Adventure Golf in Coalville, Leicestershire

A look at the Adventure Golf course at Hermitage Recreation Ground in Coalville, Leicestershire.

Last week I asked the question 'Where in the world was this minigolf course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour?'.

The answer was the Adventure Golf course at Hermitage Recreation Ground in Coalville, Leicestershire, England.

It was a course we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2008.

Playing hole 7 of 9

The Adventure Golf at Hermitage Recreation Ground in Coalville is a 9-hole layout.

Our friend Daniel Marsh lining up a tee-shot on the first hole as Emily looks on

Emily playing hole 4

The Mini Masters miniature golf competition 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

My Mini Masters scores.

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

Playing a very long tee-shot over and past several obstacles!

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

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.

We've now been to 1,116 courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since 2006.

Emily putting on the big miniature golf course

Championship Miniature Golf in New Brighton.

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 Trafford Golf Centre.

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 on the courses.

A minigolf guide for grassroots sport

The Deutsche Minigolfsport Verband (German Minigolf Federation) has published a guide for grassroots sport.

The guide for Breitensports (recreational or grassroots sports) is a comprehensive guide for minigolf clubs and is well worth a look.

You can download the Breitensport gestalten - Leitfaden für den Breitensport / Shaping grassroots sports - a guide for grassroots sports from the German Minigolf Federation website.

Mini Golf at the Peter Cowen Golf Academy in Rotherham

Last week I asked "Where in the world was this mini golf course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour?".

The answer was - the mini golf course at the Peter Cowen Golf Academy in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.

The Mini Golf course at the Peter Cowen Golf Academy in Rotherham was the 1,004th visited and 562nd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the Peter Cowen Golf Academy website for more information on the course.

Guess the Minigolf course location...

Where in the world was this minigolf course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour?

Adventure Golf in Clevedon, North Somerset

The minigolf course at Salthouse Fields in Clevedon, North Somerset is set to be redeveloped.

The crazy golf course Salthouse Fields in Clevedon look set to be updated as part of improvement works of Salthouse Fields - including reopening the miniature railway - and Clevedon seafront.

Playing Clevedon Crazy Golf on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

In July 2011 we visited the 9-hole Crazy Golf on the seafront at Salthouse Fields. It became the 400th course visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

The course was a tricky one to play and a lot of the shots needed to be very firm to carry them over some subtle obstacles within the course's concrete construction.

What do you call 'minigolf'?

A look at different names for the game of miniature golf.

There are a number of different names for the game of miniature golf and on our crazy golfing adventures we've found more than 100 synonyms for it!

While there are some design standards for courses, most would be regarded as 'fantasy' courses where the end result is limited only by imagination, building regulations and budgets.

Here's a look at the common names for the game of putting:

Minigolf (also Mini Golf, Mini-Golf, Miniature Golf) – Minigolf is a catch-all name for the game and can be used to describe every type of course no matter its make-up or design.

Some Pitch & Putt and Par-3 Golf courses also describe themselves as Minigolf / Miniature Golf.

Adventure Golf – Adventure Golf is a relatively new name for the game and mostly describes a course with theming such as pirates, jungles, dinosaurs and space.

Crazy Golf – Crazy Golf is a name most commonly used in the UK. It is seldom, if ever, used overseas except in tourist spots popular with UK natives.

An equivalent name in the USA would be Goofy Golf.

At The Original Crazy Golf course in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England back in 2015

Mini-putt – Mini-putt courses are similar in appearance to Putt-Putt courses however they have distinct standardised hole designs and are particular to Canada.

"Mini-putt" is the Québécois term for the game of minigolf, thanks largely to the popularity of the Quebec cable sports show 'Défi mini-putt' in the 1970s and 80s.

Pitch & Putt – Sometimes Pitch & Putt courses will use the name Miniature Golf or Minigolf.

Putt-Putt – Putt-Putt is a trademark and denotes specific patented types of miniature golf courses. Most courses can be found in the USA, with some still in operation in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Putt-Putt is sometimes incorrectly used as a catch-all / interchangeable name with Minigolf to describe a course or the game.

Putting – Grass Putting courses and Putting Greens are a type of minigolf and are often found at the seaside or in parks and gardens.

Related blog posts:

• Types and Variants of Miniature Golf visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
• Definitions of Miniature Golf
• 100 names for Miniature Golf

Indoor Minigolf Sevilla in Sevilla, Spain

A look at Indoor Minigolf Sevilla in Seville, Spain.

Our friend Gareth Holmes was recently in Spain and spotted Minigolf Sevilla on a walk round the city.

Find out more.

Visit the Minigolf Sevilla website for more information on the 18-hole indoor UV minigolf course.

Mini Golf at Dalscone Farm in Dumfries, Scotland

There's a crazy golf course at Dalscone Farm in Dumfries, Scotland.

Dalscone Farm in Dumfries, Scotland has added a mini golf course to the venue.

The course is a 12-hole mini golf layout and was added in 2025.

Visit the Dalscone Farm website for more information.

Crazy Golf at Southwold Boating Lake & Tearoom

A look at the Crazy Golf course at Southwold Boating Lake & Tearoom in Southwold, Suffolk.

Many thanks to our friend Cat Patterson for sending us these photos from the Crazy Golf course at Southwold Boating Lake & Tearoom in Southwold.

Find out more.

Visit the Southwold Boating Lake & Tearoom website for more information.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We've visited Southwold on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and on our last visit in 2018 swung by the, now replaced, Crazy Golf course at the Boating Lake & Cafe on North Parade.

Mini-Golf to Padel at Salt Ayre Leisure Centre in Lancaster

There are plans to create four padel courts in place of the minigolf course at Salt Ayre Leisure Centre in Lancaster, Lancashire.

We've not yet visited the Birdies, Bogeys, Eagles and Pars Crazy Golf course at Salt Ayre Leisure Centre in Lancaster on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the Lancaster council website for more information on Salt Ayre Leisure Centre.

The Putter King Chronicles

A look back at the Putter King miniature golf brand.

Kevin Dias - creator of the Putter King miniature golf brand - has recently been looking back on the concept and has published 'The Putter King Chronicles' on his website in five parts.

The Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt.

One of the brand's marketing activities saw a worldwide Putter King Miniature Golf 'Scavenger Hunt' taking place during 2011. People were invited to track down and record items and achievements related to all forms of minigolf across 17 tasks.

The activities in the first Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt had contestants design new minigolf holes and obstacles, play new courses, show off their minigolf ball collections, (re)learn Maths & Physics (in a fun way!) through the Putter King Education Programme, do arts & crafts, hunt for autographs, score holes-in-one, creating minigolf trick-shots and a whole lot more!

In total, there were 1,370 available points to collect. Allan Cox (AUS) won the competition with 960 total points. I finished in second place with 900 total points, and Pat Sheridan (USA) of The Putting Penguin website finished in 3rd place with 585 total points.

The whole Putter King experience was superb and brilliant fun. It's been nice reading about Kevin's journey with the business - and all the bumps, twists and turns in the story!

You can read The Putter King Chronicles at the links below:

• The Putter King Chronicles (Part 1 of 5)
• The Putter King Chronicles (Part 2 of 5)
• The Putter King Chronicles (Part 3 of 5)
• The Putter King Chronicles (Part 4 of 5)
• The Putter King Chronicles (Part 5 of 5)

Related blog posts:

• My Entry for the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt 2011
• The Putter King

Crazy Golf at Leopoldpark in Blankenberge, Belgium

Last week I asked 'Where in the world was this crazy golf course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour?'.

The answer was - the Crazy Golf course at Leopoldpark in Blankenberge, Belgium.

The seaside resort is home to a Minigolf course, a Crazy Golf and a Snookergolf layout. The three 18-hole courses at Leopoldpark became the 710th, 711th and 712th visited on the tour.

Visit the Leopoldpark website for details of opening times and prices.

Talk & Putt minigolf at Wigan Library

Wigan Library is hosting a Talk & Putt crazy golf event this Thursday, 12th March.

The pop-up minigolf event aims to encourage conversation, connections and improve mental wellbeing.

Find out more and book your place on the Wigan Libraries Eventbrite page.

World Book Day 2026 - The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing ebook

Check out my minigolf marketing ebook.

My ebook to help minigolf players better market themselves, their clubs, tournaments and courses is available to purchase from Amazon.

Don't worry if you don't have a Kindle as you can download the Kindle App on iOS, Android, Mac & PC.

Minigolf Marketing

As a minigolfer with over a decade of experience as a tournament competitor and over 20 years of experience in marketing & communications I designed the guide so that anyone interested or involved in minigolf could help promote the game. It's a niche title, but an audience and subject I know a lot about.

Writing the book was brilliant and enabled me to bring two areas of my life together. I've worked in marketing since 2003 and have played minigolf since I was a child. Stepping up to compete on the national minigolf tour circuit and in international tournaments opened my eyes to the potential of the game.

I’ve also had the honour of serving on the committees of the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) and the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF).

Minigolf is a sport for all. People of all ages, genders, backgrounds, and abilities can pick up a putter and play the game.

Buy The Minigolfer’s Guide to Marketing ebook on Amazon.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Emily and I have visited 1,114 courses in the UK and overseas on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. When our travels began in 2006 there were around 600 courses in the UK (we've still got 39 from that original list left to visit!).

They've been joined by hundreds more new minigolf courses opening up across the UK, making our travels never-ending!

The minigolf boom continues

The game is really booming and new courses are being announced all the time.

Around 100 or so new courses are being created each year - some are on old sites/locations, some are completely new venues, while others are in planning/development, or under construction.

There are also quite a few other adventure golf, crazy golf and minigolf courses that are short-term 'pop-ups', some of which have been used as proof of concept businesses and developed into permanent courses. 

The minigolf world has a huge amount of interesting and fun stories to tell and positive aspects to highlight to potential players, the media, sponsors and the wider sporting community.

The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing gives federations, associations, courses, clubs and our fellow players ideas, inspiration and support in their marketing efforts.

Much of the guidance could also be applied to a number of other sports clubs and organisations to help raise their profile and boost memberships.

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.

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; 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.

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

And this blog contains over 6,600 posts that have attracted 7.5 million page views since 2006.

Buy The Minigolfer’s Guide to Marketing ebook on Amazon.

Golf Apocalypse crazy golf

Looking back at the Golf Apocalypse crazy golf course in London.

We played the Golf Apocalypse miniature golf course back in August 2012. The layout had been created as part of the London Pleasure Gardens, an area set-up to tap into the passing trade between the DLR and the London 2012 Olympic Games at the ExCel centre.

Golf Apocalypse was the first really really really mad-cap pop-up course we played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The layout contained all manner of strange minigolf obstacles and we found ourselves playing through the fuselage of a crashed aeroplane, around a pinball machine, a snooker table and into a volcano.

The pop-up miniature golf course was the first to use reclaimed materials in its construction. Something that has become commonplace these days and we've seen and played a number of funky, junky, scrap, ghetto, trash, garbage, graffiti, wreckage, and art-based courses since.

The 9-hole Golf Apocalypse course was the 304th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Related blog posts:

• A Mini Golf Apocalypse
• Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Adventure Mini Golf course at Hawley Garden Centre in Sutton at Hone, Dartford

The new Adventure Mini Golf course at Hawley Garden Centre in Sutton at Hone, Dartford, Kent is now open.

Check out the Hawley Garden Centre website for more information.

The Discobowl in Burnley has a mini golf course

There's a new Scrapyard Golf indoor minigolf course at the Discobowl in Burnley, Lancashire.

The Scrapyard golf indoor crazy golf course was an addition to the venue during its renovation and reopening as a Discobowl following the brand's acquisition of the former MFA Bowl.

Visit the Discobowl website for more information.

You can find Scrapyard Golf courses at Discobowl venues in Banbury, Burnley, Chatham, Newport, Nottingham, Nuneaton, and Worcester.

There is also a crazy golf course at the Discobowl in Warrington.

A minigolf course in Marrakesh, Morocco

A look at an abandoned minigolf course in Marrakesh, Morocco.

A big thank you to our friend Kieran from Putter Madness for sending us these photos of an old and abandoned minigolf course he found on his recent holiday in Marrakesh, Morocco!

Guest blog posts.

As well as the blog posts about our own crazy golf travels, we've posted guest blogs from friends and family from their visits to courses around the world.

It's excellent receiving photos, information and updates from - and about - crazy golf, minigolf, miniature golf putting, pitch & putt, adventure golf, and Putt-Putt courses around the world. There's such a wide-range and variety of courses out there.

We've met so many people and made some great friends on our travels since 2006. Many of whom have contributed to our travels by telling us about new courses, letting us know about course refurbs, or by sending over photos of courses they've been too. We've also received excellent photos of miniature golf courses from our family, friends, our networks, and course owners, managers, designers and builders themselves.

With this post about the course in Marrakesh, Morocco we've now published guest blog posts from 32 countries!

Related blog posts:

• Abandoned
• Guest blog posts

Link:

• Putter Madness portable crazy golf

Minigolf did you knows...?

Did you know these things about minigolf?

• The world's first miniature golf course was set-up at St Andrews, Scotland in 1867.
• James Barber opened the first minigolf course in the USA in 1916. The 'Lilliputian' miniature golf course was called 'Thistle Dhu' and located in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
• A Miniature Golf contest was part of the Olympic Games at the 1904 St Louis Games in the USA.
• Crazy Golf is 100 years old in 2025. The first course using the name 'Crazy Golf' opened on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England in 1926.
• 1926 also saw the first artificial miniature golf course open in the USA. Garnet Carter opened the 'Tom Thumb' miniature golf course near Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• The first National Tom Thumb Golf Championship took place on the 23rd October 1930.
• The first Putt-Putt brand miniature golf course was set-up by Don Clayton in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA in 1954.
• There are several Guinness World Records for achievements in Minigolf, Miniature Golf, Crazy Golf, Adventure Golf, and Putt-Putt. The 2024 edition of the Guinness World Records book featured a whole page about minigolf and you can find details of the records on the Guinness World Records website.
• There are approximately 1,400 miniature golf courses in the British Isles.
• Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour is 20 years old in 2026! In that time we've visited over 1,000 courses.
• The Crazy Golf Museum is 16 years old in 2026. The virtual online museum is a treasure trove and archive for all things related to minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf, miniature golf, Putt Putt, and putting.
• There are two 'miniature golf days' each year.
• 'National Miniature Golf Day' is always on the second Saturday in May. In 2026 that will be Saturday 9th May.
• The other minigolf day, 'Miniature Golf Day', is always on the 21st September. In 2026 the 21st falls on a Monday.

Do you have any other interesting minigolf facts or stats? If you do, get in touch and let us know what they are.