Minigolf in Bournemouth, Boscombe, Southbourne, Poole and Sandbanks

A look at the miniature golf courses in the Bournemouth, Boscombe, Southbourne, Poole and Sandbanks area of Dorset.

We're gearing up for a minigolfing road-trip to the Bournemouth area in the spring and are looking forward to visiting and playing the courses down there.

We've visited the area a number of times over the years but our last trip there was in 2013. Since then a number of new courses have opened up, while some of the others have been refurbished.

If you know of any other minigolf courses in the Bournemouth, Boscombe, Southbourne, Poole or Sandbanks area do let us know.

Boscombe

Boscombe Chine Gardens is home to the Squirrel Café and mini golf. We played competitions on the course in 2009 and 2013.

Boscombe Chine Gardens Mini Golf course in 2009

Boscombe Pier was home to an eco-friendly Crazy Golf course for a while, we're not sure if it's still there though. The balls in use were made of fish food and the last hole had a drop into the sea!

Bournemouth

Mighty Adventures Crazy Golf at Playgolf Bournemouth is a relatively new 18-hole adventure golf course.

The Oasis Fun Centre in Bournemouth is home to an indoor jungle-themed adventure golf course.

Bournemouth Gardens Classic Mini Golf in the Lower Gardens has been in the gardens for decades. It re-opened following a refurbishment a few seasons ago. We visited in 2009 and 2013. The Lower Gardens have been home to miniature golf courses since 1931 when the first Putting Green was introduced.

Mini Golf in the Lower Gardens, Bournemouth in 2013

Smuggler's Cove Adventure Golf on Pier Approach in Bournemouth opened last year and is an 18-hole layout.

Mr Mulligan's Space Golf in Bournemouth is home to three 9-hole indoor adventure golf courses.

There used to be a derelict Crazy Golf near the Lower Gardens on Exeter Road in Bournemouth. It'll be interesting to see if it's still there and what state it's in now.

We checked out the course in 2009 and 2013

There's a Crazy Golf course at Tuckton Tea Gardens, Bournemouth. It looks like a fun layout.

Solent Meads Golf Centre in Bournemouth is home to a par-3 course as well as a Putting Green.

Christchurch

There's a Crazy Golf courses in Christchurch. We've known about it for a while but it's always been slightly off our route.

Poole

Harbour Pirates Glow Golf in Poole is a pirate-themed indoor UV minigolf course.

Poole Park Crazy Golf is a 12-hole outdoor course. We've also played a Putting Course next to the Crazy Golf. The park is also home to a miniature railway.

Poole Park Crazy Golf in 2010

Sandbanks

Sandbanks Crazy Golf is an interesting 18-hole layout. We've played tournaments on the course in the past.

There are some big obstacles on the Sandbanks Crazy Golf course

Southbourne

Cafe Riva in Southbourne is home to a Crazy Golf course. We played the course in 2009 and revisited in 2013. On our return we saw the venue is also home to a Putting course and a Pitch & Putt layout.

The Crazy Golf course at Cafe Riva in Southbourne back in 2013

Holiday parks

Two holiday parks in the area are home to courses:
Sandford Holiday Park in Sandford, Poole has a minigolf course.
Merley Court Touring Park in Merley, Wimborne, near Poole has a 9-hole minigolf course.

It should be a marvellous trip to the seaside.

What are the odds we find a few other hidden putting greens or pop-up crazy golf courses while we're down there?

Crazy Golf, Putting and Pitch & Putt at Cafe Riva in Southbourne, Dorset

A re-visit to the Crazy Golf course at Cafe Riva in Southbourne, Dorset.

Crazy Golf at Cafe Riva in Southbourne

On our trip to the Dorset coast Emily and I had a wander to Southbourne to have a look at the updated Crazy Golf course.

The newly felted and refurbed Crazy Golf at Cafe Riva in Southbourne

Back in June 2009 we'd played the course (#109) and found it to be a poor Minigolf experience. The course was in a terrible shape.

Some of the old obstacles remain, like this BIG yellow thing

Happily it looks a lot better now and while we didn't have time to play it this time around I'm happy to report from our fellow Minigolf tourists Paul & Owen Johnson that it is much more fun to play now.

Cafe Riva now also has two other Miniature Golf courses on the site - a Putting course and a Pitch & Putt.

Putting, Crazy Golf, Pitch & Putt, Drinks and Ice Cream - a great seaside mix :-)

Southbourne's Pitch & Putt

Southbourne's Putting course

We've now visited a total of 533 Minigolf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Course Visit No. 109 - Southbourne / Fisherman's Walk

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date

Links:

- Cafe Riva

Gluten Free in Bournemouth, Boscombe and Southbourne, Dorset

Dining out Gluten Free in three Dorset seasides.

Before we headed to Boscombe, Dorset for the 2013 BMGA British Matchplay Minigolf Championships and a mini-holiday Emily and I had a search to see what options we had for dining out Gluten Free.

The best place we found for Gluten Free options was the brilliant Gluten Free Vegetarian UK blog that had lots of reviews and suggestions for restaurants and takeaways in the Bournemouth, Boscombe and Southbourne area.

We duly made a list of all the places to try. On our promenading through the seaside town we spotted most of the places on our list. One of the restaurants we were most looking forward to visiting was Natural Bourne Grillers. The online menu had certainly whetted our appetites and it was the first place we dined on Thursday.

So good was the food and service that we also booked a table for Friday night!

Natural Bourne Grillers is a steakhouse & grill and all meals can be prepared gluten free! The chef told us that he has friends with coeliac disease so he makes a real effort to make sure the food at the restaurant is safe and tasty. It really was great and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Enjoying the BIG burger at Natural Bourne Grillers

On both days I opted for the 10oz bacon cheeseburger! It was a big burger (two 5oz steak mince patties in a good gluten free bun with plenty of cheese and nice bacon) and came with hand cut fries and a great coleslaw. On the Saturday we also went for the BBQ chicken wings which were very good. 

We will definitely be heading back again. There are plenty of other items on the menu and they have a number of daily specials and offers during the week. There is also no corkage fee when you take your own alcohol which is great.

On Saturday evening we headed to Tomlin’s Fish & Chip shop and restaurant. Another gluten free chippy to add to our list.

Fish & Chips at Tomlin's

We stayed in the Balincourt Hotel in Bournemouth (great location for the Boscombe Chine Mini Golf course), which can cater for Coeliacs for breakfast (and evening meals if required). There were gluten free cereals available and the full English breakfast was a great way to start the day.

We also saw that The Crooked Book shop in Boscombe has some gluten free options, but didn’t eat there on this occasion.

We're looking forward to our return to the Dorset coast already!

Links:

- Gluten Free Vegetarian UK blog

- Gluten free restaurant list – Bournemouth, Poole and day trips around

- Natural Bourne Grillers

Related blog posts:

- Gluten Free Fish & Chips that we've found on our travels

- Gluten Free in Weymouth, Dorset

- Gluten Free blog posts

Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Dorset

Details of the Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf, Minigolf and Golf Putting Green courses we've played in Dorset since October 2008.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels Emily and I have visited over 500 courses to date. The furthest along the south coast of England we've managed to reach so far is the county of Dorset, where we've played a variety of Miniature Golf courses.

The first course I visited in the county (and 76th overall) was the 18-hole Pirate Adventure Mini Golf course in Weymouth. Situated at the town's Sea Life Centre at Lodmoor Country Park, the course hosted the first-ever Weymouth Open Minigolf tournament in October 2008, a contest I won!

2008 Weymouth Open Minigolf champion

We revisited the town for further editions of the event, when I finished as the runner-up in 2009 & 2011, and seventh in 2010. Alongside Chris Harding I won the Weymouth Open Team Tournament in 2011.

2011 Weymouth Open Team Champions

The next visit to Dorset came in June 2009 when the 106th course played was the 18-hole Crazy Golf course in Sandbanks. We were in the area for the British Minigolf Association's British Doubles Championship event at the Boscombe Chine Gardens Minigolf course and took the opportunity explore the courses down there.

Me and my Minigolf Doubles Partner Kevin Moseley at Boscombe Chine Gardens Minigolf course

In total we've visited fifteen courses in Dorset and played eleven of them. Check out the list below for links to blog posts about our visits.

Miniature Golf Courses Played in Dorset:

76 Weymouth (Sea Life Centre) - Adventure Golf

77 Weymouth (Bowleaze Cove) - Crazy Golf

106 Sandbanks - Crazy Golf

107 Bournemouth (Lower Gardens) - Minigolf

108 Boscombe (Chine Gardens) - Minigolf

109 Southbourne/Fisherman's Walk (Cafe Riva) - Crazy Golf - this course has been refurbished since our visit

110 Fordingbridge (Tudor Rose Inn) - Miniature Golf - Update: October 2012 - the beer garden has had a makeover and the course is no longer there

153 Poole (Poole Park) - Crazy Golf - Course removed and replaced in Summer 2010. See also 203
154 Poole (Poole Park) - Putting Green
203 Poole (Poole Park) - New 12-hole Crazy Golf - revisit in October 2011

204 Weymouth (Greenhill Gardens) - Putting

Unplayed Miniature Golf Course Visits in Dorset:
- Weymouth - Putting Green - Now played, see #204
- Bournemouth (Near Lower Gardens) - Derelict course
- Sandbanks - Putting Green
- Weymouth (Riviera Hotel) - Crazy Golf - Visited again in October 2010 - the Hotel and Course were derelict!
- Christchurch (Hoburne Holiday Park) - Crazy Golf

Note: The number next to the course denotes the 'visit number' on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. You can click through from the list above to the webpage on the Ham & Egger Files detailing our visit to the course.

Two of the most viewed videos on my YouTube Channel were filmed on Poole Park's old Crazy Golf course. Hole 9 used to be a Pinball layout and in the video I show you how the 'Pro's play it'...

If you've got a spare £375,000 knocking about the place you can currently purchase a house in Bournemouth that comes with its own Huxley Golf Putting Green!

The Southbourne Crazy Golf course had the strangest prices I've ever seen!

In 2013 the British Minigolf Association Tour will be returning to Dorset when the Boscombe Chine Minigolf course hosts the BMGA British Matchplay Championships and the Sandbanks Crazy Golf course hosts the Dorset Pro-Am Crazy Golf Championship.

The Midlands Minigolf Club at the 2009 BMGA British Club Championships in Sandbanks

According to the excellent Miniature Golf course list at MiniatureGolfer.com there are also Minigolf / Crazy Golf courses in Bere Regis, Bridport, Charmouth, Rousden, Warmwell and Wimbourne. The journey continues...

Putting at the 'Flintstone's' Crazy Golf course at Bowleaze Cove, Weymouth

Links:

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- MiniatureGolfer.com Miniature Golf Course List (England and the Islands)

- British Minigolf Association (BMGA)
- Pirate Adventure Mini Golf at Weymouth Sea Life Centre
- Bournemouth Lower Gardens Minigolf
- Boscombe Chine Gardens Mini Golf
- Sandbanks Crazy Golf