A look at the Puttshack indoor miniature golf venue at Lakeside shopping centre in Grays, Essex.
A big minigolf thank you to my friend and minigolf rival Simon Brown for sending me some photos from his visit to play Puttshack Mini Golf at Lakeside shopping centre last weekend.
Puttshack Lakeside is home to four 9-hole mini golf courses.
Visit the Puttshack website for more information, opening times and prices.
A look at the Puttshack indoor minigolf course at Lakeside, Essex.
Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Stephen Skinner for sending me some snaps from his visit to Puttshack at the Lakeside shopping centre in Grays, Essex. Stephen played the course last August.
For more information about Puttshack high-tech mini-golf visit the Puttshack website. The brand has recently launched in the USA too.
It was a nice touch to have the windows looking down on the site
The new Puttshack venue will be home to three 9-hole high-tech minigolf courses, with technology enabling tracking of player scores on screens around the course.
One of the entrances to the course will be via Bank underground station
Puttshack Bank is due to open on Saturday 23rd November.
Puttshack's first location opened at Westfield London in White City in 2018. The second of the Puttshack venues opened at intu Lakeside in August this year. There are plans for a new Puttshack to open in Watford next year.
A visit to Puttshack super tech mini golf at White City in London.
We celebrated my birthday with a game of super tech mini golf at Puttshack while down in London. It was the first time we've played a course using technology-enabled balls.
A Puttshack ball
Waiting for take-off!
We played a round on the Emerald course - one of four 9-hole layouts at Puttshack.
I'm always ready for minigolf
Once you place your ball on the tee you have to wait until the lights go green before teeing-off. You've then got one minute to play the ball.
Two apiece on hole one, but Emily was slightly quicker on her putting
Time is against you on each subsequent putt and the quicker you play, the more points you'll pick up. However, accuracy is required and so you still need to get the ball in the hole in the least shots possible.
There are also 'Super Tube' holes on the course which give you a nice route to the cup and are the best chance for a hole-in-one. Emily managed to hit two aces during our game.
Emily about to shoot an ace
Hole 8 was interesting as there were three routes to the cup - the tricky Super Tube, a tunnel to the left and a tunnel to the right. Which tunnel you putted through depended on whether you knew the answer to a question that appeared on the screen when you placed the ball on the tee. Luckily I got my question right and picked up some extra points, while Emily was incorrect and dropped ten points.
The question hole
Spin the wheel...
...to win a prize or points...
...or not as was the case in our game
Minigolf roulette
Sgt Putters Club Band
Emily hit an ace on hole 7
Emily picked up the win in our match-up with a score of 390 points to my 376.
I lost
Unfortunately there aren't any scorecards to take away with you after playing at Puttshack, nor are your scores emailed to you. It's a real shame as we didn't take note of the number of strokes on each hole, or the points we picked up along the way. According to the screens Emily took 17 shots while I played 19 strokes.
After our game we had some drinks and Emily enjoyed some food at the venue. It was nice to see branded wet-wipes at the course, one of which is now in the Crazy Golf Museum's vaults.
Puttshack White City was the brand's first location and opened at Westfield London in 2018. The second Puttshack opened at intu Lakeside in August this year. The new Puttshack at Bank is due to open on Saturday 23rd November. There are also plans for a new Puttshack to open in Watford next year. For more information visit the Puttshack website.