The Ham and Egger Files: Pitch & Putt

Showing posts with label Pitch & Putt. Show all posts

Friday, December 20, 2024

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.

Information about new adventure golf, crazy golf and miniature golf courses 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.

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Adventure Golf at Beacon Park in Lichfield

Lichfield's Beacon Park is getting a new Adventure Golf course.

The new outdoor Adventure Golf course at Beacon Park in Lichfield, Staffordshire is being created as part of improvement works to the facilities at the park.

The park's Pitch & Putt course will also be changed, going from an 18-hole to a 9-hole course, but with improved fairways and greens. Footgolf and disc golf will also be retained.

Check out the Lichfield District Council and Lichfield Historic Parks websites for more information.

The Adventure Golf course at Beacon Park will be a new one for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We've been to Beacon Park before. Back in September 2017 we played the Eternit-style Miniature Golf course at the park. That layout became the 461st played and 775th visited on our travels.

Crazy Golf at Beacon Park in Lichfield (September 2017)

Saturday, September 21, 2024

100 names for Miniature Golf

A look at different names for miniature golf.

Looney Golf in Bradford - the name makes a change from the 'usual' Crazy Golf often found in the UK

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

3D Golf
4D Golf
5 Star Crazy Golf
Abenteuergolf
Adventure Crazy Golf
Adventure Golf
Adventure Golf Grass Putting
Adventure Putting
Bahnegolf
Bangolf
Beach Golf
Beton
Blacklight Indoor Mini Golf
Carpeted Miniature Golf
Chrizy Golf
Circuito de Minigolf
Cosmic Golf
Crazee Golf
Crazier Golf
Crazier Nolf
Crazy Adventure Golf
Crazy Golf
Crazy Golf Adventure
Crazy Golf Pool
Crazy Jungle Golf
Crazy Pool
Crazy Putting Challenge
Crazy Snooker
Cwrs Golff Bach
Eternit
Extraordinary Golf
Fantasy Golf
Feltgolf
Garden Adventure Golf
Garden Minigolf
Ghetto Golf
Golf Byr
Golff Anturus
Golff Bach
Golf FX
Golff Giamocs
Golff Gwallgof
Golff Gwirion
Golff Gwyllt
Golff Mini
Golf Trail
Grass Putting
Gwallgolff
Hindernis Billard
Indoor Adventure Golf
Indoor Crazy Golf
Indoor Miniature Golf
Indoor Mini Golf
Indoor Minigolf
Junkyard Golf
Jurassic Golf
Krazy Golf
Le Mini Golf
Llain Bytio
Looney Golf
Maes Golff
Magical Crazy Golf
Magical Golf
Magical Golf FX
Midgetgolfbaan
Mini Golf
Mini-Golf Garden
Mini Putting
Mini Sculpture Golf
Miniature Crazy Golf
Miniature Golf
Miniaturgolf
Miniaturegolf
Miniatvre Golf
Minigolf
Minigolff
NIFO Steel Minigolf
Novelty Golf
Obstacle Golf
Pit-Pat
Pit-Pat Table Golf
Pitch & Putt
Plonk Golf / Plonk! Golf
Portable Crazy Golf
Portable Minigolf
Portaputt
Putting
Putting Course
Putting Green
Putt Putt
Ratagolf
Realistic Miniature Golf
Retro Golf
Rock N Golf
Snookergolf
Super tech mini golf
Swedish Felt
Table Golf
Themed Golf
Woolly Golf / Wooly Golf

Do you know of any other names, or call it something else yourself? Do let us know in the comments.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

When our travels began in 2006 there were around 600 courses in the UK. There are now more than 1,000, and there are lots of new places to play the game opening all the time. Several courses have closed over the years, while others have been refurbished, redeveloped or completely transformed into new layouts.

All the of the changes and updates means our minigolf quest to visit every course is becoming never-ending! 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.

We've now been to 1,064 courses overall in the last 18 years, with 1,007 of those locations in the British Isles.

Together with my brother Christopher - a charter member of the tour - and his family, we've visited a total of 1,111 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!

You can see all of the courses we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour list.

Friday, September 20, 2024

Definitions of Miniature Golf

A look at names for the game of miniature golf.

Minigolf Miraflores in Mallorca, Spain. May 2023

Minigolf Miraflores in Mallorca, Spain in May 2023

There are a number of different names for the game of minigolf. 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.

In the UK many people would refer to 'minigolf' as 'crazy golf'. This is me and the sign for 'The Original Crazy Golf' course (established in 1926) in Skegness, Lincolnshire back in May 2015

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.

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.

We have found 100 synonyms, types and variants of minigolf on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels to date.

Crazy Golf at the Yorkshire Ice Cream Farm Hatfield, Doncaster

What do you call the game? Do let us know in the comments.

Number of holes on a miniature golf course

Most minigolf courses consist of either 9 or 18 holes. There are also a number of 12-hole courses. Some venues have two, three or four separate 9-hole or 12-hole courses to create 36-hole centres.

Some courses classify themselves as 19-hole courses by including a Lucky Last Hole where a free game can be won.

Pop-up miniature golf

There are also a growing number of pop-up minigolf courses created for retailtainment activity and promotions, sports tasters, marketing events, art installations and more.

Miniature Golf competitions and tournaments

As well as being played as a fun, leisure activity there is also an official competition side to the game.

Tournament play is more established in continental Europe, although the UK and USA have governing bodies and hold a number of competitions each year.

The World Minigolf Sport Federation

The World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) is the governing body for minigolf and has member nations around the world.

Players competing in official WMF tournaments tend to use putters specially designed for the needs of minigolfers as well as minigolf balls made of rubber and designed with competition players in mind, allowing them to find the best hole-in-one shot.

Tournaments are held on four types of minigolf courses and the WMF has its own definitions:

Feltgolf – Feltgolf courses (also known as Swedish Felt) are a type of course made of a felt covered wooden base consisting of 18 holes from a selection of 32 standardised designs.

Concrete – Concrete courses (also known as Beton) are a type of course made of a concrete base with metal rails as borders. They consist of 18 standardised holes. Some courses have a mirror-image of certain designs.

Miniaturegolf – Miniaturegolf courses (also known as Eternit) are a type of course made of a thin concrete material consisting of 18 holes from a selection of 28 standardised designs.

Minigolf Open Standard (MOS) – these are courses that do not fit into the above standard types and would be more recognisable to most players in the UK and USA. MOS courses include Adventure Golf courses, Crazy Golf layouts and Minigolf courses that take inspiration from regular golf. Each hole on a WMF-sanctioned MOS course can range from 3 to 40 metres in length.

Competitions are also held on the Stern Golf and Cobi Golf systems, although these types of courses are not well known outside of Germany.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

How many minigolf courses are there in the UK?

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.

How many minigolf courses are there in the UK?

As at September 2024 there are approximately 1,350 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.