Minigolfnews guest blog post about the Crazy Golf Museum

My latest guest blog at Minigolfnews is about the Crazy Golf Museum.

Happy National Pencil Day

A selection of minigolf pencils from our travels.

Thanks to the Derwent Pencil Museum for reminding us of this important day.

We love playing minigolf courses and it's brilliant when we find one that has branded pencils to score the game with.

It's a superb bit of minigolf marketing too.

If you'd like your minigolf course pencil (or other items of merch and ephemera) displayed and archived in the Crazy Golf Museum please do get in touch.

Just one of the many minigolf pencils in the Crazy Golf Museum - from the Wye Valley Miniatvre Golf course in Symonds Yat West

You can see miniature golf course pens and pencils on the Crazy Golf Museum website.

A scorecard and pencils from Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf in Orlando, Florida from our friend Shelley Barrett

Arnold Palmer Putting Courses Crazy Golf pencils from the course in Prestatyn

A pencil from Lumberjax Mini Golf in New Zealand from our friend James Astrop

A pencil from Urban Putt in San Francisco from our friend and minigolf rival (and sometimes team-mate) Kevin Moseley

A pencil from Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf

Minigolf pencil from Swing by Golfbaren in Stockholm, Sweden 

A pencil from Swingers Crazy Golf in London

A pencil from the CLUB GOLF crazy golf pop-up at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, London. This was the last course I played before the UK went into coronavirus pandemic lockdown / quarantine

Keeping minigolf rolling

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic the minigolf and wider competitive socialising sectors were booming. Something we're very keen to continue once the world gets back to a semblance of normality.

Playing Mini Golf at Lane7 in Newcastle

In the meantime if you have any minigolf course news, ideas, suggestions or information, or if you would like to guest blog on the Ham & Egger Files please do get in touch.

Emily playing Jungle Safari Adventure Golf at Ravenmeadow Golf Centre in Worcester

We have created a Big Mini Golf Bucket List with fun ideas and things to do over the coming days, weeks and months.

We also run the Crazy Golf Museum and are keen to continue gathering items and stories from the world of miniature golf.

We've been playing minigolf seriously for 14 years and grew up playing the game on holidays and day trips around the UK.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels we've been to a total of 948 courses since September 2006.

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With twenty years of marketing and sales experience each we offer consultancy services to people and businesses looking to set-up courses, review their operations, hole designs, contests, tournaments and more. Do get in touch for a chat to see how we can help and work together.

Putting in Prestatyn

Crazy Golf Museum - the virtual collection

If you own, operate or manage a minigolf course we'd love to share information about your venue.

With an ever-growing collection of minigolf items, ephemera and memories the Crazy Golf Museum reaches a worldwide audience through its website, blogs and social media.

The collection will eventually be housed in a bricks and mortar museum and exhibition space. Since July 2010 the online museum has been the premier space for sharing the history of the game.

We're also keen to share information about online contests and courses in the here and now, as well as future tournaments and events. What is current today soon ebbs into history.

An old postcard from Bournemouth's Lower Gardens minigolf course

A look at an old postcard showing Bournemouth's Lower Gardens minigolf course.

After writing about the old J. Arthur Dixon postcard showing the Mini-Golf course at the Lower Gardens in Bournemouth, Dorset I had a look through our collection to find the earliest posting date we had on a card of the course.

It was this one, posted 40 years ago this year!

The 'Miniature Golf in Central Gardens, Bournemouth' postcard by The Photographic Greetings Cards Co Ltd, London was posted from Bournemouth to Cleveleys in Lancashire on the 24th July 1970

You can see what the Lower Gardens Mini Golf course looks like now on the course's Facebook Page.

We're looking forward to replaying the course later this year.

A postcard from Rylstone Crazy Golf and Tea Gardens in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight

A look at an old postcard from the Rylstone Crazy Golf and Tea Gardens in Shanklin, Isle of Wight.

While browsing through the many boxes at the Stockport Postcard Fair we spotted this nice old postcard showing the Rylstone Crazy Golf course and Tea Gardens at Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

Rylstone Crazy Golf and Tea Gardens, Shanklin, Isle of Wight. Jarrold Publishing, Norwich postcard CKIW 2309

The card is un-posted but has had the year 1999 written on the reverse. The photo on the card was taken a long time before then.

We visited the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2008. It was incredibly well signposted then, and still was on our return in 2016.

Rylstone Tea Gardens Crazy Golf course in Shanklin, Isle of Wight in 2016

In 2008 the course still looked very much like it does on the postcard. However due to decades of wear and tear the base of the 'tables' meant that a new concrete layout had to be created to house the original obstacles.

Rylstone Tea Gardens Crazy Golf course in Shanklin, Isle of Wight in 2008

Visit the Rylstone Tea Gardens & Crazy Golf course on Facebook for more info, opening times, events and prices.

It's the second copy of the postcard we've got as we received one in the post from the Isle of Wight itself after our friend Cat - aka WightHot on Twitter - found some in a charity shop on the island.

A mini-golf postcard from Bournemouth

A look at an old mini-golf postcard from Bournemouth.

One of the old postcards we found at the recent Stockport Postcard Fair was this J. Arthur Dixon card showing the Mini-Golf course at the Lower Gardens in Bournemouth, Dorset.

Mini-Golf at the Lower Gardens, Bournemouth, Dorset. J. Arthur Dixon postcard. PDO/89332 Posted August 1990

It was sent from Bournemouth to Uttoxeter, Staffordshire in August 1990.

It's one of a number of postcards we've got that show the Lower Gardens minigolf course. By the look of the card the photo is from at least the early 80's.

We'll be down in Dorset soon and are looking forward to replaying the course.

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

Minigolf at Bournemouth Lower Gardens

A Crazy Golf postcard from Sandbanks

A look at a long-gone Crazy Golf course in Sandbanks, Poole.

We found some brilliant old postcards at the recent Stockport Postcard Fair in the Town Hall.

One of which was this Dennis Publications postcard showing the Crazy Golf and Rockery in Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset.

Crazy Golf and Rockery, Sandbanks, Poole. P.2674 Dennis Productions Postcard. Postally used. Date unknown

The card was sent from Bournemouth to Winchester.

While that particular Crazy Golf course is no longer there, you can still play minigolf in Sandbanks on a much larger layout.

Sandbanks Crazy Golf is an fun and tricky 18-hole course. We've played tournaments there in the past.

Sandbanks Crazy Golf

We're looking forward to visiting and playing the courses down in the Bournemouth, Boscombe, Southbourne, Poole and Sandbanks areas in the Spring.

Savage Golf scorecard from the minigolf pop-up in Norwich

Many thanks to my brother and Crazy World of Minigolf Tour member Christopher Gottfried for saving me a scorecard from his visit to the Savage Golf minigolf pop-up in Norwich last December.

The Savage Golf pop-up crazy golf course was only open for a month last year.

Savage Golf minigolf pop-up in Norwich. Photo by Christopher Gottfried

New scorecards in the Crazy Golf Museum

A look at two minigolf scorecards from the USA.

Pat Sheridan from The Putting Penguin minigolf review website has kindly contributed two new miniature golf scorecards to the Crazy Golf Museum's archives.

First is a scorecard from Mountasia Family Fun Center in Santa Clarita, California, USA.

The second is from the Hole 19 pop-up bar and minigolf course in Los Angeles.

It's always brilliant to see minigolf scorecards and items from courses around the world.

Check out the The Putting Penguin minigolf review website to see more from Pat's minigolfing travels.

Happy ninth birthday to the Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is nine years old today.

Many happy returns to the Crazy Golf Museum as it marks it's ninth birthday today.

Set up by Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies and me back on the 15th July 2010, the virtual musuem is a treasure trove and archive for all things minigolf.

There are so many marvellous things going in the world of miniature golf that there's new stuff to log and record every single day. The future of the game is looking bright too, with new courses opening, new tournaments to play in, milestones and anniversaries to be celebrated, and lots of minigolf fun to be had.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more information, photos, items, ephemera, stories, videos, postcards, games and more!

Waddingtons Crazy Golf Machine board game

A look at the Waddingtons Crazy Golf Machine Board Game.

The Crazy Golf Machine board game by Waddingtons

Back on the 22nd September 2013 (the day after 'Miniature Golf Day'). I bought a copy of the Waddingtons Crazy Golf Machine board game for one pound at the Stonham Barns Car Boot Sale.

It's a superb board game and a lot of fun to play. The set was created in 1995 and comes with all you need to play a round, from 'clubs' to balls and a whole host of crazy obstacles to putt through.

I really need to have another play of it. The last time I had a round on it was in July 2016 when I faced-off against my friend and minigolf rival Steve Lovell.

Recreating the box art of the Crazy Golf Machine board game

We played using the version of the game donated to The Crazy Golf Museum by another friend and fellow Crazy Golfer Gareth Holmes as the version from the car boot sale was incomplete.

In the two round match, Steve won with a total score of 37 to 38 over 18-holes. Round one was 19 to 20 in my favour, while Steve picked up the win in game two 17 to 19.

Our friends Tom and Robin over at A Couple of Putts received a US-version of the game for Christmas. Lucky! Over there it's called the Goofy Golf Machine.

We've got a number of other minigolf games in our collection, including Putt 'n Score

Videos:
- Waddingtons Crazy Golf Machine Board Game in action 1 of 2
- Waddingtons Crazy Golf Machine Board Game in action 2 of 2

Ninja Golf! in Granger, Indiana

Finding out about Ninja Golf! in Granger, Indiana.

Ninja Golf! in October 2018

A BIG thank you goes out to John Miller from Ninja Golf! in Granger, Indiana who has sent us a huge pile of minigolf swag from his course.

A whole host of Ninja Golf! merch

Ninja Golf! opened in 2018 and the minigolf centre's three Japanese Garden-style courses have proved very popular.

Three Ninja Golf! stickers

The theming of the whole Ninja Golf! brand is amazing and the scorecards for the course are some of the finest we've seen.

Ninja Golf! scorecards

The scoring side of the Ninja Golf! scorecard 

A Ninja Golf! flying disc 

A Ninja Golf! visor

A Ninja Golf! t-shirt

The reverse of the Ninja Golf! t-shirt 

A lovely Ninja Golf! pin badge 

Three Little Ninja by Jon Anon-San 

The Rules of Ninja Golf!  

Ninja Golf! course leaflets

As well as the three 9-hole miniature golf courses Ninja Golf! is also home to a Lazer Maze challenge, Kabuki Theater and a Karaoke Lounge.

Ninja Golf! course leaflet

Check out the Ninja Golf! website and give them a like on Facebook and a follow on Instagram. It was brilliant following the progress of Ninja Golf! as the site developed from a patch of land to the venue it is today.

Ninja Golf! as it looked in June 2018

Ninja Golf! is definitely another course we'd love to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Links:
- Ninja Golf! website
- Ninja Golf! on Facebook
- Ninja Golf! on Instagram

Related blog posts:
- Ephemera
- Scorecards
- Merchandise