniature golfer Cat 'Fore' Patterson I won with a score of 50 to her 79 on the very tricky layout.

Hole 7

In only her second-ever game of minigolf (with her debut at the Pirates Cove Adventure Golf course in Great Yarmouth last year) Cat had some amazing consistency in her play. The rookie player managed to tie with me on the 8th hole when we both scored threes, and beat me with a three to my four on the last hole.

Hole one from the green

Looking back at my previous visits I have scored holes-in-one on the 14th, the 15th and on this occasion I hit an ace on the 5th hole. Always a very nice feeling on a grass Putting course.

A view of the course from the far end of the layout

A round for adults is priced at £2.90. For more information visit the Kiosk in the Park website.

The scorecards at the course are good quality

Links:
- Kiosk in the Park website
- Kiosk in the Park on Twitter
- Kiosk in the Park on Facebook
- Kiosk in the Park blog
- Pavilion in the Park website

Related blog posts:
- Bedford
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Putting Green / Mini Golf in Bedford - Crazy World of Minigolf course played #184
- Replay of Bedford's Russell Park Putting Green (Mini Golf)

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Bedfordshire gets a new County Flag

The county of Bedfordshire has a new officially recognised flag and a 'day' to follow.

Reading the Simply Sims column in a recent edition of the Luton News I saw that the county of Bedfordshire now has an officially recognised County Flag and plans are afoot to set a date for an annual 'Bedfordshire Day'.

On the 11 September 2014 The Flag Institute admitted the Bedfordshire Flag into the Register of County Flags.

The new county flag of Bedfordshire

Visit the Friends of Bedfordshire Society's website to read about why the flag looks like it does and what it means.

I look forward to seeing the flag flying and fluttering around the county and I'll be buying a pin badge version asap.

Links:
- The Friends of Bedfordshire Society
- The Luton News
- The Flag Institute
- Association of British Counties

M!MS Empire Sunset Nine Hole Mini Golf course in Bedford

Playing a Minigolf course 'sculpture' set-up for one-day only!

With nothing planned for Saturday 27th July I was looking forward to sitting down and not doing much at all. However, a couple of early morning tweets from Northamptonshire-based Cider & Perry Maker Mark Shirley alerted me to a Minigolf course that he'd spotted being set-up in Bedford! What’s more, it was only going to be in the town for one-day!!!

After shooting a round on the temporary course

So, rather than lounging about I did a bit of research and found out the M!MS Empire Sunset Nine Hole Mini Golf course would be open from 3pm until 11pm.

A view of the M!MS Mini Golf course from hole 7

The M!MS team hard at work on hole 4

The M!MS art collective is based in Bedfordshire, with M!MS standing for “Maximum Irony! Maximum Sincerity".

I arrived in Bedford at around 1.30pm which gave me a chance to see the final preparations and site-clearing being done before the course opened for play.

The course looked brilliant and was a great use of a long vacant plot of land in the town’s Midland Road.

A view from over the road

The idea came from artist Andy Holden who designed (and with the help of the M!MS team) built the ‘playable sculpture’ using simple and cheap materials to create the innovative and very playable course.

Photos of the course.

M!MS Mini Golf - in Bedford for one day only!

Hole 1 of the M!MS Mini Golf course

Hole 2 - from the tee

Hole 2 - this one worked really well and the ace shot was very satisfying

Hole 3 - up and over

Hole 5 - a tough loop-di-loop - I had a mixed bag of scores here

Hole 7 - a 3 here was a good result

Hole 8 - a tricky pipe hole

I played two rounds, shooting a 19 followed by an 18 in a match against Andy (who scored a 30). After the course had closed forever I was told that my round of 18 was the best of the day – a course record that will stand for the ages!

Playing hole 9 - the rotating sun

The course not only looked interesting, but it played incredibly well – even more impressive considering it was mostly made out of old pallets! The mix of easy, hard and fun hole designs meant there were some great hole-in-one opportunities, as well as some testing obstacles and second putts.

A view of the course, an art deco building and some old advertising on a building - you could almost be in the 1930's...

The course harked back to 1920’s depression era USA when vacant lots were often turned into improvised Miniature Golf courses.

The M!MS Mini Golf layout, aka Mini Sculpture Golf, was the 533rd course visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 320th played since September 2006.

The M!MS Empire Sunset Mini Golf course scorecard

The scorecard - very well designed and quite large too

Andy Holden and the M!MS team will be showcasing their work – Towards a Complete History of M!MS – at the Zabludowicz Collection in London from the 26th of September to the 15th of December 2013. I’m looking forward to seeing the final collection and film. All of the M!MS events are filmed and by attending them you become part of the work! 

Links:

- Andy Holden Artist & M!MS

- Bedford Creative Arts

- Bedfringe

- Lost Toys

- Zabludowicz Collection

- Stanley Picker Gallery

- Crazy Golf Museum

- Rockingham Forest Cider

Related Blog Posts:

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Putting Green / Mini Golf in Bedford - Crazy World of Minigolf course played #184
- Types and Variants of Miniature Golf visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Art & Minigolf Related Blog Posts:

- Mini Golf by Simon Martin

- Playing Crazee Golf at the Tintype Art Gallery in London

- Playing Minigolf on the Selfridges Rooftop Crazy Golf course!

- Arts & Crafts Blog Posts

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Replay of Bedford's Russell Park Putting Green (Mini Golf)

I was in Bedford recently so took the opportunity to have a replay of the very testing 18-hole Putting Green Miniature Golf course in the town's Russell Park.

Last time out I scored a 48(+12), with a hole-in-one on the 15th hole and this time I scored a slightly better 46(+10) and an Ace on the 14th hole.

The course became the 184th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour last July.

The course is in excellent condition with good equipment and scorecards. The price has risen slightly from £2.35 to £2.50 for adults.

I also noticed that they have a Table Tennis Table similar to the one in Luton's Wardown Park (see here & here), except with the one in bedford you can hire Bats and Balls from the Kiosk (£1.70 per hour) rather than bringing your own.

More from the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Oceans 18 Black Light Mini-Golf, New Bedford, MA, USA. And Minigolf in 'old' Bedford and Old Bedford Road, Luton

Oceans 18 indoor Black Light mini-golf course in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA is holding it's first-ever Minigolf tournament on Saturday 30th July 2011.

I first came across the Oceans 18 course via twitter, and wouldn't mind playing there a) because I love minigolf, and b) because the course is in New Bedford, and I live near the 'old' one (tenuous, I know)!

The event - part of the Massachusetts State Championship Mini Golf Tour - is a first for the Oceans 18 course and the competition, which tees-off at 10.30am on Saturday 30th July, will see players compete for up to $3,000 in cash prizes! The event is being organised by Andrew Pittsley, a USPMGA Pro Minigolfer and a friend of The Putting Penguin minigolf website. Through a bit of twitter and minigolf networking I helped put them in touch with each other :-)

Oceans 18 Minigolf Course Review at The Putting Penguin

Oceans 18 Family Entertainment on Facebook

Good luck to all the competitors in the tournament, and I look forward to visiting the Oceans 18 course in the future.

In the 'old' Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, there isn't exactly a minigolf course like Oceans 18, but there is a very testing and well maintained 18-hole Putting course at Russell Park.

In Luton, the 9-hole Minigolf Putting, and 9-hole Crazy Golf courses in Wardown Park are located just off the Old Bedford Road, and in the garden of a house on Old Bedford Road itself there is a 3-hole Mini Golf Putting Course!

Putting Green / Mini Golf in Bedford - Crazy World of Minigolf course played #184

Playing the 18-hole Minigolf Putting Course in Bedford's Russell Park.
 
On Thursday 29th July 2010 I was in Bedford and played the 18-hole Putting Green in Russell Park.



It's a tricky course, but in great condition. It's £2.35 a round for adults and the course had a few other groups out on it.


Heading 'out' I scored 20(+2), but heading 'in' I scored a horrendous 28(+10)! That was even including a hole-in-one on the 15th hole.


The visit was the 184th Minigolf course played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.




Walking back along through the park I also spotted what could have been a Minigolf hole!



Crazy World of Minigolf Tour