Happy Miniature Golf Day 2016!

Celebrating Miniature Golf Day with a round of Pitch and Putt at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle, Cheshire.

Having a putt around on Miniature Golf Day

The 21st of September is ALWAYS Miniature Golf Day. It's set in stone and a rule, so who are we to argue? To mark the great occasion we nipped along to our new local mini golf course at Bruntwood Park for a round of Pitch & Putt.

The GIANT Footgolf hole. The cups on the Pitch and Putt course were quite large too

Luckily we were in time to sneak in three holes as the man had already collected in the flags and the last group of Footgolfers were halfway through their round. When he heard about the importance of Miniature Golf Day he grabbed some flags and put them out on the 1st, 2nd and 7th holes so we could get in a mini round of minigolf. That was absolutely brilliant of him.

Emily's golf ball takes flight

Last month we visited Bruntwood Park and had a look at the course, but unfortunately didn't have time for a round. Having had a taste of the layout this evening we'll definitely be heading back for a game. The holes are just long enough to be a challenge, but short enough that you won't spend a lot of time pitching, lobbing and hacking your way round. Perfect for putters like us.

A little chip and run to the hole

The result of our quick minigolf match-up was Richard 3-4-3, Emily 5-7-4. We can't wait for the rematch.

The 7th hole had a lot of leaf fall from the silver birch tree - Emily's balls got quite well camouflaged in it!

September is a BIG month in the mini game and our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. In addition to Miniature Golf Day, next Friday we celebrate 10 years since our travels began, and last weekend we reached the MASSIVE milestone of the 700th minigolf course visit.

Bruntwood Park's minigolf course became the 695th visited when we had a gander at it on the 14th August. It's now the 414th that we've managed to play.

Related blog posts:
- Mini Golf Dates for your diary
- Pitch and Putt at Bruntwood Park, Cheadle
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
- Bruntwood Park on Cheadle Golf Club's website
- Bruntwood Park on Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council's website

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Pitch and Putt at Bruntwood Park, Cheadle

A visit to the Pitch and Putt course at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle.

Cheadle Golf Club's Pitch & Putt course at Bruntwood Park

Today we visited the second miniature golf course since moving to Cheadle Hulme. This one was the Pitch and Putt course at Bruntwood Park.

It looks a nice layout and we'll definitely give it a play one day.

Being under the flight-path of Manchester Airport brought back memories of playing Pitch and Putt at Stockwood Park in Luton.

Bruntwood Park's minigolf course became the became the 695th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since our travels began in September 2006.

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

Putting Green at Oak Mead Family Golf Centre in Devon

The 603rd and 604th courses visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour were at Oak Mead Family Golf Centre in Devon where there's a 9-hole Pitch & Putt layout and a practice Putting Green.

The Putting Green at Oak Mead Family Golf Centre

Follow the brown tourist sign to find the course on Gatedown Lane in Sidmouth, Devon

For more information check out the Oak Mead Family Golf Centre page on the Oakdown Holiday Park website.

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Mini Golf in the South West of England

Link:
- Oak Mead Family Golf Centre

Princes Parade Pitch and Putt in Skegness

On Saturday 9 May 2015 we revisited the Pitch and Putt course on Princes Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire. We previously visited the course in May 2011.

Princes Parade Pitch and Putt in Skegness

The Pitch & Putt course is operated by Golfwise and is a 9-hole layout. It's only open during the summer season, so our visit in early May was probably a bit too early in the year.

Visit the Golfwise website for more information. They have a number of courses in London and Essex. Their Pitch and Putt course at West Park in Chelmsford is a great layout.

Related blog posts:
- Putting and a Pitch & Putt on South Parade, Skegness
- Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf Courses on the Lincolnshire Coast

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Skegness

Link:

- Golfwise

Playing Golf in the Luton Community Games

Playing in our first Par-3/Pitch & Putt competition as part of the Luton Community Games weekend at Stockwood Park.

Following our introduction to the sport of Pétanque on the first day of the Luton 4 Life Community Games, Emily and I headed to Stockwood Park's BIG Mini Golf course for a Par-3/Pitch & Putt Golf tournament!

Upon registration at the gazebo next to the first tee we had to declare our Golf skill level for a handicap rating (beginner, intermediate, or advanced).

Emily was classified as a beginner as she doesn't play Pitch & Putt that often and were given handicaps of '12'. I said I would be an intermediate player as I'd never played a full-round of Golf, but do play a lot of Mini & Crazy Golf - after this raised a laugh from one of the chaps doing the registrations (quite cheeky of him, Grrr) I was given a handicap of '7'.

We then had a quick chat with Graham from Team Beds & Luton, the tournament organiser, grabbed our Putters & Pitching Wedges, had a very quick warm-up and set off for the first tee.

Emily Gottfried setting up a tee-shot under the flight path of London Luton Airport

It was great that the lovely summer weather decided to restart on the morning of the competition and there was some very nice sunshine and heat for our 9.30am tee-off time.

Emily Gottfried playing out of an old bunker, next to an old bunker at Stockwood Park

We had a very pleasant round on the very well maintained course. Thanks must go to the group playing ahead of us on hole 7 who warned us of the extra hazard that had been left in the cup of hole 2 by an overnight 'visitor' to the course!

There were some cracking recovery shots played during our round and some very nice putting too. The Greens on the Stockwood Park Par-3 course are brilliant. The course as a whole is very well maintained, and while there are some quite deep areas of rough that can be troublesome to play out of, when you are on the green it is an absolute pleasure to play.

Richard Gottfried playing hole 8 in the Luton Community Games Golf Competition at Stockwood Park Golf course

At the end of the round we signed our scorecard, posed for some photos and had another chat with Graham who gave us some further information about the new Get Back Into sports activities that are coming up soon - Golf is one of them and you get more info on the Get Back Into website. It was through Get Back Into that I got back into playing Dodgeball!

The results of the event came through via email following the event as there were tournament rounds being played from 8.30am until midday. After playing Golf we went for a wander to the Athletics Centre to see the other Luton 4 Life Community Games activities.

The overall winner in the 27 player competition was Shane Timoney with a round of 30 for a Net score of 18! The joint runners-up were James Brennan and Michael Scanlon who both scored a Net 21(-6).

I finished in a tie for 12th place and Emily in 23rd.

The competition was a nice way to spend a few hours and  I'd definitely play in some more Pitch & Putt/Par-3 competitions at the course in the future. The Stockwood Park Mini/Par-3 Golf course is well worth a play if you're in the area. There is a good Driving Range facility at the club too, along with a bar and if you're so inclined a full 18-hole BIG Golf course.

Many thanks to Graham at Team Beds & Luton for organising the competition.

Links:

- Team Beds & Luton
- Active Luton
- Stockwood Park Golf Centre

- Community Games
- London Luton Airport - event sponsor

Related Blog Posts:

- Playing Pétanque in the Luton Community Games

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #30 Luton (Stockwood Park) - Mini Golf/Pitch & Putt
- Dodgeball - then and now

Upminster's Hall Lane Miniature Golf Complex has Re-opened!

But the two courses there remain unplayed as it wasn't open on our visit.

While in Upminster on Wednesday 11th July I stopped by to see if the Miniature Golf complex on Hall Lane had re-opened. I found it had!

Upminster's Hall Lane Miniature Golf Complex - Crazy Golf & Pitch & Putt

Unfortunately it is only open at weekends and school holidays.

The new price list at the Miniature Golf Complex in Upminster

The Miniature Golf Complex consists of the previously seen 9-hole Crazy Golf course, along with an 18-hole ‘pay & play’ Miniature Golf (Pitch & Putt) course.

The Miniature Golf (Pitch & Putt) course at Upminster's Hall Lane Miniature Golf Complex

I’m sure we’ll get to play both courses one day...

Related Blog Posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date
- Upminster (Hall Lane) - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit - Derelict Course

An overgrown Mini Golf (Pitch & Putt) course at the Erskine Bridge Hotel in Scotland

While in Scotland last weekend I made a flying visit to the Erskine Bridge Hotel ahead of a social event taking place there next year.

While having a wander around my Minigolf-senses and radar were alerted to a patch of land and a sign - which happened to be the former location of a Mini Golf/Pitch & Putt course!

The sign had been covered over as the course is obviously not there/in use any more, but it had been a 9-hole layout.

Link to more information, photos and videos of other course visits on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Mini Golf on a Roof Terrace at The Portobello Gold Hotel & Crazy Golf at Alexandra Palace

Ahead of our trip to London last Saturday for the UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships I had a quick look online to see if London is home to any new Minigolf courses since my last visit and online search. I found out it is!

In fact I spotted two new Miniature Golf courses in London.

According to the eventful website the Portobello Gold Hotel has a Mini Golf course on its roof and calls it an 'eccentric touch'.

We headed along to the Portobello Gold pub and hotel and asked about the Mini Golf at the bar, only to be told that the course is on one of the hotel room balconies, so unfortunately we couldn't have a play of it. We did however get warmed-up with a few lunchtime drinks ahead of the evening's big sporting event at the RPS Championships!

The other course I found on my web search is at Alexandra Palace and is an 18-hole Crazy Golf course. We didn't have time to get along to have a game there, but have added it to our 'to visit' list.

Alexandra Palace is also home to what I have heard is a very good Pitch & Putt course, and a Putting Green. both of which are run by Golfwise, a company which runs a number of Pitch & Putt courses around the country. We've visited their site in Chelmsford, in 2009, and we had time to play a few of the holes on the course, which was in great condition and very testing. Back in 2010 we also visited the site in Upminster which is still currently closed. On our roadtrip to Lincolnshire earlier this year we ran out of time and didn't manage to play their other Pitch & Putt course on South Parade in Skegness.

Rleated blog posts:
- Miniature Golf & Crazy Golf Courses in London
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Musselburgh Miniature Golf Links (Pitch & Putt) - Fisherrow Links

On Sunday 21st August 2011 Emily and I were having a wander from our hotel in Brunstane, Edinburgh heading towards the seaside at Portobello & Joppa. Our first stop was at nearby Musselburgh where we found a Miniature Golf Links course at Fisherrow.

The course was a Pitch & Putt variety of Miniature Golf and there was a couple of large groups on the first few holes so we decided to give playing it a miss. However on a return visit we'd very likely play the course as it looked in great condition with some interesting bumps and hillocks.

It was £2.50 a round for adults.

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Mini Golf (Pitch Putt) in Shoreham by Sea (I think)!

On our little tour of the South Coast between Hastings and Worthing we spotted another 'Mini Golf' at Shoreham by Sea (I think). We didn't play it as we were running short on time, and it was a Pitch & Putt variety of Miniature Golf.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour