Mini Golf Sharks

Catching sight of some Crazy Golf Sharks on our minigolfing travels.

An animatronic shark on the Pirate Mini Golf course in Hatfield

The first 'actual' shark obstacle we found on a minigolf course was at Pendine Bay in Wales on a mammoth road trip in 2009.

The shark hole at the Crazy Golf course in Pendine Sands

Preceding our trip to Pendine Bay we'd visited and played the excellent Strokes Adventure Golf course in Margate. The 16th hole there is called 'Shark's Teeth'.

Playing the Shark's Teeth hole during the 2007 Kent Open tournament at Strokes Adventure Golf course

Playing the 16th hole at Strokes in 2014

The kiosk of the Pirate Mini Golf at the Galleria in Hatfield has a big bitey shark above the counter!

Kiosk shark

The Great White shark is basking on the minigolf course in Hatfield

We often visit Felixstowe in Suffolk and a recent addition to the indoor Adventure Golf course at Manning's Amusement Arcade is a shark!

Emily and a minigolf shark in Felixstowe

I've been to Littlehampton twice. On the second occasion I managed to play the Sharksville Adventure Golf course.

At Sharksville

The shark on the advertising board was a different type of character

The one that didn't get away was a different species of shark too

Look closely at the shark at Sharksville and you'll see he's wearing a bow tie!

The 231st course we played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the 'Sea Dwellers Crazy Golf' at the Golden Palm Resort in Chapel St Leonards, Lincolnshire. However, none of the holes had a shark on it.

We spotted this shark bin at a seafood shop in Whitstable in 2014

Shelley at Putterfingers also spotted a shark obstacle on a miniature golf course - it was on a Disney TV show called Shake It Up!

On our travels we've seen a lot of crocodiles and alligators lurking on courses too.

If you see any sharks on a minigolf course do let me know!

Related blog posts:
- Sharks
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate
- Crazy Golf at Pendine Sands
- Sharksville Adventure Golf at Harbour Park in Littlehampton
- Pirate Mini Golf at the Galleria Shopping Centre in Hatfield

The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller

Meeting author, and former Miniature Golfer, Andy Miller in Whitstable.

Back in 2006 I read a book called Tilting at Windmills. It was one man's attempt to stop worrying and love sport. One of those sports the man - Andy Miller, a self-confessed 'sports atheist' - played was Crazy Golf. The book is a great read and recommended reading for Minigolfers everywhere. It's also a good read in general.

Fast forward to now, well May 2014, and Emily and I were in the seaside town of Whitstable, Kent for a stopover before heading to nearby Margate for that weekend's BMGA British Minigolf Championships.

While wandering around the town we spotted a display in the window of Harbour Books for Andy Miller's brand new book - The Year of Reading Dangerously! We hadn't realised he lived in the town but had known that his new book was being published and that he was embarking on a tour and speaking at events such as WhitLit.

The book display in Harbour Books, Whitstable

Minigolfers on the whole are a friendly, and a little odd, bunch and many of us keep in touch through Twitter, so after seeing the book in the window I tweeted Andy to see if he fancied a pint. He did, and we had a great evening chatting about Minigolf and his new book.

Andy Miller presenting me with a copy (hot off the press) of The Year of Reading Dangerously

The Year of Reading Dangerously is all about the true story of the year Andy spent reading fifty of the greatest and most famous books in the world. Fifty books that he had at one time or another lied about having read! The year of reading dangerously was his attempt to become the person he had pretended to be.

Looking through the book I've read a grand total of one of the fifty books listed (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson). I don't know what that says about me! Emily has read a lot more of them.

The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller

I'm just finishing reading the Wool trilogy by Hugh Howey and then I'm looking forward to giving Andy's book a read. As well as re-reading Tilting at Windmills.

Check out Andy's website for further details of his new book, tour dates and info on his previous work. You can also read the first chapter online, as well as find stockists of the book.

Links:
- Andy Miller's website
- Andy Miller on twitter

Bar Billiards and other pub games at the East Kent in Whitstable

Pool, Bar Billiards and Table Football at pubs in Whitstable and Tankerton-on-Sea.

 

Last Thursday Emily and I visited the lovely seaside town of Whitstable in Kent. Next to our B&B on Oxford Road was the East Kent pub, which advertised itself as having the best beer garden in the town. We didn't get as far as the garden as we spotted a Pool table (with Free Play on a Thursday) and a room with a Bar Billiards table and a very old Table Football!

 

The East Kent had a pub dog that was keen for customers to play with it, along with a squawking Parrot next to the bar and the Bar Billiards table!

 

Bar Billiards and Table Football in the Games Room at the East Kent in Whitstable

 

Our Pool competiton began at The Royal in Tankerton-on-Sea, another nice pub that is worth a visit, and saw me take a 2-nil lead in our first-to-three competition. In the first game at the East Kent Emily took the win to force another game. I won that one to win 3-1.

 

In our Bar Billards match I was victorious 1,050-nil after Emily wiped out her total of 190 by knocking down the black peg.

 

The final game in our pub games series was on the brilliant old Table Football machine. The table was in great condition and it was far superior to modern machines. I won the game 6-3 in a match that lasted a good 20 minutes! One of the attempts on goal took about 5 minutes!

 

The Table Football in the Games Room at the East Kent pub in Whitstable

 

The East Kent is a great pub. It's nice and friendly with lots to do (there are two dart boards as well) and a good selection of drinks. I could easily spend a day in there.

 

Links:

- The East Kent at Shepherd Neame

- The All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA)

 

Related Blog Posts:

- All Bar Billiards-related Blog Posts on the Ham & Egger Files

The Latest Laser Tag Battle - Lazer Rush in Whitstable

The Laser Tag War continues to rage between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS.

The latest battle took place at the Lazer Rush centre in Whitstable, Kent, on Sunday 10th April, with me, Emily and Oliver Florence fighting in a 'Solo Stun' game amongst eleven players in the two-level arena.

In the all-against-all battle I was runner-up to an eleven-year-old kid, Emily was 3rd, and Ollie was 4th. On a Grand National weekend we would have been a good punt with an each-way bet!

Of our group of 3 'Rebels', Ollie had the best Accuracy Rating with 57%, Emily had 51% and with my scattergun/machinegun approach (and 478 shots fired!) I was ranked last on Accuracy with 21%

For the Record, I was a (quite ORANGEY) RED, while Ollie and Emily wore GREEN.

Our Laser Tag Battles have now taken place 'laser-war-torn' places including Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough, Crawley, New Brighton, Cannock and Whitstable.

Website of Lazer Rush.