Happy National Pencil Day

Today is National Pencil Day.

Minigolf pencils from our travels

Here's a selection of minigolf pencils we've collected over years.

We enjoy visiting courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and it's marvellous when we find one that has a branded pencil to score the game with.

Pencils and promotional scratchcards from Congo River Golf in Orlando, Florida, USA

It's a superb bit of minigolf marketing too.

A minigolf pencil from Christopher Gottfried's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour trip to Magic Carpet Golf in Galveston, Texas, USA

We've seen several minigolf courses switching to virtual scorecards (and scoreboards), and app-based scorecards. Others are using a mixture.

We think, and hope, there's space and a place for all methods of scoring to continue in the game.

Our friend Pat Sheridan from The Putting Penguin minigolf review website (among his many other hats in the game) has contributed quite a few pencils and scorecards to the Crazy Golf Museum that he's picked up on his own minigolf adventures.

One of the most peculiar minigolf pencils we've seen is this one Pat sent a snap of, as it's a real life pencil for a virtual minigolf game!

A pencil from the Walkabout Mini Golf VR game

If you'd like your minigolf course pencil (or other items of merch and ephemera) displayed and archived in the Crazy Golf Museum please do get in touch.

Just one of the many minigolf pencils in the Crazy Golf Museum - from the Wye Valley Miniatvre Golf course in Symonds Yat West

You can see more miniature golf course pens and pencils on the Crazy Golf Museum website.

A scorecard and pencils from Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf in Orlando, Florida, USA from our friend Shelley Barrett

Arnold Palmer Putting Courses Crazy Golf pencils from the course in Prestatyn

A pencil from Lumberjax Mini Golf in New Zealand from our friend James Astrop

A pencil from Urban Putt in San Francisco from our friend and minigolf rival (and sometimes team-mate) Kevin Moseley

A pencil from Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf

A minigolf pencil from Swing by Golfbaren in Stockholm, Sweden 

A pencil from Swingers Crazy Golf in London

A pencil from the CLUB GOLF crazy golf pop-up at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, London. This was the last course I played before the UK went into coronavirus pandemic lockdown / quarantine

A pencil from the Putt 18 indoor putting game - we played a lot of this during the pandemic

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa

A look at the Kleine Hazen Putting Park miniature golf course at Hazendal in South Africa.

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

A big thank you to my friend PJ Goedhals for sending me these photos of the 27-hole Kleine Hazen adventure putting park at the Hazendal wine estate.

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

Hazendal is a wine estate located in the Stellenbosch winelands, 30 minutes from Cape Town.

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

Visit the Hazendal website for more information.

Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

It was also very kind of PJ to post me a copy of the scorecard and golf ball for inclusion in the Crazy Golf Museum.

A scorecard from the Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

A scorecard from the Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

A golf ball from the Kleine Hazen Putting Park at Hazendal in South Africa. Photo by PJ Goedhals, 2023

Freighter Golf at the National Museum of the Great Lakes

There's a unique pop-up minigolf course at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio, USA.

There's a minigolf course at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo

The course is onboard the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship from the 25th August to the 11th September.

Check out the National Museum of the Great Lakes website for more information.

As Curator's of the Crazy Golf Museum it's brilliant to see minigolf in action in a museum setting and getting people involved in history, education and fun!

Electronic Arcade Crazy Golf

New in the Crazy Golf Museum - Electronic Arcade Crazy Golf by Ambassador.

A brilliant car boot sale find this morning

Electronic Arcade Crazy Golf - see a video of the game in action

You get a nice pad of scorecards in the game

Scorecard from Lost World Adventure Golf in Hemsby

Here's a minigolf scorecard from the Lost World Adventure Golf course in Hemsby, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.

A lovely addition to our collection of minigolf scorecards and ephemera.

Collected on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and this year's Big Mini Golf Tour.

Scorecard from Stonehenge Adventure Golf in Hemsby

Here's a minigolf scorecard from Stonehenge Adventure Golf in Hemsby, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.

Scorecard from Stonehenge Adventure Golf in Hemsby

Scorecard from Stonehenge Adventure Golf in Hemsby

A nice addition to our collection of scorecards and ephemera.

Collected on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and this year's Big Mini Golf Tour.

A Walkabout Mini Golf VR Pencil

An interesting miniature golf pencil.

We always enjoy finding and seeing minigolf courses with branded pencils and our friend Pat Sheridan from The Putting Penguin minigolf review website has passed a fair few our way over the years.

But this one is most peculiar as it's a real life pencil for a virtual minigolf game!

Check out the Walkabout Mini Golf VR website for more information on the game.

National Postcard Week

Happy National Postcard Week.

This week is National Postcard Week in the USA.

Post Card - Jekyll Island, Gergia. Golf House and miniature golf course. Marsh Post Card Service. Postally unused, undated

We're huge fans of sending and receiving postcards and have built up a big collection of minigolf, crazy golf, putting and adventure golf postcards over the years.

Post Card - South of the Border. South Carolina at the N.C. - S.C. Border. ACE-HI ADVERTISING, INC. Postally unused, undated

Post Card. Grand Haven State Park, Grand Haven, Michigan. Water Wonderland Card Company. Postally unused, undated

• When did you last send a postcard?

• When did you last receive a postcard?

• Do you have a favourite postcard?

Check out Reflections of a Bygone Age for more information on postcard collecting.

The 2022 Picture Postcard Annual is available now and includes a feature that I wrote about Butlin's Monorails.

Butlinland Skegness – Putting Green and Monorail by John Hinde Studios. Sent on 4 Aug 1980

Here's a selection of postcards from our collection.

Bridlington Princes Parade. The Spa Boating Lake. Photochrom Co. Ltd.

Crazy Golf, North Shore, Blackpool. 50. Bamforth Post Card. Unposted. Undated

A Weetabix Gang Crazy Mini Golf Weeta-Card postcard from 1983

Pat Regan's Putting Green in Broadstairs - postcard. Undated

Miniature Golf Links, Brighton. Postally used 29 August 1927

One of two postcard designs you can find at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing

Worthing, Denton Gardens, Putting Green. The Photochrom Co Ltd. Posted to Birchington, Kent on 30 July 1928

Butlinland Minehead. Crazy Golf and Chair Lift. John Hinde Studios. 24 May 1976

Putting Green, Great Yarmouth. Postcard postally used on the 11th November 1927. Publisher unknown

A mini golf putting postcard from Burgh Hall in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

A look at a miniature golf postcard from our collection.

Here's a postcard showing a mini golf grass putting course at Burgh Hall Country Club Chalet & Caravan Park in the 1970s.

The card was posted to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne from Lowestoft, Suffolk on the 24th May 1977.

BURGH HALL COUNTRY CLUB postcard. Posted 24 May 1977

We'll be heading back to Great Yarmouth this summer for the Big Mini Golf Tour taking place across miniature golf courses in Great Yarmouth, Hemsby and Gorleston-on-Sea.

There are 75 days until National Miniature Golf Day

There are just 75 days until National Miniature Golf Day 2022.

National Miniature Golf Day takes place on the second Saturday in May. In 2022 that is Saturday 14th May.

A minigolf postcard from Great Yarmouth. Sent in 1927

Stepping back in time for a look at minigolf in Great Yarmouth in the 1920s.

One of the earliest miniature golf postcards I have in my collection is this one showing the Putting Green on Marine Parade in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Putting Green, Great Yarmouth. Postcard postally used on the 11th November 1927

The postcard was sent to Hayes, Middlesex on the 11th November 1927.

You can see the Hippodrome in the left of the image and this building is still standing and is the Hippodrome Circus on St George's Road. If you visit now you'll find a row of buildings in front of the Hippodrome itself!

You will also find that there is still a minigolf course on the same spot as the Putting Green.

Castaway Island Adventure Golf on Marine Parade in Great Yarmouth in 2016

Now called Castaway Island Adventure Golf the site was an Arnold Palmer Putting Course that we played a number of times on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Playing the Arnold Palmer Putting Course on Marine Parade in Great Yarmouth in June 2011

It's proof, if proof were needed, that Great Yarmouth has long been a minigolf hot-spot.

Minigolf Putting in the UK

The first miniature golf course in the world was created at St Andrews in Scotland in 1867. That links course is still there.

The decades that followed saw a boom in the game with minigolf courses popping up around the country. In 1926 the first Crazy Golf course opened in England, with the layout created on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire.

Minigolf in Great Yarmouth

There are a number of brilliant mini, crazy, putting and adventure golf courses on the seafront in Great Yarmouth, as well as in the wider Greater Yarmouth areas of Gorleston-on-Sea and Hemsby.

The minigolf courses in the seaside resort will play host to the Big Mini Golf Tour - a campaign to highlight the courses in the area this Spring and Summer season.

Minigolf loyalty card from Aces Minigolf Gloucester

A look at a minigolf loyalty card from Aces Minigolf Gloucester.

From the Crazy Golf Museum vaults - a minigolf loyalty card from our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to Aces Minigolf Gloucester at Dobbies Garden Centre in Gloucester, Gloucestershire earlier this year.

Minigolf loyalty card from Aces Minigolf Gloucester

Check out Aces Minigolf Gloucester for more information.

A scorecard from Looney Golf in Bradford

A look at a minigolf scorecard from Looney Golf in Bradford.

A scorecard from Looney Golf in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

A scorecard from Looney Golf in Bradford

A scorecard from Looney Golf in Bradford

From our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to Looney Golf earlier this month.

Visit the Looney Golf website for more information.

A Filwood Fantastic Crazy Golf badge

A look at a badge from the Filwood Fantastic Crazy Golf course in Knowle West, Bristol.

From the Crazy Golf Museum vaults - a badge from the Filwood Fantastic Crazy Golf course in Knowle West, Bristol, England.

A Filwood Fantastic Crazy Golf badge

The real life mini golf course was created during the pandemic and the ideas for the hole designs were generated by members of the Knowle West community during Lockdown 1.

The Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club's 9-hole Crazy Golf course was the 966th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

Visit the Filwood Community Centre website for more information.

A Crazy Golf scorecard from Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon

A look at a Crazy Golf scorecard from Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon.

From the Crazy Golf Museum vaults - a minigolf scorecard from my brother Christopher Gottfried's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon, England earlier this year.

A Crazy Golf scorecard from Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon

A Crazy Golf scorecard from Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon

Visit the Pennywell Farm website for more information.

Minigolf Magazin from Germany

Now in the Crazy Golf Museum - the latest issue of Minigolf Magazin.

Minigolf Magazin

The official magazine of the German Minigolf Federation / Deutsche Minigolfsport Verband.

A minigolf scorecard from Sweden

A scorecard from the Sports World Mini Golf course at O'Leary's in the Mall of Scandinavia in Stockholm, Sweden.

A scorecard from the Sports World Mini Golf course at O'Leary's in the Mall of Scandinavia in Stockholm, Sweden

One of nine courses we visited on our 42-hour Crazy World of Minigolf Tour trip to Sweden in 2018.

A flyer for Looney Golf in Bradford

A look at a flyer for Looney Golf in Bradford.

A flyer from Looney Golf in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

A flyer for Looney Golf in Bradford

A flyer for Looney Golf in Bradford

From our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to Looney Golf earlier this month.

Check out the Looney Golf website for more information.

A flyer for House of Holes Crazy Golf in Derby

We found this leaflet at Hartshead Moor Services!

A flyer for House of Holes Crazy Golf in Derby

It's a course we're yet to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the House of Holes Crazy Golf website for more information.

A minigolf scorecard from Glo Golf Peterborough

A look at a minigolf scorecard from Glo Golf Peterborough.

From the Crazy Golf Museum vaults - a minigolf scorecard from our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to Glo Golf in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire earlier this year.

A minigolf scorecard from Glo Golf Peterborough

A minigolf scorecard from Glo Golf Peterborough

A minigolf scorecard from Glo Golf Peterborough

Check out the Glo Golf Peterborough website for more information.