Bognor Regis Mini Golf

The Bognor Regis Mini Golf course has had a refresh and some new obstacles added ahead of its reopening for the 2021 season.

We played the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in October 2011! It was the 275th course we visited.

It'll be superb to get back down to Bognor Regis to see what's changed, what's new and to have a few rounds on the mini golf course.

The new helter skelter obstacle looks wonderful.

The Bognor Regis Mini Golf course was built in 1993 and was the last new Arnold Palmer Putting Course layout to be created. It's a fine example of its kind and we found it to be fun and nicely tricky to play - in our match-up Emily beat me 39-42 with a start of two Aces in a row. However this was followed by two 3's, but she still scored an 'out' of 18.

Bognor Regis Mini Golf course can be found at Waterloo Gardens, on the esplanade in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.

Visit the Bognor Regis Mini Golf Facebook Page for more information.

A postcard from Butlin's Bognor Regis

The most recent Stockport postcard fair was a goldmine of nice old miniature golf postcards.

One of which was this John Hinde Ltd multi-view card showing The Putting Green at Butlin's Bognor Regis.

Butlin's Bognor Regis. John Hinde Ltd. Posted on 3 Aug 1981

The card was posted from the camp on 3rd August 1981 by Babs & Fred who were "Having a nice time." It was sent to Brightlingsea in Essex.

I always keep my eye out for old holiday camp postcards. They're fairly easy to spot as they tend to be nice and brightly coloured. There's also a good chance that minigolf or crazy golf will feature on them.

I wrote an article about Butlin's postcards in the November 2016 issue of Picture Postcard Monthly magazine. That piece was to celebrate the 80th birthday of Butlin's.

My family often went on holiday to the Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead. We also had one stay at the Bognor Regis and Ayr camps. I spent many summers in the 80's and 90's at the Barry Island Holiday Camp, itself a former Butlin's camp.

Are Clacton-on-Sea and Bognor Regis the worst seasides in the country?

Clacton-on-Sea and Bognor Regis have been voted as the worst seaside resorts in the UK. 

Bognor Regis seafront from the pier

We're big fans of the seaside and have visited many coastal towns and resorts, including Clacton-on-Sea and Bognor Regis, on our minigolf travels over the last 13 years.

Clacton-on-Sea pier from the seafront

Seaside resorts were rated in ten categories in the Which? survey. Clacton-on-Sea and Bognor Regis were both rated poorly for their attractions, peace and quiet, scenery and value for money.

Bognor Regis pier from the seafront

Bamburgh, Northumberland was rated as top of the 100 seasides. We haven't been there, but did drive past it on our way to nearby Seahouses as that was more our cup of tea.

In 2011 Clacton Pier was home to a pop-up Adventure Golf course

As with most things, it really does depend what you want from a trip to a seaside. If you want a sedate place then Clacton and Bognor are probably not for you, but even saying that I have some nice memories of picnicking in the gardens near the seafront in Clacton and there are some very good spots for a more tranquil wander in Bognor Regis.

The Crazy Golf course on Waterloo Place in Bognor Regis in 2011

We've been to some seasides that other people rave about and haven't been impressed at all. That could be down to us being us, or it could be because of the time of year we visited, the weather on the day, or a number of other factors.

I've been to seven of the seasides ranked in the top ten. Only one of those, Southwold, would possibly rank in my top ten.

Top ten:

• Bamburgh
• Portmeirion
• Dartmouth
• North Berwick
• St Mawes
• Beer
• St Andrews
• Aldeburgh
• Southwold
• Tenby

Looking at the bottom ten seaside resorts I've been to all of them, many multiple times. I'd select some of them for my top ten.

Bottom ten:

• Bognor Regis
• Clacton-on-Sea
• Burnham-on-Sea
• Skegness
• Fleetwood
• Weston-Super-Mare
• Great Yarmouth
• Margate
• Morecambe
• Minehead

A few years ago another poll rated the Lincolnshire seaside resort of Skegness as one of the world's worst holiday destinations, on a par with Pyongyang, North Korea. I disagree with that result. Pyongyang only has one minigolf course, whereas Skegness has ten courses on the seafront so it is head and shoulders above the North Korean city.

A view of Bognor Regis Pier from the Crazy Golf course

Emily playing Crazy Golf in Bognor Regis

  

Playing Adventure Golf on Clacton Pier in 2011

We're looking forward to return visits to both Bognor Regis and Clacton-on-Sea. The towns have new minigolf courses we've yet to play too, an even better reason to go again.

Do you agree with the results of the survey?

Have you been to Clacton-on-Sea or Bognor Regis? What did you think?

What's your favourite / least favourite seaside?

Related blog posts:
- Bognor Regis
- Clacton-on-Sea

Wildforest Falls Adventure Golf at Hotham Park in Bognor Regis

A look at the Wildforest Falls Adventure Golf course at Hotham Park in Bognor Regis.

A view of the 18-hole Adventure Golf course in Hotham Park. Photo by Matt Dodd

Our friends and minigolf rivals Matt and Helen Dodd were recently in Bognor Regis and swung by the new Wildforest Falls Adventure Golf course at Hotham Park.

Matt said the course was good but tough and had quite a few holes he’d never seen before.

The Wildforest Falls Adventure Golf course was built by the team at HM Adventure Golf. You can find out more about the Wildforest Falls Adventure Golf course on the Tivoli Lifestyle website.

While in the park Matt also had a look at the old Crazy Golf layout which is now a picnic area.

We're yet to play the Wildforest Falls Adventure Golf course. The old minigolf layout at Hotham Park and the Putting course that was formerly on the site were the 273rd and 274th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in October 2011.

Related blog posts:
- Matt Dodd
- Bognor Regis

Bognor Regis Mini Golf is 25 years old

Many congratulations to the team at Bognor Regis Mini Golf on reaching the BIG minigolf milestone of 25 years in business!

Emily and I played the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course at Waterloo Gardens in Bognor Regis back in October 2011. It became the 275th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

In our match-up Emily beat me 39-42 with a start of two Aces in a row. However this was followed by two 3's, but she still scored an 'out' of 18. Some superb play on a superb Crazy Golf course.

Check out the Bognor Regis Mini Golf Facebook Page for more info.

Happy Birthday Butlin's!

Today marks the 80th birthday of Butlin's Holiday Camps. On the 11th April 1936 Billy Butlin opened his first camp in Skegness, Lincolnshire - and the business is still going strong today.

I love the British seaside with all its quirks, eccentricity and traditional entertainment. I grew up on holidays at Butlin's holiday camps in Minehead, Bognor Regis and Ayr - and spent many summers in the 80's and 90's at the Barry Island Holiday Camp which used to be a Butlin's camp.

I spent many great holidays at Butlin's Minehead. It was nice finding these badges at Hitchin Market recently

In fact my parents met at a Butlin's! At the Clacton-on-Sea camp way back in 1975 and this year they are celebrating their ruby wedding anniversary.

It's probably in no small part because of our childhood stays at holiday camps - and all the fun they had to offer - that Emily and I have spent the last ten years travelling around the UK coast on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We also visited Butlin's Minehead (formerly Somerwest World) on one of our first holidays together in 2004.

As well as being home to the first Butlin's holiday camp, Skegness is also the site of England's first Crazy Golf course.
It opened in 1926

Over the years we've built up a great collection of miniature golf postcards, and we always keep an eye out for Butlin's cards. They're such colourful and fun cards, and seeing the monorail at Minehead brings back so many happy memories.

Within our postcard collection we've got a great selection of old and new Butlin's postcards. The images on the classic John Hinde are fantastic and it's been great to receive cards from our family when they've been to the camps in recent years. The oldest Butlin's card we have was posted on the 4th June 1951. It shows the Putting Green at Butlin's Luxury Holiday Camp in Pwllheli, Wales

Look at the size of the golf ball on the tee at the Butlin's Putting Greens. The monorails were marvellous too

Last summer we visited Skegness, and while we've not been inside that camp (yet) our friend Peter Jones was coincidently there at the same time for a Five Star concert and managed to buy me a stack of great badges for my collection.

Good luck to Butlin's and all the best for the next 80 years...

Links:
- Butlin's
- Butlin's blog
- John Hinde postcards

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Postcards

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Putting Course in Felpham, near Bognor Regis - Minigolf course played #276

The 276th and final Miniature Golf course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour roadtrip from Southsea to Felpham was at the Blakes Road Putting Course.

The 18-hole layout was tricky indeed, with Emily scoring a 52 to my round of 50. A very close battle on the Irregular Mini Golf Tour.

A wayward shot left Emily with a tricky next Putt!

Felpham is walkable from Bognor Regis and the course is worth a visit if you're in the area.

It's also another Miniature Golf course that has a Brown Tourist Sign to lead you to it.

As an aside, if you do visit Felpham then the Beachcroft Hotel is very close to the course and the restaurant there does some very good food. We dined there with both the 'Gluten Free' and 'normal' options after our round of Minigolf and before the long journey back home. Very tasty it was too.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour courses visited and played list

Arnold Palmer Mini-Golf course at Waterloo Gardens in Bognor Regis - course played #275

The 275th Miniature Golf course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Mini-Golf course at Waterloo Gardens, on the esplanade in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.

We visited and played the course on Sunday 2nd October 2011.

The course is in excellent condition and in a great location. With the very warm weather on the day the course was also very busy every time we walked past it, but we managed to find a time when we wouldn't have any large groups in front of us and jumped on for a round as part of our Irregular Mini Golf Tour competitions.

In our match-up Emily beat me 39-42 with a start of two Aces in a row. However this was followed by two 3's, but she still scored an 'out' of 18. Some excellent play on an excellent Crazy Golf course.

Unfortunately neither of us managed to win a FREE GAME on the Lucky Last Hole.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

An unplayed Miniature Golf course in Bognor Regis - Marine Park Gardens

As the regular summer season was over the Putting Course at Marine Park Gardens was closed until next year. However, the visit to the course as part of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was a bonus as it had not been on our 'to visit' list until the man at the Crazy Golf & Putting Kiosk in Hotham Park had told us about it. He'd also informed us it wasn't going to be open to play, but we still had to go and have a look ahead of any future visits to Bognor Regis.

The course does look to be in good condition, with plenty of lumps and bumps to make the Putting tricky.

Link to the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour courses visited, played and not played

Crazy Golf and Minigolf Putting at Hotham Park, Bognor Regis - Courses played #273 & 274

Hotham Park in Bognor Regis, West Sussex is home to two Miniature Golf courses. One is a 12-hole Crazy Golf, the other is an 18-hole Putting Course. We visited and played both on Sunday 2nd October 2011. They became the 273rd and 274th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Crazy Golf course was not like any other course going by the name 'Crazy Golf' that we had seen or played before! It's more like a Pitch & Putt style of Miniature Golf, with a 'green' to aim at from a patch of grass, or concrete slabs. Some of the holes are really bizarre (crazy!), including the Bridge that you've got to putt over!

Only one of the twelve holes actually resembles a Minigolf/Crazy Golf course as most people would know it.

In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up on the Crazy Golf course Emily defeated me 45-50.

In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up on the Putting course Emily defeated me 46-54.

The park also has a Miniature Railway and part of the track runs next to the Crazy Golf course.

The Minigolf courses (and some other leisure facilities) at Hotham Park and Marine Park Gardens in Bognor Regis, and others at Felpham and Littlehampton are operated by Inspire Leisure. The scorecards have a good list of all the other courses in the area, which was very handy indeed. The very helpful man in the hut at Hotham Park told us that we were lucky the weather was so nice and hot as the courses had actually closed for the season the weekend before. He said that the Marine Park Gardens course would still be closed, but that if we made it to Littlehampton the Adventure Golf course (and Pitch & Putt) there would be open as it's a year round course.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.