Putting Course at the Macdonald Elmers Court Hotel and Resort in Lymington

A look at the Putting Course at the Macdonald Elmers Court Hotel in Lymington, Hampshire.

While we were down in Lymington to play the New Forest Adventure Golf course at Lymington Golf Centre in May we popped over the road to the Macdonald Elmers Court Hotel and Resort as our friend and minigolf rival Ollie Florence had told us there was a Putting Course there.

A nice view

Putting Green at the Thorpeness Golf Club and Hotel

A look at the Putting Green at the Thorpeness Golf Club and Hotel in Suffolk.

We played the excellent Jiggers Miniature Golf course at Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel in Suffolk back in May 2018.

The venue is also home to a big golf course and a nice little Putting Green.

Pitch & Putt Golf at the Lea Marston Hotel in Sutton Coldfield

A look at the Pitch & Putt course at the Lea Marston Hotel.

Back in September 2017 we stayed at the Lea Marston Hotel in Sutton Coldfield. The hotel had an on-site Pitch & Putt course.

A view from the first tee

The walkway between the hotel and golf course was netted to avoid being hit by errant shots from the driving range

Putting Green at the Ufford Park Hotel in Melton, near Woodbridge

A look at the Putting Green at the Ufford Park Hotel in Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk.

Back in May 2017 we swung by the Ufford Park Hotel in Suffolk to visit the Congo Rapids Adventure Golf course.

The hotel and golf course is also home to a Putting Green.

A look at the Metropole Hotel in Blackpool

While visiting the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course I had a look at the neighbouring Metropole hotel.

The Metropole is operated by Britannia Hotels, the owners of Pontin's. It was formerly a Butlin's hotel.

The Metropole hotel in Blackpool

Built in 1776, the hotel was owned by Butlins from 1955 until 1998 when it was purchased by Grand Hotels. In 2004 the hotel was sold to Britannia Hotels.

Interestingly it's the only hotel in Blackpool on the seaward side of the tram tracks.

The Pontin's flag flying at The Metropole

Related blog posts:

- The Metropole Hotel in Blackpool

- Blackpool

Putting Green at The Headland Hotel in Newquay

A look at the Putting Green at The Headland Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall.

During the summer of 2015 we visited 62 miniature golf courses on a two week road trip of the South West of England.

One of those was the Putting Green at The Headland Hotel in Newquay.

A message from Mr Vending Machine

It's out of order.

Putting Green at the Belton Woods Hotel in Grantham

A look at the Putting Green at the Belton Woods Hotel in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Emily has just returned from a break at the Belton Woods Hotel in Grantham where she spotted a Putting Green.

Related blog posts:
- Grantham
- Lincolnshire
- Putting Green
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Putting Green at the Charterhouse Christian Guest House in Teignmouth

In among the haul of old minigolf postcards we found at the collector's fair in Stockport on Sunday was this one showing two holes of the Putting Green at the Charterhouse Christian Guest House in Teignmouth, South Devon.

Charterhouse Christian Guest House, Teignmouth, South Devon. E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd. Posted on 29 April 1980

We've been to  Teignmouth on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and played the Jurassic Adventure Golf course on the sea front.

Looking online it appears that the Charterhouse Christian Guest House has long since closed. In its later years the house was used as a residential care home.

We've played and visited a number of miniature golf courses at hotels on our travels, including those at the Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel, The Imperial Hotel in Exmouth, The Victoria and The Belmont hotels in Sidmouth, The Imperial Hotel in Torquay, the Sutton Staithe Hotel in Norfolk, The Riviera Hotel in Weymouth and the Merlewood Hotel in Saundersfoot.

I wonder how many other hotels have minigolf or crazy golf courses 'hidden' in their grounds that we don't know about?

Putting Green at the Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth

Among the old minigolf postcards we found at a collector's fair in Stockport on Sunday was this one of the Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth.

You can see the flag for hole 3 on the far left of the postcard

We've been to Bournemouth a number of times over the years and are due a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour revisit to the town as some new courses have opened since our last trip to the south coast resort in 2013. I can't believe it's been six years since we were last down there!

Looking on the Hotel Miramar website it doesn't appear to have a minigolf course there anymore.

We've played and visited a few miniature golf courses at hotels on our travels, including those at The Imperial Hotel in Torquay, the Sutton Staithe Hotel in Norfolk, The Riviera Hotel in Weymouth, the Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel, The Imperial Hotel in Exmouth, The Victoria and The Belmont hotels in Sidmouth and the Merlewood Hotel in Saundersfoot.

I wonder how many other hotels have minigolf or crazy golf courses 'hidden' in their grounds that we don't know about?

Putting course at the Cober Hill Hotel in Scarborough

We bought some nice old minigolf postcards at a collector's fair in Stockport on Sunday, the first of which was found by Emily who spotted this card of the Cober Hill Guest House in Scarborough.

Cober Hill Guest House, Scarborough. E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd. Undated and postally unused

It's now called the Cober Hill Hotel and look on the website they still have a grass Putting course there.

We were recently in Scarborough and visited all of the minigolf courses we knew about in the North Yorkshire seaside resort. The North Bay Mini Golf course was the 900th we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We'll have to swing by the Cober Hill Hotel on a return visit to Scarborough to see if we can have a game there too.

It's really fun and interesting to find new, old and forgotten courses and the multi-view postcard of the Cober Hill Guest House was a great way to find out about the Miniature Golf course.

The Metropole Hotel in Blackpool

A look at the Metropole Hotel in Blackpool.

We bought some superb old postcards at a collector's fair in Stockport yesterday. Among them was this card of the Metropole Hotel in Blackpool back when it was owned by Butlin's.

The Metropole Hotel in Blackpool is now operated by Britannia Hotels, the owners of Pontin's!

How the Metropole Hotel looked on my visit to Blackpool in May. Note the Pontin's flag to the right of the hotel

Originally built in 1776, the hotel was owned by Butlins from 1955 until 1998 when it was purchased by Grand Hotels. In 2004 the hotel was sold to Britannia Hotels.

I was recently at the seaside resort to visit the Crazy Golf course behind the hotel as part of the project to reopen the minigolf layout.

Mini Golf at Hotel Palma Nova, Mallorca

We found some old miniature golf postcards at a collector's fair in Stockport yesterday, including this very nice one showing the minigolf course at the Hotel Palma Nova in Mallorca.

Hotel Palma Nova, Mallorca. Postally used. Date unknown

Emily and I haven't been to Mallorca yet, but fellow Crazy World of Minigolf Tour member Christopher Gottfried has. He visited the minigolf course at Vista Alegre in Porto Cristo in 2015.

Looking at maps of the area it doesn't look like the hotel's course is still there. However, there is a large minigolf course at Golf Fantasia in Palma Nova.

A Crazy Golf 'holy grail'

Finding a rare Crazy Golf postcard.

As a keen postcard collector I'm always on the lookout for new views of miniature golf courses and while at the December postcard fair in Stockport I found something of a holy grail in the world of minigolf postcards.

The Eternit Miniature Golf course at Pontin's Prestatyn Sands Holiday Village. This Photo Precision Limited postcard was sent on the 8th July 1977

Not only is the card a full view of a Crazy Golf course, but it also has a message on the back about playing Crazy Golf! In the thousands of minigolf postcards I've got this is one of only a few that mentions playing the game and the only one specifically saying "Crazy Golf".

The sender was having quite the holiday in Prestatyn by the sound of it - playing Crazy Golf every day!

The Grand Hotel is now The Beaches Hotel. Sadly the Crazy Golf course is long gone. On our last holiday in Prestatyn we popped into the hotel bar for a drink. The patio area there has a nice sea view.

A view of the area in front of the hotel. The plot of land between the hotel and Pontin's Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park is now a car park

Another view of where the Crazy Golf course once was

Luckily there is still a Crazy Golf course at Pontin's Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park. It's near the main entrance and back in 2014 became the 348th played and 582nd visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Crazy Golf course at Pontins Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park

Related blog posts:
- Postcards
- Prestatyn
- Pontins

Mini Golf at the Lagotel in Playa de Muro, Majorca

A look at the minigolf course at the Lagotel in Playa de Muro, Majorca.

Many thanks to Jim Holden for sending me these snaps of a "retro" and "slightly rustic" minigolf course while on holiday in Majorca.

The 18-hole miniature golf course in the grounds of the Lagotel in Playa de Muro, Majorca.

My brother and charter member of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Christopher Gottfried also found a 'rustic' looking minigolf course in Majorca a few years ago, it was at Vista Alegre in Porto Cristo.

Car park fireplace

It's not every day you pull into a hotel car park and find it's got its own fireplace. But that happened to us on our visit to Felixstowe last week!

An outdoor fireplace. Quite a novelty

It was a very cold day when we left the seaside town

The Premier Inn on Undercliffe Road West in Felixstowe was built on the site of the Ordnance Hotel - previously the seaside resort's oldest hotel.

A real fire would've been quite welcome

Related blog posts:
- Felixstowe
- Abandoned
- Derelict
- Car park
- Hotel

Mini Golf in Muscat, Oman

Details of the Mini Golf course at the Shangri-la Hotel in Muscat, Oman.

My cousins have been Crazy Golfing again and have sent over some snaps from their game at the Shangri-la Hotel in Muscat, Oman. Conditions looked a little different from their round of Crazy Golf at the Seawick Holiday Park in St Osyth, Essex earlier this year.

The 9-hole Mini Golf course is at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

My cousin's husband Adam tells me he won the game with 18 shots over the 9-holes - including holes-in-one on the first and last hole. A very nice score indeed. He must of been in Crazy Golf paradise after the round. My cousin Sharon aced hole 1.

Sharon playing hole 6

Interestingly eight of the nine holes on the Mini Golf course at the Shangri-la Hotel had two cups to putt into!? I haven't seen that as an option before!

An interesting green on the minigolf course in Muscat

You have the choice of two cups to putt into on eight of the holes!

Mini Golf is one of the many facilities on offer at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa. Visit the hotel website for more info.

Link:
- Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Related blog posts:
- Adam Trigg
- Guest Blog
- Crazy Golf

Iffy lift painting

I'm not sure the image in the painting next to the lifts at the Cheltenham Holiday Inn Express inspires confidence!

If you have a fear of using lifts then you might want to take the stairs

The Twilight Zone Mini Golf at Bally's Las Vegas

New indoor minigolf course opening at Bally's Las Vegas in late 2017.

There's a brand new indoor minigolf course opening at Bally's Las Vegas this year. Created by the team at Monster Mini Golf the course will be Twilight Zone themed!

The Twilight Zone mini golf course sounds brilliant and I hope to play it in the future. The Twilight Zone is one of my favourite programmes so I can't wait to see the theming and obstacles at the course.

We love visiting Las Vegas and have played most of the courses out there. On Emily's last visit to the city she played the Kiss by Monster Mini Golf course. On my last visit I won the Putt Park Annual Mini Golf tournament!

Check out The Twilight Zone by Monster Mini Golf website and Twitter for more information.

Links:
- Monster Mini Golf - The Twilight Zone
- Monster Mini Golf
- Bally's Las Vegas

Related blog posts:
- Indoor Minigolf
- Las Vegas

Petanque at the Parkway Hotel & Spa in Cwmbran, Wales

Blog about the Boules piste at the Parkway Hotel in Cwmbran.

Looking through our photo archive for my recent blog post about the old Petanque piste at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester I spotted a couple of snaps from one of our stays at the Parkway Hotel & Spa in Cwmbran, Wales and the 'Boules Pitch' they have there.

They play petanque differently in Wales!

The Boules Pitch at the Parkway Hotel in Cwmbran

Back in 2009 we competed in a Boules Invitational Tournament at The Mumbles in Swansea. The competition against our friends and minigolf rivals the Kukielka family took place prior to the first-ever Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament) and during our BIG minigolf roadtrip around the Welsh coast.

Boules Invitational Tournament champion Seve 'Steve' Kukielka on his way to victory at The Mumbles

We've found quite a few petanque terrains and boules pistes on our travels and since we moved up to the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport last summer we've been members of the Woodstock Petanque Club in Edgeley.

Related blog posts:
- Petanque
- Boules
- Cwmbran
- Wales