Crazy Golf at The Dolphin Pub in Melbourn

A revisit to a pub beer garden course in Cambridgeshire. Or not as it would turn out.

On our way home from a recent visit to Ipswich we stopped off at The Dolphin Pub in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire for a quick soft drink in the beer garden there.

Back in May 2010 we'd visited the pub to have a look at the derelict 4-hole Crazy Golf course there. It wasn't playable then (no putters or balls at the bar) and we were told it was "just there"!

The 4-hole Crazy Golf course layout at The Dolphin pub in Melbourn (May 2010)

The course is long-gone now.

In the beer garden of The Dolphin pub in Melbourn (August 2014)

However, there was a little football target game set-up so I had a kickabout on that.

Having a kickabout in the beer garden

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Course Visit #223 Overall - The Dolphin Pub, Melbourn, Cambs
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Pub Beer Gardens

Link:
- The Dolphin Pub

Christmas Crazy Golf in Peterborough

Christmas-themed Minigolf course at the Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough for the festive season.

Yesterday I heard that the Mini Golf and Games 9-hole Miniature Golf course has been set-up in the Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.

A great idea to give shoppers a fun break while out Christmas shopping, and especially for those people (like me) who would prefer to be doing anything but Christmas shopping while their partner carries on with the spending!

The 9-hole Christmas Crazy Golf course set-up at the Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough. Photo by Mini Golf and Games

I played the course towards the end of the summer when it was set-up in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire. It’s a very good layout and operated by the friendly team at Mini Golf and Games. Check out the links below for further details.

Links:

• Queensgate Shopping Centre
• Mini Golf and Games

Related blog posts:

• Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
• Minigolf in Letchworth Garden City
• Christmas
• Peterborough

Minigolf News - "Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried signs for the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club!"

In the latest Minigolf Transfer News Emily 'Coach' Gottfried has signed for the newest Minigolf Club in the UK - the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club.

Emily, a former member of the Midlands Minigolf Club and the reigning WMF Women's World Adventure Golf Masters Champion, sealed the deal through a series of texts with CMGC Captain James 'Ruthers' Rutherford while seated at the 'Sheen Sisters Table' during a meal out at PJ's Restaurant in Covent Garden, London.

The CMGC was formed in August 2011 by former Green Mini Golf Club member James 'TheRocket' Rutherford. Surrey-based players Oliver 'The Machine' Florence and Richard 'Gentle Touch' Skeggs are the other two current club members.

Details of how to join the Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club can be found on the CMGC website.

Johnsons of Old Hurst - Crocodiles, Ducks with Hairstyles and Gluten Free Food

Emily and I recently made a visit to Johnsons Butchers and Farm Shop in Old Hurst near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. We'd searched online as we were in the area and wondered if there were any Crazy Golf courses or Gluten Free places to grab a bite to eat.

The search didn't turn up anything in particular on either of those points, but interestingly the Johnsons' site is home to a crocodile enclosure! So we had to make a visit...

Unfortunately it wasn't like the scene in the James Bond Film Live and Let Die where Roger Moore jumps over each of the crocodile's heads.

The Crocs were in their own enclosure, but it was interesting to have a look around the farm which is also home to Ostrich, Deer and Pigs!

The farm shop has a wide range of food and alcohol in stock, including a selection of Gluten Free products for Coeliacs. The Butchers stocks an array of meat, including Crocodile Tail Meat, which according to the packet "is like Monkfish"!

Right next to the Car Park is a Duck Pond with Ducks available to purchase.

One of them had the best hairstyle I've ever seen on a duck!

Unfortunately we arrived too late to visit the Tea Room which is wonderfully named 'The Eccentric Englishman Tearoom' - I'd have fitted in there!

Link:
- Johnsons of Old Hurst website

The Himalayas Putting Course at Kingsway Golf Centre, Melbourn, Cambs - course played #196

A visit to the new Putting course at Kingsway Golf Centre.


I was tipped off about a new Putting/Minigolf course at Kingsway Golf Centre in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire by my fellow BMGA Tour member Adam 'AK47' Kelly, who informed me that the old Crazy Golf course (#156) has been replaced by a new 9-hole Putting Course called 'The Himalayas'!

When we visited on Saturday 12th December 2009 the area looked like this:


Back then it was the 200th overall course location visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and the 156th course played.

The new look course was great fun and there were a few good Ace opportunities out there. There were also some nice and tricky holes there too!







It's well worth a visit to Kingsway Golf Centre and having a play on the Himalayas. It's good value too, at £3 for multiple plays.

The centre also has a 9-hole Putting Green which became course played number 197!



Melbourn continues to be a Crazy Minigolf 'hotbed' of sorts, as these are the sixth and seventh Miniature Golf courses we've played in the area on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

Related blog posts:
- The 'original' Crazy Golf at Kingsway Golf Centre
- Whaddon Golf Centre (Putting Green & Crazy Golf)
- The Dolphin Pub (4-hole derelict Crazy Golf)
- Melbourn Village Fete (Miniature Crazy Golf)
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland
- Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

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

Crazy Golf Course Visit #223 Overall - The Dolphin Pub, Melbourn, Cambs

Last night (25th May) we made a 51-mile round-trip to Melbourn in Cambridgeshire to visit a Crazy Golf course in a Pub Beer Garden. Fellow minigolf course fanatics Owen and Paul Johnson had tipped us off about its whereabouts and as it was fairly close to us, we had to visit.

The course is at the Dolphin Pub in Melbourn and has only 4-holes!?











Video introducing the course visit.


Video walk-around the course.


While we were at the pub, which by the way was nice and friendly and had plenty of other stuff to do (quiz machine, pool table, dart board), I asked at the bar why the course was only 4-holes? The answer was that a previous owner had thought it was a good idea to have a course, and it used to be popular, but had fallen into disuse and was now 'just there'. A shame really as it could be a great spot for a pint, some food and a Putt or two!

The Melbourn area is also home to two other minigolf courses (and a Putting Green), one is at Kingsway Golf Centre, the other at Whaddon Golf Centre.

Previous stops on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour have seen us find a number of other derelict, overgrown and disused courses. Most courses (whether they are open or not) are either made up of 9, 12 or 18 holes, with some centres having 36 holes, and the Arnold Palmer centre in Great Yarmouth has a set-up including an 18-hole course and a 9-hole course. Prior to the 4-hole course in Melbourn the last course under 9-holes we found was at Llanfairfechan in Wales, where there are now only five of the previous 18-holes remaining!?

Other courses under 9-holes have been found at the Swedish Felt B-Run course at Dovercourt, and the Putting area at Trecco Caravan Park in Porthcawl.

Other Pub crazy golf courses we've played include:
#10 West Hagbourne, Oxon (Horse & Harrow Pub) - Crazy Golf & revisit
#11 The Green Man Pub, Stanford, Bedfordshire - Crazy Golf
#110 Tudor Rose Inn, Fordingbridge - Miniature Golf
#168 Sudbury, Suffolk (Maldon Grey Pub) - Crazy Golf
#34(Derelict) Abergwyngregyn, Aber Falls Tavern - Crazy Golf

For the full list and links to other courses visited check out Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

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

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #165 - Whaddon, Cambridgeshire (Whaddon Golf Centre) - Crazy Golf

Whaddon Golf Centre in Cambridgeshire is also home to a 9-hole Crazy Golf course.

Videos from the visit.

Course introduction.


Course view.


A tricky hole.







In the Irregular Mini Golf Tour 'Whaddon Masters' tournament I beat Emily 50 to 66 over two-rounds.

The Crazy Golf course at Whaddon Golf Centre was the 165th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

For the full list and links to other courses visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour please visit - http://hamandeggerfiles.blogspot.com/2009/12/crazy-world-of-minigolf-tour-courses.html