Scrapyard Golf at Banbury Bowl

A visit to the Scrapyard Golf course at the Banbury Bowl Discobowl venue in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Check out the Banbury Bowl website for more information.

How many minigolf courses are there in the UK? (Update: December 2024)

There are lots of new minigolf courses being built, in development or planned to open in the UK.

Minigolf is an incredibly popular activity for all ages and there are new courses opening up all the time in a wide-range of outdoor and indoor locations.

Whereas the game in the UK has traditionally been a seaside pastime, over the last decade it has grown to be a game enjoyed by people in more and more towns and cities - with many catering to a late night audience.

How many minigolf courses are there in the UK?

As at December 2024 there are approximately 1,370 minigolf courses around the UK and British Isles (including Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, and other islands). This includes public courses, as well as those at pay to enter attractions, holiday parks, hotels and other 'non-standard' locations.

Developments over the last two decades

When our travels began in 2006 there were around 600 courses in the British Isles. Only two of those original courses were indoor venues. Both of these were on the East Anglian coast (in Felixstowe and Great Yarmouth). The indoor course at Manning's Amusements in Felixstowe has recently been removed and is being replaced by a brand new layout that is set to open in the same location at Easter 2025.

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.

The game was traditionally played on days out, short breaks and holidays, either at the seaside or on holiday camps. While the game has always been enjoyed by people old enough to pick up a putter, it has become a game played as much by groups of adults as it is by families.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

We've now been to a total of 1,072 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, with 1,014 of them in the British Isles. 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!

Of the original list of 600 we've still got to visit 39 of the public courses. In addition there are a further 150 courses at pay to enter attractions, hotels and holiday parks that we've not yet been to.

On top of these 189 courses from the original list there are hundreds more courses that have opened over the last 18 years! We tracked 320 courses that opened between May 2020 and July 2023. Between August 2023 and September 2024 a further 150 courses have opened, or are in development. And between September 2024 and December 2024 another 27 new courses have been announced.

More new courses to come

There are 100+ new courses 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 quite a few other minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf courses that are short-term 'pop-ups', some of which have been used as proof of concept businesses and developed into permanent courses. 

A few things to note

Please note that minigolf in the UK is not an exact science and courses are opening, in planning/development, and being 'lost' quite often. Others are being refurbished, and some are completely renovated to the point where they could be considered entirely new courses.

Find new courses

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 where I regularly post updates about new places to play the game.

Let's talk minigolf

If you know of a new course opening in the UK please do get in touch and let me know.

Puttify Golf opening at Center Parcs Woburn Forest

Center Parcs Woburn Forest will be home to one of the UK's first Puttify Golf courses.

The new indoor mini golf course will be opening at Center Parcs Woburn Forest in 2025.

Puttify Golf is a new type of interactive mini golf. You can find out more about Puttify Golf on the Greenspan website.

Visit the Center Parcs website for more information on the Woburn Forest holiday park.

Emily and I haven't been to a Center Parcs before, however my brother Christopher and his family have holidayed at Center Parcs Elveden Forest in Norfolk and played the outdoor Treasure Island Adventure Golf course there on their branch of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Puttify Golf opening at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre

Bath Sports and Leisure Centre will soon be home to the UK's first Puttify Golf course.

The new 9-hole indoor mini golf course will be opening at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre in Bath, Somerset on Friday 20th December.

Puttify Golf is a new type of interactive mini golf. You can find out more about Puttify Golf on the Greenspan website.

Puttify Golf at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre will be another new venue to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Indoor Adventure Golf at Tenpin Parrs Wood in Manchester

There's an indoor adventure golf course at the Manchester Tenpin centre in Parrs Wood.

The Tenpin centres at Parrs Wood Manchester, Sheffield and Southampton are all home to indoor Tenpin Putt crazy golf courses.

The Parrs Wood Manchester Tenpin centre now features a Prison Putt indoor adventure golf course.

Check out the Tenpin website for more information.

Swedish Felt Minigolf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Bournemouth's Lower Gardens Mini Golf course

A revisit to the Lower Gardens Mini Golf course in Bournemouth.

We first visited and played the Mini Golf course at the Lower Gardens in Bournemouth, Dorset in June 2009 and revisited the course in July 2013 while in the area for the BMGA British Matchplay Championships that were to be played in nearby Boscombe.

Emily swung by for a look at the course on her recent trip to the seaside town.

The course location is one of the oldest sites of Miniature Golf in the UK. According to information on a board near the course a Putting Green was introduced to the Lower Gardens in 1931 and the present Mini Golf course was extensively remodelled in 2007.

We've got a fair few postcards in our collection showing the course over the years (here are links to a couple of them - 1 / 2). I've also got several photos of my parents playing the course in the 1970s!

The abandoned minigolf course on Bournemouth's Exeter Road

A look at the derelict minigolf course on Exeter Road in Bournemouth.

Back in June 2009 we found a derelict minigolf course in Bournemouth and when we revisited in July 2013 it was still there. On Emily's recent trip to the seaside town she found it was still in place.

The former 18-hole course is on Exeter Road and next to the cafe/restaurant.

The course is very similar in design to the busy course that can be found over the road in the Lower Gardens and the championship course in the Boscombe Chine Gardens, though in an entirely unplayable state.

Crazy Golf at Yum Yum World in Rugby

The Yum Yum Crazy Golf course at Bounce World in Rugby, Warwickshire is no longer open.

You used to be able to get a hole-in-one at Bounce World in Rugby

We visited the course location on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour last year.

There was no sign of the course this time

The building it was in used to be home to a Woolworths. You can see still see the Woolies ghost sign there.

Swedish Felt Mini Golf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Minigolf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Playing Christmas Crazy Golf in Northwich

We recently played the Christmas-themed minigolf course from Lancashire Crazy Golf at the 2024 Northwich Christmas Extravaganza in Northwich, Cheshire.

The Christmas-themed pop-up Crazy Golf course in Northwich was the 1,068th course we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and the 580th layout we've played on our travels.

Check out the Visit Northwich website for more about the town and its various events throughout the year. We visit Northwich a few times each year, and although Crazy Golf features at several of the events until today we'd not had a chance to have a go on the course.

You can find out more about hiring the pop-up course on the Lancashire Crazy Golf website.

Adventure Golf at The Railway Inn in Westerfield, near Ipswich (August 2024)

Playing the Adventure Golf course at The Railway Inn in Westerfield, near Ipswich, Suffolk.

We played the 9-hole outdoor Adventure Golf course in the pub beer garden of The Railway Inn in Westerfield, near Ipswich, Suffolk on a visit to the town to see family.

The Adventure Golf course at The Railway was the 1,064th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, the 1,007th we've been to in the British Isles, and the 575th course we've played on our travels since 2006.

Crazy Golf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Festive Crazy Golfing in Northwich

We recently played the Christmas-themed minigolf course from Lancashire Crazy Golf at the 2024 Northwich Christmas Extravaganza in Northwich, Cheshire.

The Christmas-themed pop-up Crazy Golf course in Northwich was the 1,068th course we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and the 580th layout we've played on our travels.

Check out the Visit Northwich website for more about the town and its various events throughout the year. We visit Northwich a few times each year, and although Crazy Golf features at several of the events until today we'd not had a chance to have a go on the course.

You can find out more about hiring the pop-up course on the Lancashire Crazy Golf website.

Mini Golf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Christmas Crazy Golfing in Northwich

We recently played the Christmas-themed minigolf course from Lancashire Crazy Golf at the 2024 Northwich Christmas Extravaganza in Northwich, Cheshire.

The Christmas-themed pop-up Crazy Golf course in Northwich was the 1,068th course we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and the 580th layout we've played on our travels.

Check out the Visit Northwich website for more about the town and its various events throughout the year. We visit Northwich a few times each year, and although Crazy Golf features at several of the events until today we'd not had a chance to have a go on the course.

You can find out more about hiring the pop-up course on the Lancashire Crazy Golf website.

Christmas Crazy Golf in Northwich

Playing the Christmas-themed minigolf course from Lancashire Crazy Golf at the 2024 Northwich Christmas Extravaganza in Northwich, Cheshire.

On hole 10 of the festive minigolf course in Northwich

The Christmas-themed pop-up Crazy Golf course in Northwich was the 1,068th course we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and the 580th layout we've played on our travels.

Check out the Visit Northwich website for more about the town and its various events throughout the year. We visit Northwich a few times each year, and although Crazy Golf features at several of the events until today we'd not had a chance to have a go on the course.

You can find out more about hiring the pop-up course on the Lancashire Crazy Golf website.

Scoring a hole-in-one on hole 8 of the pop-up Crazy Golf course

Crazy Golf at Vickersway Park in Northwich (November 2024)

A walk round the Crazy Golf course at Vickersway Park in Northwich, Cheshire.

We revisited the Crazy Golf course at Vickersway Park while in Northwich for the town's Christmas Extravaganza. We really like the park, it's a nice and pleasant spot just outside the town centre.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 7

Hole 7

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 9

Hole 9

Hole 9

The 9-hole Crazy Golf layout at Vickersway Park was originally the 700th course we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in September 2016.

As well as the Crazy Golf course the park is also home to a grass Putting course.

Christmas and Crazy Golf comes to Northwich

Playing the Christmas-themed minigolf course from Lancashire Crazy Golf at the Northwich Christmas Extravaganza.

Christmas Crazy Golf in Northwich

We love Crazy Golf and Christmas, so what better way to spend the last day before the 'real' festive season tees-off than to have a game of Christmas-themed Crazy Golf.

A nice sign to see

Holes 2 and 3 of the set up outside the indoor market

Organised by Visit Northwich, this year's Christmas Extravaganza was held over two weekends in the Cheshire town as the weather was dreadful last weekend and put a halt to the Crazy Golf attraction among others.

The festive obstacle on hole 8

Emily playing hole 3

Luckily today was a lot more pleasant a day, and really quite warm for the time of year, so we headed over to Northwich for a game on the free-to-play pop-up minigolf layout.

Emily putting on the 9th hole

The course from Lancashire Crazy Golf is unusual as it's a 10-hole configuration rather than a 9 or 12-holer. We played our round as a 9-hole match as the 10th hole is quite different in the scoring method applied!

The rules of hole 10

As with most of our games it was very close, but a hole-in-one from me on the 8th hole secured a one-shot victory over Emily.

Emily on the 2nd hole

The Christmas-themed pop-up Crazy Golf course in Northwich was the 1,068th course we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and the 580th layout we've played on our travels.

The course was proving popular when we arrived around midday, but luckily the area housing the course had enough space for players to move around and skip any bottlenecks. And we managed to get some nice snaps of the course during some of the gaps in play.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 10

Check out the Visit Northwich website for more about the town and its various events throughout the year. We visit Northwich a few times each year, and although Crazy Golf features at several of the events until today we'd not had a chance to have a go on the course.

You can find out more about hiring the pop-up course on the Lancashire Crazy Golf website.

Northwich is home to a pair of permanent miniature golf courses that we've visited several times on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. You can find a Crazy Golf course and Putting course at Vickersway Park next to the town centre. Both are worth a look, and the park is a very pleasant spot.