Trade On Tap Hole-in-One challenge at CIH Housing 2016 Exhibition

Trade On Tap (Plumb Center and Parts Center) Hole-in-One challenge at CIH Housing 2016 Exhibition.

The Plumb Center and Parts Center stand was a Mini Golf hole!

I was recently at the CIH Housing Exhibition in Manchester and wouldn't you know it - there was a Mini Golf hole there!

Needless to say - I nailed my first shot

And won all this merch!

One of these is headed to Martin Vallance's MASSIVE collection of logo golf balls

Putting courses and obstacles are a popular gimmick at trade shows and exhibitions. Way back in May 2007 I played an UrbanCrazy minigolf hole at the International Direct Marketing Fair at Earl's Court.

Links:
- Trade On Tap
- Chartered Institute of Housing

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Crazy about mini golf balls

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

The Midlands Minigolf Club Ball of Fame

The Midlands Minigolf Club has a Ball of Fame!

Following the Midlands Minigolf Club's victory in the BMGA British Club Championships this year the club had the honour of producing a Ball of Fame to mark the achievement.

The Midlands Minigolf Club's Ball of Fame!

The Midlands Minigolf Club (MMGC) was formed in 2005 and are two-time national team champions, winning the title for the first-time at Stratford-upon-Avon in 2008 and regaining the title in Hastings in March.

Playing in the national final in Hastings

I'm proud to have been a member of the MMGC since my debut season in 2007 and have been a member of both winning teams alongside Chris Harding (2008), John Moore (2008 & 2015), Jam Trubridge (2008), Michael Smith (2015) and Seth Thomas (2015).

The winning Midlands MGC team of Seth Thomas, John Moore, Michael Smith and Richard Gottfried

The Midlands Minigolf Club's Ball of Fame (BoF) was produced by 3D Minigolf in Germany. Details of other Balls of Fame can be found on the 3D Minigolf website.

When playing in minigolf-sport competitions players can choose to use a wide-variety of specialist balls. Each has a a different property in terms of hardness, weight, bounce, surface and size. In the last 70 years more than 10,000 minigolf balls have been produced!

The Midlands Minigolf Club's BoF has the following properties: Bounce 5cm, Shore 37, Weight 45g. It's a low bounce ball and is slightly softer than average. It's good for direct shots and our club captain Michael Smith has highlighted some holes on the Pirate Golf course in Hastings and the Star City Adventure Golf course in Birmingham where it could be useful. The MMGC BoF costs £15. To secure one of the limited edition balls please get in touch via the MMGC's Facebook page.

The MMGC consists of a dedicated group of crazy minigolfers from around Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the USA. For more information check out the club's Facebook, Twitter, and other MMGC-related blog posts.

The 2015 BMGA British Club Champions in Hastings. From l-r Seth Thomas, Michael Smith, Brenda Smith, Paul Johnson, Owen Johnson, Richard Gottfried, John Moore, Chris Smith

Around the world there are over 900 minigolf clubs and 38,000 competitive minigolf players registered with the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) via the 55 member nations. For further info on the sport of minigolf and essential kit and equipment check out the WMF's Starting out in Minigolf guide.

Links:
- Midlands Minigolf Club on Facebook
- Midlands Minigolf Club on Twitter
- 3D Minigolf 

Related blog posts:
- Midlands Minigolf Club
- Crazy about Mini Golf Balls
- Minigolf Clubs in the UK

Crazy about Mini Golf Balls

A blog about golf balls.

Practicing for the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Open - one of them went in. Eventually

As an avid collector of ephemera and souvenirs from the world of miniature golf I was interested to recently receive a follow on Twitter from Martyn Vallance @Logo_Golf_Balls.

Martyn is crazy about golf balls and has a collection of over 70,000!

Before I mentioned it, Martyn didn't realise there were quite so many specialist balls used in the sport of minigolf (not many people do unless they dip their toe into the sporty side of crazy golf).

Over 10,000 minigolf sport balls have been produced in the last 70 years!

With a Metro Golf Centre Mini Golf branded golf ball on a visit to play the 9-hole course in Barnet in 2010

Each minigolf sport ball has special qualities that allow for a variety of shots to be played on the range of different courses and obstacles - the balls range from 'dead' where there is no bounce, through to super bouncy balls for multiple rebounds.

A selection of minigolf sport balls I took to a recent tournament weekend in Hastings

Together with my fellow curator of the Virtual Crazy Golf Museum, Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, we've built up quite a collection of stuff from all types of minigolf, from scorecards, pencils, leaflets and postcard, to pin badges, tokens, jigsaw puzzles and games. Tim has even found a sugar cube from a minigolf course!

We've also got a lot of balls between us. Check out the 'Other Miniature Golf Ephemera' page on the Crazy Golf Museum website for more info and pics.

A set of four golf balls from the KISS Glow-in-the-Dark Indoor Minigolf course in Las Vegas

I've also had a look through my collection and dug out the following 'normal' golf balls that are branded with minigolf-specific info and/or are tournament approved balls. I've also picked out a selection of my favourite minigolf sport balls.

The other side of a KISS by Monster Mini Golf ball

A World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) approved competition ball

The other side of a special WMF branded ball given to delegates at the WMF Media Workshop in Vienna, Austria in 2010

A British Minigolf Association golf ball used at the 2013 World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

The other side of the World Crazy Golf Championship ball

A ball from the Japanese Putter King minigolf franchise and app

The other side of the Putter King minigolf ball

The official ball of the World Crazy Golf Championship 2014

A ball from the mini-golf course that was in Devonshire Square, London in 2009

A ball given to people who played the Lyle & Scott 'Wooly Golf' course in Covent Garden, London in 2012

The official ball of the 2008 Nations Cup minigolf tournament in Tampere, Finland - the event was me and Emily's debut for the Great Britain team 

The official ball of the 2011 World Adventure Golf Masters competition held in Hastings. The ball was made by 3D-Minigolf

The Finnish Heavy Gentlemen 100 Year Anniversary ball by 3D-Minigolf

The Minigolfnews.com ball #5 by Ravensburg

A Tim 'Ace Man' Davies Legends ball by M&G

A NIFO 2 minigolf sport ball - a great ball to use on many minigolf lanes (holes). Made by NIFO

A Fun-Sports 2 ball - there are a number of Fun-Sports balls and they're a good entry level type of ball to use

In 2009 I won the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Open minigolf competition held on the 12-hole Adventure Golf course in the seaside resort. The trophy I was presented for winning the tournament was a magnificent and BIG golf ball mounted on a wooden plinth

Check out the @Logo_Golf_Balls to keep up-to-date with Martyn's collection as it continues to grow, as well as The Crazy Golf Museum for all things mini and crazy golf-related.

Links:
- @Logo_Golf_Balls
- The Crazy Golf Museum
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Related blog posts:
- New (Minigolf) Balls Please
- What's in a Minigolf Kitbag?
- Some new minigolf kit from Fun-Sports
- Ephemera
- Merchandise