A look back at the Krazy Golf course at Quest Merry Hill

Seven years ago today we headed to Dudley to play the Krazy Golf course at Merry Hill shopping centre.

The colourful and challenging 9-hole course was the 528th we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Sadly it's no longer there.

As people look for extra entertainment options while shopping there has been an increase in shopping centre minigolf courses, both in the UK and around the world.

An old Crazy Golf course at Alum Chine in Bournemouth

A look at an old minigolf course at Alum Chine in Bournemouth.

I bought a number of superb old postcards at the last fair I attended, one of them was this cracking old card showing a temporary / portable Crazy Golf course at Alum Chine, Bournemouth. It was printed by Deardon & Wade Bournemouth. It's postally unused and undated.

Postcard of Alum Chine, Bournemouth. Printed by Deardon & Wade Bournemouth.Postally unused. Undated

It's brilliant seeing old, long-gone miniature golf courses depicted on postcards. Portable and pop-up minigolf courses are very often seen as a modern thing. However there have been a number of seasonal set-ups at seaside locations over the years.

We were really looking forward to revisiting Bournemouth, Boscombe, Southbourne, Poole and Sandbanks next month. That trip is now postponed until next year.

Mini Golf in Cutteslowe Park, Oxford

Crazy Croc's Mini Golf at Cutteslowe Park in Oxford.

I recently found out there's been a change to one of the minigolf courses in my home city.

Our fellow minigolf adventurers Matt and Helen Dodd were in Oxford and swung by Cutteslowe Park and let us know the course there is now an adventure golf-style layout.

When Emily and I visited back in 2008 and 2009 the course in the park was a Swedish Felt Mini Golf B-Run.

How the now lost minigolf course looked on a frosty day in December 2008

The new Crazy Croc's Mini Golf in Cutteslowe Park is a 9-hole layout.

Visit the Crazy Croc's Mini Golf website for more information, opening times and prices.

It'll be a new course to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

Crazy Golf at the Horse & Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire

Thirteen years ago today we visited the 10th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On a bitterly cold 23rd December 2006 Emily, Christopher and I headed along to the Horse & Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire to have a game on the beer garden Crazy Golf course there.

In all the years and hundreds upon hundreds of courses we've seen since, none have been anything quite like the 9-hole course.

Crazy

Back in 2006 we never realised how BIG our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour would become. To date we've visited 942 courses!

We popped back to the pub for a look at the course in April 2011.

How the course looked five years later

Looking online it doesn't look like the course is in the pub's beer garden anymore.

New course at Maidenhead Mini Golf

A new 18-hole Adventure Golf course is being built at Maidenhead Mini Golf.

The 9-hole Maidenhead Mini Golf course has now closed until the Spring of next year when it will re-open as a new 18-hole Dinosaur Adventure Golf course.

The new layout at is being created by the team at HM Adventure Golf.

We played the Maidenhead Mini Golf course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2011.

Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf in Leeds has closed

The indoor Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf courses in Leeds are now lost courses.

Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf in Leeds

We were in Leeds at the weekend and while chatting to my friend Morrt at the Collectorabilia event I found out that Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf had closed down!

The Reception area as it looked yesterday

We visited Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf in Leeds last June. The venue was home to two 18-hole indoor adventure golf layouts.

Lost minigolf courses - Abingdon Crazy Golf

A look back at the old Crazy Golf course at the Abbey Meadows in Abingdon-on-Thames.

One of the courses we've visited and played on our travels but has since become a 'lost' course was the 10-hole Crazy Golf layout at the Abbey Meadows in my home town of Abingdon.

The course was the first one I ever played way back in the early 1980's.

The course had been in the park since the 1950's but was removed at the end of the 2016 season as part of renovations to the area.

It's always sad to see an old miniature golf course removed. Especially so when it's not even replaced by a new one.

The last hole of the first course I ever played

In August 2007 the course became the 31st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Playing hole 5 in 2007

Playing hole 5 in 2012

Playing hole 5 for the very last time in 2016

We also revisited in June 2012 and December 2014.

The course was very mossy in 2014

Crazy Golf and Putting at Bexhill-on-Sea

A look at a pair of lost minigolf courses in Bexhill-on-Sea.

Back in July 2007 we visited Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex and played the Crazy Golf course there.

We didn't have time for a game on the grass Putting Green there.

Sadly both layouts are now lost courses.

A lost minigolf course in Stafford

Looking for the minigolf course at Wildwood Park in Stafford.

In September 2017 we visited Stafford to look for a miniature golf course at Wildwood Park.

There was no sign of it.

A nice bench sign combination

We did however find the Crazy Golf course at the nearby Rowley Park Stadium.

A lost Crazy Golf course in Falmouth

During the summer of 2015 we had a two week road trip around the South West of England.

During that time we found and played a number of courses.

Sadly some of the places we visited were home to lost courses.

One of the more recognisable locations was at Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth, Cornwall. The course appeared on a number of postcards over the years.

While the course is now part of a garden it is still clear that it was once a Crazy Golf layout.

The Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in Great Yarmouth

A look at the lost Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in Great Yarmouth.

On our last visit to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk back in July 2016 we swung by Castaway Island Mini Golf.

The entrance to Castaway Island Mini Golf

The new course replaced the 9-hole and 18-hole Arnold Palmer Putting courses on the promenade.

Hole 1 of the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Putting Course

Those old courses were the 22nd and 23rd courses played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in June 2007.

We're looking forward to our next visit to the seaside resort. It'll be brilliant to be back to see what's changed and what's stayed the same.

Crazy Golf on the cliff at Tolcarne Beach in Newquay

Another lost Crazy Golf course at Tolcarne Beach in Newquay.

During the summer of 2015 we spent two weeks on a minigolf tour of the South West of England.

There used to be a Crazy Golf course on the cliff at Tolcarne Beach in Newquay.

The course has been removed and the area is now a car park.

They graveled over paradise and put up a parking lot

Crazy Golf at Tolcarne Beach in Newquay

Looking for the Crazy Golf course at Tolcarne Beach in Newquay.

During the summer of 2015 we spent two weeks on a minigolf tour of the South West of England.

While we found the hut for the Crazy Golf at Tolcarne Beach in Newquay the course itself had gone.

Junior Brown's amusements in Paignton, Devon

During the summer of 2015 we embarked on a minigolf tour of the South West of England.

We called in at Junior Brown's amusements Paignton, Devon, but unfortunately we were a year or so late to play the UV indoor Crazy Golf course there as it had been removed.

Lost minigolf courses - the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Exmouth

A look at the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Exmouth, Devon.

We stayed in Exmouth, Devon for part of our summer holiday in June 2015 so we could visit the Arnold Palmer Putting Course on the seafront.

Sadly the course wasn't open when we swung by in June 2015

Unfortunately the course wasn't open on the day we visited and even more unfortunate is the fact that the course is now consigned to history as it was demolished in 2016.

A view of the 10-hole course

I'm a BIG fan of Arnold Palmer Putting Courses and the Exmouth layout looked superb.

The classic windmill obstacle was on hole 3 at Exmouth

It was a 10-hole course, with a lucky 11th hole where you could win a free game if you rang the bell with your shot.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 4

Hole 5

The Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Exmouth was the 611th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Hole 10 was a waterwheel obstacle

The venue in Exmouth was also home to a grass Putting course

The first Arnold Palmer Putting Course in the UK opened in Coventry in 1965 and was part of an Arnold Palmer Driving Range. A course was also located at a Driving Range in Sheffield.

A classic Arnold Palmer Putting Course sign

Sadly over the years a number of Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in the UK have been closed, abandoned, demolished or converted beyond recognition.

As well as the loss of the Exmouth Arnold Palmer course, the two Arnold Palmer courses in Great Yarmouth have been replaced by one Adventure Golf course. The two courses in Cliftonville, Margate were closed in 2014 and removed shortly after. The course that was once in Folkestone is no longer playable - as it was used to make an art installation on the promenade.

Luckily you can still find playable examples of Arnold Palmer Putting Courses - in varying conditions and some with modifications - in the following locations:

• Bognor Regis - built in 1993
• Broadstairs - built in 1995
• Caister-on-Sea (Haven Holiday Park)
• Canvey Island (9 holes of an 18 hole course remain)
• Cleethorpes
• Filey (Primrose Valley Holiday Park)
• Gorleston-on-Sea
• Hastings
• Mablethorpe (Haven Golden Sands Caravan Holiday Park)
• Mablethorpe (Hooks Island)
• Prestatyn
• Skegness x2 (9 and 18 hole courses)
• Southend-on-Sea (1 of 2 courses remain - the 'East' course) - upgraded
• Southport
• Weston-Super-Mare
• Whitby

A scorecard from the Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in Skegness - this has a wonderful listing of other courses. Some of these still exist, while others have closed

Lost Arnold Palmer Putting Courses:

• Ayr (Haven Craig Tara Holiday Park, formerly Butlin's)
• Battersea
• Blackpool, Starr Gate
• Bognor Regis (Butlin's)
• Camber Sands - now a Car Park
• Cliftonville, Margate (2 courses)
• Coventry
• Eastbourne
• Exmouth
• Folkestone - now an Art Installation on Beach Huts!
• Goodrington
• Great Yarmouth (2 courses) - turned into Castaway Adventure Golf
• Hornsea Potteries
• Hove
• Ladram Bay
• Leicester
• Manchester
• Minehead (Butlin's)
• Nottingham
• Prestatyn
• Pwhelli (Butlin's)
• Rhyl
• Scarborough
• Sheffield
• South Shields
• Southend-on-Sea ('West' course demolished)
• Tynemouth
• Weymouth
• Whitley Bay
• Withernsea

If you know of any Arnold Palmer Putting Courses missing from the lists above please do get in touch.

Of the 912 courses we've visited since September 2006, 25 have been Arnold Palmer Putting Course locations.

Related blog posts:
- Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in the UK
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Exmouth

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