Mini Golf Sharks

Catching sight of some Crazy Golf Sharks on our minigolfing travels.

An animatronic shark on the Pirate Mini Golf course in Hatfield

The first 'actual' shark obstacle we found on a minigolf course was at Pendine Bay in Wales on a mammoth road trip in 2009.

The shark hole at the Crazy Golf course in Pendine Sands

Preceding our trip to Pendine Bay we'd visited and played the excellent Strokes Adventure Golf course in Margate. The 16th hole there is called 'Shark's Teeth'.

Playing the Shark's Teeth hole during the 2007 Kent Open tournament at Strokes Adventure Golf course

Playing the 16th hole at Strokes in 2014

The kiosk of the Pirate Mini Golf at the Galleria in Hatfield has a big bitey shark above the counter!

Kiosk shark

The Great White shark is basking on the minigolf course in Hatfield

We often visit Felixstowe in Suffolk and a recent addition to the indoor Adventure Golf course at Manning's Amusement Arcade is a shark!

Emily and a minigolf shark in Felixstowe

I've been to Littlehampton twice. On the second occasion I managed to play the Sharksville Adventure Golf course.

At Sharksville

The shark on the advertising board was a different type of character

The one that didn't get away was a different species of shark too

Look closely at the shark at Sharksville and you'll see he's wearing a bow tie!

The 231st course we played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the 'Sea Dwellers Crazy Golf' at the Golden Palm Resort in Chapel St Leonards, Lincolnshire. However, none of the holes had a shark on it.

We spotted this shark bin at a seafood shop in Whitstable in 2014

Shelley at Putterfingers also spotted a shark obstacle on a miniature golf course - it was on a Disney TV show called Shake It Up!

On our travels we've seen a lot of crocodiles and alligators lurking on courses too.

If you see any sharks on a minigolf course do let me know!

Related blog posts:
- Sharks
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate
- Crazy Golf at Pendine Sands
- Sharksville Adventure Golf at Harbour Park in Littlehampton
- Pirate Mini Golf at the Galleria Shopping Centre in Hatfield

World Alternative Games - Go West!

Details of the 'World Alternative Games Go West' sports events taking place in Whitland and St Clears in June and July 2014.

The World Alternative Games in Llanwrtyd Wells were created in 2012 as an alternative to the 'other big event' taking place that year. In 2014 the World Alternative Games will be taking place place between Friday 8th and Monday 25th of August with over 60 interesting sport and recreation events held during the festival of fun and games.

Competitors at the 2012 World Alternative Games Finger Jousting tournament

This year there will also be two 'World Alternative Games Go West' events taking place in St Clears and Whitland, Carmarthenshire, Wales on Saturday 21st of June and Sunday 27th of July respectively.

One of the events taking place in the St Clears and Whitland Games (as well as the August main-event) will be Finger Jousting!

The World Alternative Games Go West events are being led by local volunteers and as well as Finger Jousting, sporting events on offer to participants in the St Clear's Games on the 21st of June will be Caber Tossing (using a fence post!), Bung the Boar, Baili Chase, Sandbag Quoits, Rock Paper Scissors, Tractor Crank, Dizzy Challenge and 'Sheepdog' Trial (a pairs event). It sounds excellent. Check out the St Clears Celtic Lowland Games Scorecard below for details of the event sponsors too.

The World Alternative Games Go West event in Whitland on the 27th of July will also feature Finger Jousting, Caber/Fence Post Tossing, Rock Paper Scissors, Quoits along with an Assault Course and the intriguingly named Bog Squatting! Details of the events and sponsors can be seen below.

People taking part in three or more events at a World Alternative Games Go West event will receive one of the prestigious World Alternative Games Corinthian Medals.

All World Alternative Games events are run with the Corinthian Spirit in mind, and while Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded to top placed competitors the most important thing is that visitors to Llanwrtyd Wells (and St Clears & Whitland) get as involved as possible in the fun and activities. Every participant in an event will receive one of the Corinthian Medals for taking part.

Egg Throwing medal winners at the 2012 World Alternative Games - Jas Kukielka, Richard Gottfried & Seve Kukielka

Later this summer, on Saturday 9th of August, the World Alternative Games at the Seaside event will take place at Pendine Sands in Carmarthen Bay.

Pendine Beach is well known for its association with speed sports and events, and the seaside Games will see such events as 'Land Speed Wife Pulling' (a variation of sorts of the Wife Carrying events Llanwrtyd Wells is famous for) and 'Human Hamsters' - a land zorbing race!

Emily and I visited Pendine Sands on our tour of the Welsh coast in 2009 and we played the 129th course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour there. A nice seaside spot it was too.

The World Alternative Games is a mammoth feast of sporting events, ranging from fun and recreational activities to those at the elite, extreme and physical ends of the spectrum. In 2012 there were over 2,000 participants in 35 events, while this year will see 60+ contests and events! There really is something for everyone at the World Alternative Games.

We had a great time in Llanwrtyd Wells in 2012 running the Finger Jousting Championships and competing in the Egg Throwing and we can't wait to be a part of the 2014 World Alternative Games.

Further details about the World Alternative Games Go West can be found on the event Facebook page here and on page 11 of the 2014 World Alternative Games brochure here.

Check out the links below for more information about the events.

Links:
- World Alternative Games 2014 events list and dowloadable event brochure
- World Alternative Games website
- World Alternative Games on Facebook
- World Alternative Games Go West on Facebook
- World Finger Jousting Federation
- World Finger Jousting Federation on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Update from the World Alternative Games 2014 in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales
- 2014 World Alternative Games in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales
- Becoming a World Champion in Egg Throwing!
- Finger Jousting to feature as a sport at the 2012 World Alternative Games!

Minigolf Course Visit No. 129 - Pendine Bay / Pendine Sands

The next stop, and fourth course of the day, on our tour of Wales was to the 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Pendine Sands. The course was the 129th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Not a bad course, but some of the obstacles didn't work too well with a normal golf ball. The Shark's mouth looked great but sadly didn't work in play.


We had been told by the guy at Pembrey that the course at Pendine Sands was a concrete Crazy Golf course that was looking to be repaired (his last visit was the year before).

By the look of the site beside the new course, the old one has been dug up.



Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour list of courses visited and played
- Wales