Happy 14th birthday to the Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is 14 years old today.

Many happy returns to the Crazy Golf Museum as it marks its 14th birthday today.

I set-up the museum with Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies back on the 15th July 2010.

Since then we've continued to fill the virtual online museum to make it a treasure trove and archive for all things related to minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf, miniature golf, Putt Putt, and putting.

It's certainly been a very interesting 14 years!

A BIG thank you to everyone who has shared their minigolfing memories, crazy golf items and adventure golf updates over the years. We're looking forward to continuing our promotion of the game for many more years to come.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum's website, like the Page and join the Group on Facebook, check it out on X, and see Instagram for information, photos, items, ephemera, stories, videos, postcards, games and more...

If you'd like to contribute any items, merchandise, course history, current developments or guest blog posts please do get in touch.

Cumberland Golf planning a tour of Cumbria

Mini Golf Cumberland Edition will soon close at The Beacon Museum in Whitehaven, Cumbria. But there are plans for it to move to a new location, or locations in the future.

The Mini Golf course opened at The Beacon Museum in Whitehaven, Cumbria last October and closes on Sunday 14th April.

Mini Golf Cumberland is a 9-hole layout, with obstacles themed on Cumberland landmarks.

Visit The Beacon Museum website for more information.

As Curators of The Crazy Golf Museum it was nice to see another museum including minigolf as an interactive exhibit to facilitate learning.

We visited Cumbria last year, but didn't have time to visit Whitehaven.

Hopefully we'll get to have a game on the Mini Golf Cumberland Edition course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

Happy National Pencil Day

Today is National Pencil Day.

Minigolf pencils from our travels

Here's a selection of minigolf pencils we've collected over years.

We enjoy visiting courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and it's marvellous when we find one that has a branded pencil to score the game with.

Pencils and promotional scratchcards from Congo River Golf in Orlando, Florida, USA

It's a superb bit of minigolf marketing too.

A minigolf pencil from Christopher Gottfried's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour trip to Magic Carpet Golf in Galveston, Texas, USA

We've seen several minigolf courses switching to virtual scorecards (and scoreboards), and app-based scorecards. Others are using a mixture.

We think, and hope, there's space and a place for all methods of scoring to continue in the game.

Our friend Pat Sheridan from The Putting Penguin minigolf review website (among his many other hats in the game) has contributed quite a few pencils and scorecards to the Crazy Golf Museum that he's picked up on his own minigolf adventures.

One of the most peculiar minigolf pencils we've seen is this one Pat sent a snap of, as it's a real life pencil for a virtual minigolf game!

A pencil from the Walkabout Mini Golf VR game

If you'd like your minigolf course pencil (or other items of merch and ephemera) displayed and archived in the Crazy Golf Museum please do get in touch.

Just one of the many minigolf pencils in the Crazy Golf Museum - from the Wye Valley Miniatvre Golf course in Symonds Yat West

You can see more miniature golf course pens and pencils on the Crazy Golf Museum website.

A scorecard and pencils from Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf in Orlando, Florida, USA from our friend Shelley Barrett

Arnold Palmer Putting Courses Crazy Golf pencils from the course in Prestatyn

A pencil from Lumberjax Mini Golf in New Zealand from our friend James Astrop

A pencil from Urban Putt in San Francisco from our friend and minigolf rival (and sometimes team-mate) Kevin Moseley

A pencil from Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf

A minigolf pencil from Swing by Golfbaren in Stockholm, Sweden 

A pencil from Swingers Crazy Golf in London

A pencil from the CLUB GOLF crazy golf pop-up at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, London. This was the last course I played before the UK went into coronavirus pandemic lockdown / quarantine

A pencil from the Putt 18 indoor putting game - we played a lot of this during the pandemic

Mini Golf Cumberland at The Beacon Museum in Whitehaven

Mini Golf Cumberland Edition has opened at The Beacon Museum in Whitehaven, Cumbria.

A new indoor Mini Golf course has opened at The Beacon Museum in Whitehaven, Cumbria.

Mini Golf Cumberland is a 9-hole layout, with obstacles themed on Cumberland landmarks.

The course opened on Saturday 21st October and closes on Sunday 14th April 2024.

Visit The Beacon Museum website for more information.

As Curators of The Crazy Golf Museum it's nice to see another museum including minigolf as an interactive exhibit to facilitate learning.

We visited Cumbria earlier this year, but didn't have time to visit Whitehaven. Hopefully we'll get to have a game on the Mini Golf Cumberland Edition course at The Beacon Museum on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Happy 13th birthday to the Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is 13 years old today.

Many happy returns to the Crazy Golf Museum as it marks it's 13th birthday today.

I set-up the museum with Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies back on the 15th July 2010.

Since then we've continued to fill the virtual museum to make it a treasure trove and archive for all things related to minigolf.

It's certainly been a very interesting 13 years!

A massive thank you to everyone who has shared their minigolfing memories, crazy golf items and adventure golf updates over the years. We're looking forward to continuing our promotion of the game for many more years to come.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum's website, like the Page and join the Group on Facebook, check it out on Twitter, and see Instagram for information, photos, items, ephemera, stories, videos, postcards, games and more...

If you'd like to contribute any items, merchandise, course history, current developments or guest blog posts please do get in touch.

Museum Week 2023

This week is Museum Week.

Since 2014 MuseumWeek has grown to include over 60,000 participants from 100+ countries. It has has become the first virtual, worldwide cultural event across social media.

MuseumWeek is an annual offline and online event based on the mechanism 7 days, 7 topics, 7 hashtags.

Find out more on the Museum Week website.

The Crazy Golf Museum

As the Curator of the Crazy Golf Museum it's always nice to be able to support museum initiatives such as MuseumWeek.

The Crazy Golf Museum is the world's first virtual crazy golf museum - a worldwide archive of miniature golf memories, histories and ephemera.

The Crazy Golf Museum

Did you know:

• The world's first Miniature Golf course was created at St Andrews, Scotland in 1867. The Himalayas is still there now and is a real pleasure to play.
• The first minigolf course in the USA opened in 1916. James Barber opened the 'Thistle Dhu' layout in Pinehurst, NC.
• A Miniature Golf contest was part of the Olympic Games at the 1904 St Louis Games.
• The very first Crazy Golf course in the UK opened on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England.
• The first artificial miniature golf course open in the USA in 1926 when Garnet Carter created the 'Tom Thumb' miniature golf course near Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN.
• The first National Tom Thumb Golf Championship took place on the 23rd October 1930. 
• The first Putt-Putt Golf course was set-up by Don Clayton in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA back in 1954.
• National Miniature Golf Day always falls on the second Saturday in May.
• Miniature Golf Day is always on the 21st of September.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum website and check out these Crazy Golf Museum-related blog posts for more info.

Freighter Golf at the National Museum of the Great Lakes

There's a unique pop-up minigolf course at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio, USA.

There's a minigolf course at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo

The course is onboard the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship from the 25th August to the 11th September.

Check out the National Museum of the Great Lakes website for more information.

As Curator's of the Crazy Golf Museum it's brilliant to see minigolf in action in a museum setting and getting people involved in history, education and fun!

Happy twelfth birthday to the Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is twelve years old today.

Many happy returns to the Crazy Golf Museum as it marks it's twelfth birthday today.

I set-up the museum with Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies back on the 15th July 2010.

Since then we've continued to fill the virtual museum to make it a treasure trove and archive for all things related to minigolf.

It's certainly been a very interesting twelve years!

A massive thank you to everyone who has shared their minigolfing memories, crazy golf items and adventure golf updates over the years. We're looking forward to continuing our promotion of the game for many more years to come.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum's website, like the Page and join the Group on Facebook, check it out on Twitter, and see Instagram for information, photos, items, ephemera, stories, videos, postcards, games and more...

If you'd like to contribute any items, merchandise, course history, current developments or guest blog posts please do get in touch.

Scorecard from Lost World Adventure Golf in Hemsby

Here's a minigolf scorecard from the Lost World Adventure Golf course in Hemsby, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.

A lovely addition to our collection of minigolf scorecards and ephemera.

Collected on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and this year's Big Mini Golf Tour.

Scorecard from Stonehenge Adventure Golf in Hemsby

Here's a minigolf scorecard from Stonehenge Adventure Golf in Hemsby, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.

Scorecard from Stonehenge Adventure Golf in Hemsby

Scorecard from Stonehenge Adventure Golf in Hemsby

A nice addition to our collection of scorecards and ephemera.

Collected on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and this year's Big Mini Golf Tour.

Museum Week 2022

This week is Museum Week.

Since 2014 MuseumWeek has grown to include over 60,000 participants from 100+ countries. It has has become the first virtual, worldwide cultural event on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Weibo, WeChat and VKontakte.

MuseumWeek is an annual offline and online event based on the mechanism 7 days, 7 topics, 7 hashtags.

The global theme for 2022 is about innovation & culture and MuseumWeek will take this opportunity to explore 6 other topics in the whole cultural ecosystem, online and offline:

• 13 June: #innovationMW
• 14 June: #creatorsMW
• 15 June: #freedomMW
• 16 June: #sexualityMW
• 17 June: #environmentMW 
• 18 June: #lifeLessonsMW 
• 19 June: #danceMW

Find out more on the Museum Week website.

The Crazy Golf Museum

As the Curator of the Crazy Golf Museum it's always nice to be able to support museum initiatives such as MuseumWeek.

The Crazy Golf Museum is the world's first virtual crazy golf museum - a worldwide archive of miniature golf memories, histories and ephemera.

The Crazy Golf Museum

Did you know:

• The world's first Miniature Golf course was created at St Andrews, Scotland in 1867. The Himalayas is still there now and is a real pleasure to play.
• The first minigolf course in the USA opened in 1916. James Barber opened the 'Thistle Dhu' layout in Pinehurst, NC.
• A Miniature Golf contest was part of the Olympic Games at the 1904 St Louis Games.
• The very first Crazy Golf course in the UK opened on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England.
• The first artificial miniature golf course open in the USA in 1926 when Garnet Carter created the 'Tom Thumb' miniature golf course near Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN.
• The first National Tom Thumb Golf Championship took place on the 23rd October 1930. 
• The first Putt-Putt Golf course was set-up by Don Clayton in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA back in 1954.
• National Miniature Golf Day always falls on the second Saturday in May.
• Miniature Golf Day is always on the 21st of September.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum website and check out these Crazy Golf Museum-related blog posts for more info.

Mini Golf at Beamish Museum

A new mini golf course is part of a 1950's area created at the Beamish Museum for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Visit the Beamish Museum website for more information.

The mini golf course is another new one for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Bagatelle at the Hyndburn Heritage Museum in Accrington

Spotting a Bagatelle display at the Hyndburn Heritage Museum in the Accrington Arndale.

We spotted this Bagatelle table on display in the window of the Hyndburn Heritage Museum while walking through the Accrington Arndale.

It's a pretty rare game and not really played much anymore. Most tables are to be found in Chester.

Playing Bagatelle

We've played Bagatelle once before, at the Union Vaults pub in Chester back in 2016.

One of our favourite pub games is Bar Billiards and the rules of that game can appear complicated to a newcomer. Bagatelle is no different in that respect. However, while the cue, table and green baize ball games may also appear to be similar in appearance, looks can be deceiving. 

Visit the Hyndburn Heritage & Community Group website for more information.

Happy eleventh birthday to the Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is eleven years old today.

Many happy returns to the Crazy Golf Museum as it marks it's eleventh birthday today.

I set-up the museum with Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies back on the 15th July 2010, the virtual museum is a treasure trove and archive for all things related to minigolf.

It's certainly been an incredibly interesting eleven years!

A big thank you to everyone who has shared their minigolfing memories, crazy golf items and adventure golf updates. We're looking forward to continuing our promotion of the game for many more years to come.

The future of minigolf

Minigolf has continued to be played during the coronavirus pandemic and new courses continue to be planned, developed and built. Thankfully the game will go on, albeit in a different form for a while.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum's website, like the Page and join the Group on Facebook, check it out on Twitter, and see Instagram for information, photos, items, ephemera, stories, videos, postcards, games and more...

If you'd like to contribute any items, merchandise, course history, current developments or guest blog posts please do get in touch.

This week is MuseumWeek

Happy MuseumWeek 2021.

MuseumWeek was created in 2014 and is the worldwide festival for cultural institutions on social media. It has grown to include over 60,000 participants from 100+ countries.

Each day of MuseumWeek has a themed hashtag, kicking off with #OnceUponAtimeMW

MuseumWeek 2021's themed days are:

• Monday, June 7: #OnceUponAtimeMW
• Tuesday, June 8: #BehindTheScenesMW
• Wednesday, June 9: #ChildrensEyesMW
• Thursday, June 10: #EurekaMW
• Friday, June 11: #CaptionThisMW
• Saturday, June 12: #ArtIsEverywhereMW
• Sunday, June 13: #WordsForTheFutureMW

Check out the MuseumWeek website for more information.

As the Curator of the Crazy Golf Museum I'm always keen to spread the word about the game of minigolf.

Once upon a time the pastime and sport didn't exist. That changed in 1867 when the world's first miniature golf course was created at St Andrews in Scotland.

Emily playing the world's first miniature golf course

The Himalayas Putting course at St Andrews was created in 1867 specifically for female players to use. Emily and I visited and played the layout on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2012. It's a wonderful course in a marvellous setting, and a must-play course for fans of minigolf.

Some of the other key dates in world minigolf are:

• 1916 - The first minigolf course in the USA. James Barber opened the 'Thistle Dhu' layout in Pinehurst, NC.
• 1926 - The very first Crazy Golf course in the UK opened on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England.
• 1926 - The first artificial miniature golf course in the USA. Garnet Carter created the 'Tom Thumb' miniature golf course near Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN.
• National Miniature Golf Day always falls on the second Saturday in May.
• Miniature Golf Day is always on the 21st of September.

The Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is celebrating it's eleventh year in 2021. The worldwide archive of miniature golf memories, histories and ephemera opened its online doors to the world on the 15th July 2010.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum website, Facebook Page & Group, Twitter and Instagram to see more.

New Putt in the Park at Gunnersbury Park

There are plans for a new Putt in the Park miniature golf course at Gunnersbury Park in London.

The new Putt in the Park location at Gunnersbury Park & Museum would also be home to a café.

Visit the Putt In The Park and Gunnersbury Park & Museum websites for more information.

The first Putt In The Park course we played was in Wandsworth Park, London back in 2013. The Battersea Park Putt in the Park course was the 650th we visited in the UK and 671st overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we called in for a game in 2015.

We've still got to play the Putt in the Park courses in Acton Park, London and Colchester, Essex on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

My first bun throwing in Abingdon

A Bun Throwing was held in my home town of Abingdon on this day in 1981. It was the first one I attended.

The curious tradition sees the mayor and other dignitaries climb to the top of the old County Hall to throw hundreds or thousands of currant buns down to the townsfolk gathered in the market place below.

The team at Abingdon Museum posted about the Bun Throwing that took place in Abingdon to celebrate the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on this day in 1981.

From our #bunthrowing #collection, here's a bun decorated with the initials CD to mark the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer #onthisday 1981.#abingdon #traditions #museumfromhome pic.twitter.com/h4aJpp7b8Q

— Abingdon County Hall Museum (@AbingdonMuseum) July 29, 2020

At less than a year old I can't imagine I knew what was going on that first time, nor caught any buns! I probably did scoff some my mum and dad had caught though.

Abingdon County Hall Museum has a collection of buns preserved from bun throwings dating back many years. These are the currant buns from the Bun Throwing that celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012. A total of 6,000 buns were thrown on that occasion

The last bun throwing held in the town to date was in 2018 to commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War. That bun throwing was the 35th event since 1761.

There have been 15 Bun Throwing events in my lifetime.

Check out my World of Bun Throwing blog for more information.

Happy tenth birthday to the Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is ten years old today.

Many happy returns to the Crazy Golf Museum as it marks it's tenth birthday today.

I set-up the museum with Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies back on the 15th July 2010, the virtual museum is a treasure trove and archive for all things related to minigolf.

It's been an incredibly interesting decade!

Prior to the pandemic

There were so many marvellous things going in the world of minigolf prior to the Coronavirus pandemic. New courses were being built, tournaments held and interesting items and ephemera were being created.

Some of this is on-hold as the world tackles Covid-19.

Minigolf in the time of Coronavirus

I've been using some of my time during lockdown documenting 'Minigolf in the time of coronavirus' and creating a time line of the game during the pandemic.

After the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 and during part of the Great Depression minigolf boomed and we have some records of the time. But to actually be living through such a life changing time is something else!

There are still milestones and anniversaries to be celebrated and courses to be supported for when it's ready to get out and play again.

The future of minigolf

Minigolf is still being played and new courses continue to be planned, developed and built. Thankfully the game will go on, albeit in a different form for a while.

There will be lots of minigolf fun to be had again.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum website, like our Page and join our Group on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, and see our Instagram for information, photos, items, ephemera, stories, videos, postcards, games and more...

If you'd like to contribute any items, merchandise, course history, current developments or guest blog posts please do get in touch.

Happy International Museum Day

Today is International Museum Day 2020.

International Museum Day is organised by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and has been held each year since 1977.

The objective of International Museum Day is to raise awareness about the fact that “Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.”

The Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is celebrating it's tenth year in 2020. The worldwide archive of miniature golf memories, histories and ephemera opened it's online doors to the world on the 15th July 2010.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum website, Facebook Page & Group, Twitter and Instagram to see more.

Museum Week 2020

This week is Museum Week.

Running from today to the 17th May, MuseumWeek has returned for a seventh edition.

This year MuseumWeek celebrates togetherness. The theme was adopted earlier this year and with the coronavirus pandemic reaching almost all areas of the world the idea of togetherness has come to take on more meaning in these times of social and physical distancing.

Over the week there are seven different hashtags focusing on a different area, with the overall theme of togetherness.

The hashtags are:
#HeroesMW
#CultureInQuarantineMW
#TogetherMW
#MuseumMomentsMW
#ClimateMW
#TechnologyMW
#DreamsMW
#MuseumWeek

Check out the MuseumWeek website for more information.

The Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is celebrating it's tenth year in 2020. The worldwide archive of miniature golf memories, histories and ephemera opened it's online doors to the world on the 15th July 2010.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum website, Facebook Page & Group, Twitter and Instagram to see more.