Mini Golf on BBC Three Counties Radio

Playing some Crazy Golf with the BBC Three Counties Radio Sports Team at Tea Green Golf in Luton.

Check out the Minigolf video from when the BBC Three Counties Radio Sport team of Geoff Doyle and Luke Ashmead met me at Tea Green Golf in Luton to find out more about the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.



My interview and the Mini Golf Challenge on BBC Three Counties Radio will now be broadcast next week (Monday 13th July). You'll be able to listen in from 6pm on the BBC Three Counties Radio Sports show website.

Links:
- BBC Three Counties Radio website
- BBC Three Counties Radio Sports Show
- Tea Green Golf website
- Geoff Doyle on Twitter
- Luke Ashmead on Twitter
- BBC Three Counties Radio on Twitter
- BBC Three Counties Radio on Facebook
- BBC Three Counties Radio on YouTube

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Tea Green Golf
- Crazy Golf on BBC Three Counties Radio

Crazy Golf on BBC Three Counties Radio

Tune into the Three Counties Sport show on BBC Three Counties Radio this Monday.

I had a great time talking about Crazy Golf and playing some Mini Golf with Geoff Doyle and Luke Ashmead from the BBC Three Counties Radio Sports show at Tea Green Golf in Luton today.

The Crazy Golfers ready for the BBC Three Counties Sport Challenge at Tea Green. From l-r Lester Coles, Geoff Doyle, Luke Ashmead and me

As part of the pair's regular sporting battles and forays into a wide-range of sports we had some matches on Tea Green Golf's recently refurbished miniature golf course.

Tea Green Golf's Mini Golf course

We also discussed the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and Emily and I hitting the landmark of 600 courses visited.

As well as some practice and training we had a doubles match and I refereed the showdown between the duo.

You can hear the show at 6pm on Monday 6th July and it'll be on the BBC Three Counties Radio website shortly after broadcast too. The video will be on their YouTube Channel on Monday.

In the meantime have a listen to last Monday's show. From the 16 minutes 20 seconds mark you can hear a bit about Crazy Golf.

It was great fun and as always it's nice to visit Tea Green Golf. There were some brilliant, and not so good, shots played and the results of the matches will follow...

I do enjoy listening to, and playing, Crazy Golf on the radio!

Check out my blog post about the upgraded Tea Green Mini Golf course too.

The first hole Tea Green Golf's miniature course

Links:
- BBC Three Counties Radio website
- BBC Three Counties Radio Sports Show
- Tea Green Golf website
- Geoff Doyle on Twitter
- Luke Ashmead on Twitter
- BBC Three Counties Radio on Twitter
- BBC Three Counties Radio on Facebook
- BBC Three Counties Radio on YouTube

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Tea Green Golf

Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair 2015

The Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair 2015 will be taking place on Saturday 5th September.

Dozens of gluten free food businesses and hundreds of Coeliacs will be descending on The Weatherley Centre in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire for this year's Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair on Saturday 5th September.

Poster for the Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair taking place on Saturday 5th September

The 2015 event will take place from 10am until 2pm, with a £1 admission fee (that also includes entry into a prize draw).

The group organises a number of events throughout the year, and the last large food fair was in 2013. That event had 30 exhibitors and over 600 visitors.

As well as food and drink available to sample and purchase from many of the exhibitors there will also be refreshments for sale including gluten free fish and chips, sausage and chips, and fritters together with tea, coffee and other gluten free snacks.

If the 2013 event was anything to go by there will be more than enough visitors for the exhibitors to promote to. Other Coeliac Groups in the Home Counties and London areas will be advertising the event, and it will be advertised in Coeliac UK's Crossed Grain Magazine.

I enjoyed the 2013 event and it was nice to catch up with fellow members of the group. It was also great to find out about new gluten and wheat free food and drink (including beers). Most of the exhibitors were offering samples for eager Coeliacs to try out. Although I did notice that some of the exhibitors were not giving out any samples - this always seems strange to me as I like to try before I buy. And I've certainly bought my fair share of those gluten free products from brands that weren't stingy with their samples at the fair.

The Beds and Mid Herts Coeliac UK group has over 750 members in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and parts of Essex. I've been a member since shortly after my diagnosis in 2008 and have found the information in the newsletters to be useful. Attending a newly diagnosed Coeliacs event was very helpful in the early days of living life gluten free. I've also made some great friends from being a part of the group.

For more information check out the Coeliac UK Beds and Mid Herts local group page.

The 2015 Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair will be held at The Weatherley Centre, Eagle Farm Road, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8JH.

I'm always keen to find out about gluten and wheat free brands that are suitable for people with Coeliac Disease so please do get in touch if you know of any, or are a producer/supplier.

Links:
- Coeliac UK
- Coeliac UK local group page for Beds and Mid Herts

Related blog posts:
- Coeliac
- Gluten Free

Mini Golf at Tea Green Golf at Wandon End, Luton

A visit to the new Mini Golf course at Tea Green Golf Club in Wandon End, Luton.

The old Crazy Golf has been upgraded to this bright new Mini Golf 

Tea Green Golf Club in Luton has unveiled its upgraded Mini Golf layout and on Friday I headed up there for a few rounds on the course.

Playing hole 1. The 'classic' ace line has been blocked by two obstacles. There is still a way to get a hole-in-one though. You can see the old version of hole 1 here

Emily and I have been visiting Tea Green Golf since we found out that the club was home to a Crazy Golf course in July 2009. The course was the 111th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Since that first visit almost six years ago the courses has undergone some changes.

Revisiting the 111th course on our tour

Using the base holes as a foundation for the new miniature golf layout the 9-hole course has been refurbished and freshened up with new borders, obstacles and colours. I'm very pleased to say that the course manager Lester Coles and the team have taken on-board some of my suggestions for updating the course. There are now some nice undulations on the course, bright colours, high quality felt to play on, and of course there's a windmill on one of the holes.

Hole 5 has a windmill obstacle on it. It blocks the straight shot to the hole, but there is a fine angle to make the ace

Lester has also been a minigolf rival of mine since we first played the course in 2011 so he was itching to give me a game - and what a clash it was. Having set the record of 17(-1) on the first official day of the new course Lester bested me in the first two rounds (18 to 19), before we tied on 17. We then played another 18-hole round which saw me force a play-off with an ace at the last hole. The game continued to the 4th extra-hole before I was robbed by a bounce out from my second putt.

A view of the course from the turnaround point. Hole 7 (the blue hole in the photo) used to be hole 9

Over the years we've had many rounds on the course and scored a lot of holes-in-one. Lester and I were both amazed at how tricky it is to ace many of the holes during the round - we did however make some nice shots in some practice play. It'll be very interesting to see if the old course record of 14 (held forevermore by Scott Holmes) will ever be equalled or bettered...

The cost to play the course is just £2 and gives you unlimited play on your visit. Great value

Check out the photos of the 9-hole course below.

Tea Green Golf is a really friendly golf club that welcomes members and non-members alike. The Par-3 Golf course is a great test and they also have a really popular Footgolf course. Plus there's a bar, restaurant and games area (pool and darts). Visit the Tea Green Golf website, and check out the club on Facebook and Twitter for more information.

Links:
- Tea Green Golf
- UrbanCrazy

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Tea Green
- Luton

Videos:
- A round of Minigolf at Tea Green Golf Course in Luton (July 2009)
- Attempting to play Crazy Golf in the snow at Tea Green Golf, Luton (January 2010)
- Hole in One at Tea Green Golf's Minigolf Course (March 2010)
- A round of Minigolf at Tea Green Golf Luton (May 2010)
- A round of Minigolf at Tea Green Golf for the Putter King Scavenger Hunt (September 2011)
- Minigolf Trick Shot - Blindfolded Hole-in-One for the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt (September 2011)

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.

Crazy Golf in Wardown Park Luton

The Crazy Golf and Minigolf courses in Luton's Wardown Park are no more!

The sign for the Miniature Golf courses is still there

On Wednesday 25 March my friend and sometimes minigolf rival Simon 'Practice' Hall let me know that the minigolf and crazy golf courses in Luton's Wardown Park had been removed, so I had to head down for a look.

The fibreglass holes of the Crazy Golf course have been dug out of their foundations and put in a pile. The muddy patch in the background is where the miniature golf grass putting course was

The old Crazy Golf holes piled on top of hole 1

A view of the Crazy Golf course area, with the 'grass' Minigolf layout on the left

The grass Miniature Golf course had been in Wardown Park since 19 June 1934 when it was opened by the town's Mayor. The fibreglass Crazy Golf course was a much later addition.

Hole 6 of the Crazy Golf course in Luton's Wardown Park in May 2007

The Crazy Golf course was the 18th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on 5 May 2007, with the Grass Putting Miniature Golf layout the 19th played on 19 May.

Emily playing Crazy Golf in Luton's Wardown Park in July 2007. The very green grass putting layout is on the other side of the fence

I hadn't seen or heard anything in the local media about changes to the minigolf area of the park and the staff in Wardown Park Museum didn't have any further information on the removal of the courses.

I asked Luton Borough Council why the Crazy Golf and Minigolf Putting courses in Wardown Park have been dug up?

They responded telling me it's a new meadow planting project with Sheffield University. There'll be nine plots, pathways and 'picnic zones'.

I then asked what was going to happen to the obstacles from the course and was told that the course will be reinstalled in another area of the park.

Mystery solved.

It'll be interesting to see what the area looks like when it's finished and where the Crazy Golf holes end up.

Playing hole 3 in some golfing attire in 2007

An Autumn/Winter look to the course in November 2011

Hole 1 as it used to look

Playing the miniature golf grass putting in Wardown Park in May 2010

Check out the links below for photos and videos of the courses since we first visited them in 2007.

Related blog posts:
- Crazy Golf & Minigolf Courses in and around Luton, Bedfordshire
- Course Played #18 Luton (Wardown Park) - Crazy Golf
- Course Played #19 Luton (Wardown Park) - Miniature Golf
- Wardown Park in Luton - Changes to the Crazy Golf Course & Ducks Fighting
- Crazy Golf at Luton's Wardown Park - November 2010
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf at Luton's Wardown Park
- More Snow - Sledging & Crazy Golf
- Snow halts play
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Luton

Videos:
- View of the Crazy Golf Course at Wardown Park in Luton
- Crazy Golf course changes at Wardown Park in Luton

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.