Minigolf consultancy

As a marketing professional I use my extensive knowledge and skills in supporting and promoting the game I enjoy as a hobby, a competitive sport and a leisure activity.

My marketing activity sees me work across the minigolf industry, from traditional British seaside crazy golf courses, to new inland adventure golf layouts, competitive socialising venues and within retailtainment.

Since 2006 Emily and I have visited more than 1,000 minigolf courses in the UK and overseas. This has given me an insight into many aspects of minigolf including course operators, pop-ups, competitions, equipment, national associations, international federations, clubs, suppliers, designers, builders and technology providers.

My involvement in the world of minigolf includes blogging, media relations, sponsorship, course design, advice and consultancy, content generation, digital marketing and new technology, event organisation and promotion, and participation in tournaments around the world.

I have consulted on a number of minigolf business concepts in the UK and USA including Princess Parade Crazy Golf in Blackpool; the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club in Knowle West, Bristol; Tea Green Golf in Luton; Burray Crazy Golf in Orkney; Prestwick Putting and Crazy Golf; Portaputt Crazy Golf; Aces Minigolf Gloucester; Southend Pier Crazy Golf; Knaresborough Mini Golf; Glory Holes art-based Crazy Golf in Saltaire; Putting at the Kiosk in Bedford; Visionary Crazy Golf at the London Design Festival, and The Big Mini Golf Tour in Great Yarmouth.

As a volunteer I served three terms on the Executive Committee of the British Minigolf Association and was a member of the World Minigolf Sport Federation’s Marketing and Media Committee for six years.

My sports, games and travel blog at the Ham & Egger Files contains over 5,500 posts that have attracted 3.3 million page views. Read my posts about the next normal rules of minigolf, competitive isolation, social distancing, the boom in minigolf and competitive socialising, artainment, the concept of retailtainment, as well as the increase in shopping mall and garden centre miniature golf courses. You can also sign-up to receive my minigolf enewsletter.

My specialist knowledge and experience in the worlds of minigolf and marketing were demonstrated in InterGame’s discussion of the opportunities and challenges of operating a mini-golf venue amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the Let’s Talk Leisure feature with Briq Bookings.

You can read my top 20 must-do tips for venues in the InterFun Guide for Operators.

As a consultant I contributed to the Guinness World Records 2024.

You can buy my ebook, The Minigolfer’s Guide to Marketing, on Amazon.

Please do get in touch to find out how I can help with your minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf activities.

National Windmill Day

Today is National Windmill Day - and National Miniature Golf Day.

The windmill hole on the grass putting miniature golf course at the Palm Bay Café in Cliftonville, Margate back in 2007

As with National Miniature Golf Day, National Windmill Day is celebrated on the second Saturday of May each year.

Playing a windmill hole in Skegness on a previous National Miniature Golf Day

Windmills are a familiar sight on minigolf courses around the world. We've played a fair few on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour over the years.

Emily playing a windmill hole at the Rhos Fynach Crazy Golf course on Miniature Golf Day in 2017

A Dutch-themed hole at Glo-Golf indoor Crazy Golf at the Riverside Bowl in Andover

Playing the windmill hole on the Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in Cornwall 

Happy National Miniature Golf Day

There are two 'miniature golf days' each year.

Today is National Miniature Golf Day!

Playing the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Skegness on National Miniature Golf Day 2015

Each year there are two Miniature Golf Days - National Miniature Golf Day on the second Saturday in May and Miniature Golf Day on the 21st September.

Tomorrow is National Miniature Golf Day 2024

Tomorrow is National Miniature Golf Day.

Minigolf courses we've played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on previous Miniature Golf Days

National Miniature Golf Day is always marked on the second Saturday in May.

Mini Golf Days

Each year there are two 'minigolf days', the second of which is Miniature Golf Day. It is always on the 21st September. This year that will be a Saturday.

Minigolf courses in Manchester & Greater Manchester

A look at minigolf courses in Manchester & Greater Manchester.

There are a number of options for minigolfing in Greater Manchester, with a variety of courses to play, ranging from traditional crazy golf to indoor minigolf to new adventure golf layouts. The city centre itself has seen an increase in courses over the last few years and there are more to open in the coming months too!

Here's a list of the minigolf courses in Manchester

• Paradise Island Adventure Golf at the Trafford Centre - two indoor adventure golf courses
• Junkyard Golf at First Street - three indoor crazy golf courses.
• Treetop Adventure Golf at The Printworks in Manchester - two indoor adventure golf courses
• Dino Falls Adventure Golf at the Trafford Golf Centre - two outdoor adventure golf courses
• Roxy Ball Room on Deansgate - indoor mini golf course
• Roxy Ball Room on Withy Grove - indoor crazy pool (think of a cross-between pool and crazy golf)
• Putters Crazy Golf at the Urban Playground in Manchester Arndale - indoor crazy golf
• Crazy Golf at Challenge Point Manchester - indoor crazy golf
• Mini Golf at King Pins at the Manchester Arndale - indoor mini golf

Here's a list of the minigolf courses in Greater Manchester

• The Lost Valley Adventure Golf at Amazonia, Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton - an indoor adventure golf course
• Haigh Woodland Park, Wigan - an outdoor adventure golf course
• Haigh Woodland Park, Wigan - an outdoor crazy golf course
• UV Crazy Golf at One Adventure in Droylsden - an indoor crazy golf course
• Pitch & Putt at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle, Stockport - an outdoor miniature golf course
• Puttstars at Rochdale Riverside - three indoor minigolf courses
• Park Square, Cheadle Heath, Stockport - an outdoor Putting Green (for tenants only)
• Parr Fold Park in Walkden - a Pitch & Putt course
• Kearsley Golf Range - Pitch & Putt and Putting Greens
• Victoria Park in Pendlebury, Swinton - an outdoor putting green
• Buile Hill Park in Salford - a Pitch & Putt course
• Woodheys Park in Sale - a Pitch & Putt course
• HUKD Golf in Bury - indoor crazy golf

Minigolfing in Manchester

We've been travelling to play minigolf in Manchester on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since 2009 when I won the Mini Masters and Mini Open at the Trafford Golf Centre. I also won the Chrizy Golf Masters at Piccadilly Place in 2012. We moved to Stockport in 2016 and have continued to compete in events. Emily won the Paradise Island Adventure Golf Open in 2019, while I won the tournament in 2018. I also won the DinoFalls Masters at the Trafford Golf Centre in 2018.

Former courses

• Championship Miniature Golf at the Trafford Golf Centre - an outdoor miniature golf course
• Chrizy Golf at Piccadilly Place - pop-up Christmas-themed crazy golf course
• Tea Party Mini Golf at Spinningfields, Manchester - a pop-up mini golf course
• Junkyard Golf at the Great Northern Warehouse and at Piccadilly Place - indoor crazy golf courses
• Alexandra Park in Edgeley, Stockport - an outdoor crazy golf course
• Walkden Town Centre - pop-up crazy golf course

Derelict and abandoned courses

• Stamford Park, Stamford Street, Stalybridge, Tameside - an outdoor crazy golf course
• Wythenshawe Park, Wythenshawe - an outdoor crazy golf course

Please do get in touch and let us know of any other minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf, pitch & putt, or putting layouts we don't yet know about in the area.

One week until National Miniature Golf Day

There are two 'miniature golf days' each year.

Next Saturday is National Miniature Golf Day.

Playing the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Skegness on National Miniature Golf Day 2015

Each year there are two Miniature Golf Days - National Miniature Golf Day on the second Saturday in May and Miniature Golf Day on the 21st September.

The Mini Masters miniature golf tournament in Manchester

Looking back at the 'Mini Masters' miniature golf tournament in Manchester.

I won the Mini Masters miniature golf tournament in Manchester back on the 11th April 2009. Time certainly flies!

Mini Master

The Mini Masters was the first of two tournaments I won on the 9-hole Championship Miniature Golf course at what was then Playgolf Manchester. The second event being the Miniature Open in July 2009.

Lining up a big minigolf win

I won the Mini Masters with a three round total of 81 (-24) after scoring 26, 27, and 28.

A long tee-shot over and past several obstacles!

The course was the 84th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Back then the course wasn't one of our local layouts as we still lived in Luton, Bedfordshire and travelled up for the events.

Emily putting on the big miniature golf course

The Championship Miniature Golf course is no longer at the centre, but you can find an expanded Championship Miniature Golf layout with two 18-hole courses in New Brighton. We've played both layouts there.

The location is no longer a Playgolf venue either. It's now known as the Trafford Golf Centre and is home to two 18-hole dinosaur adventure golf courses. I won the Dino Falls Masters Adventure Golf competition there in 2018 too!

Visit the Trafford Golf Centre website for more information.

Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry

A look back at our visit to Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry.

We visited and played a round at Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry on Easter Sunday back in 2019. Those last five years since then have been crazy!

The 18-hole indoor Crazy Golf course at Teezers Retro Golf opened in 2018 and was the 507th course played, and 865th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour at that time.

We were still friends after our minigolf match-up

In our match-up on the intriguing layout I defeated Emily with a score of 48 to 56.

I didn't hit the bulllseye on this hole, scoring a 3 

Playing the 16th hole

Check out the Teezers Retro Golf & Cocktails website for more information, opening times and prices.

The Minigolf-Atlas

Check out the Minigolf-Atlas - a map listing miniature golf courses in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.

I recently found out about the Minigolf-Atlas, a project to map all of the minigolf courses in Germany and surrounding countries!

The project is run by the team at Miniatur-Golf-Club Wetzlar eV. They are based in central Germany and created the project to record all the minigolf facilities throughout Germany. This includes locations where clubs are based and tournaments take place, as well as the many course locations where no competitions are held.

It's brilliant to see the efforts put into the project, and it'll be an excellent resource for people to get out and play for leisure, fun, and for competition and club play.

The Minigolf-Atlas team are putting together lists of courses in other countries, and it'll be interesting to see the website develop over time.

Take a look at the Minigolf-Atlas website for more information.

It'll be a handy resource if we can find the time to visit Germany again in the future! There are still some minigolf systems, including Cobi Golf and Star Golf that we haven't yet played, and these are localised in Germany (Cobi Golf) and Germany & Austria (Star Golf).

I've played Felt Golf in Vienna, Austria at the Askoe Wien Wasserpark. That was an incredibly tough course, and the longest Swedish Felt course in Europe!

The Askoe Wien Swedish Felt Minigolf course in Vienna, Austria

I didn't get a chance to play the 'Eternit' aka Miniature Golf course there as it was out of season.

The Askoe Wien Eternit Miniature Golf course in Vienna, Austria

It was also the first place I saw the minigolf/snooker hybrid game of Pit-Pat.

Pit-Pat in Vienna, Austria

My brother Christopher, a charter member of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and his family have visited a few courses in Germany and one in Luxembourg on their branch of the tour:

• Nittel, Germany - Minigolf
• Zeltingen-Rachtig, Germany - Beton Minigolf

Minigolf in Zeltingen-Rachtig, Germany. Photo by Christopher Gottfried

• Traben-Trarbach, Germany - Eternit Miniature Golf
• Kobern-Gondorf, Germany - Abenteuergolf
• Kobern-Gondorf, Germany - Eternit Miniature Golf

Miniature Golf in Kobern-Gondorf, Germany. Photo by Christopher Gottfried

• Bernkastel-Kues, Germany - Minigolf

Minigolf in Bernkastel-Kues, Germany. Photo by Christopher Gottfried

• Gutach, Germany (Adventuregolf Gutach) - Adventure Golf
• Sasbachwalden, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany (Höfner Stübl Minigolf) - Eternit Miniature Golf

Höfner Stübl Miniature Golf in Sasbachwalden, Germany. Photo by Christopher Gottfried

• Remich, Luxembourg - Eternit Miniature Golf

Miniature Golf in Remich, Luxembourg. Photo by Christopher Gottfried 

To date, we've visited 1,044 miniature golf courses. 997 of those have been in the British Isles, while 47 have been in overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain (& Lanzarote, Canary Islands), Sweden and the USA. When we began our travels there were around 600 courses in the UK. There are now more than 1,000, with new courses opening all the time.

A minigolf move in Basingstoke

There are plans for a new Great Wolf resort in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

The proposed Great Wolf resort in Basingstoke would be created on the site of Basingstoke Golf Centre.

The new Great Wolf resort is an indoor water park - that would also feature a mini golf course as one of the activities.

Basingstoke Golf Centre is home to a Knights Realm Adventure Golf course. We haven't played the Knights Realm course yet, but did play the course it replaced several times, including some tournaments.

Visit the Basingstoke Golf Centre and Great Wolf Lodge resort websites for more information.

Hopefully we get back to Basingstoke to play the Knights Realm Adventure Golf course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour before it is removed. And we'll have to return again to have a game on the new Great Wolf mini golf course when that opens in the future.

Work is underway on the first Great Wolf Lodge in the UK that is set to open in Chesterton, Bicester, Oxfordshire. Like the US locations, that site looks set to be home to a miniature golf course too.

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

Garden Centre Minigolf

You can find minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf courses at several garden centres in the UK.

Minigolf has become very popular in recent years and has developed from being a traditional outdoor seaside summer activity to become a year-round game that can be played indoors or out.

Charity Crazy Golf at Woburn Sands Emporium in Woburn Sands near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Much like at shopping malls, outlet centres and on the high street, customers are looking to be entertained while they shop, and garden centres are a perfect spot for a game of minigolf.

Aces Minigolf Gloucester at Dobbies Garden Centre

Check out these blog posts to find out more about the miniature golf courses that we've found out about, visited, and played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Crazy Golf at Fletchers Garden Centre in Eccleshall, Stafford

New crazy golf courses in the UK

Information about new adventure golf, crazy golf and miniature golf courses in the UK.

For information about new minigolf, crazy golf, and adventure golf courses opening in the UK take a look at the posts with the New course tag here on the Ham & Egger Files minigolf blog.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Up to Saturday 30th December 2023 we had visited a total of 1,044 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. 997 of these have been in the British Isles.

Visiting the Crazy Golf course at the end of the Pier in Southend-on-Sea

Our minigolfing adventures began on the 30th September 2006 and in that time we've been able to play a total of 573 courses. Many locations have been found to be abandoned, closed, out-of-season or derelict on our initial visit. Luckily some courses that were closed on our original visit have since been played. And there are some course we've revisited and replayed many many times!

When we originally set off to visit as many courses as possible the target list was 600 in the British Isles. We've still got around 50 of those original courses to visit.

Only two of those original courses were indoor venues. Now the indoor game is booming and you can find minigolf courses indoors at shopping centres, retail parks, and in town and city centres around the country.

Together with my brother Christopher - a charter member of the tour - and his family, we've visited a total of 1,090 courses.

Our travels have been recognised by the Guinness World Records, and I'm a record holder for "Most miniature golf courses visited" (902 at the time of going to press). Check out the Guinness World Records 2024 book to see a lot more minigolf records too!

Check out the full list of courses we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.