Talk & Putt minigolf at Wigan Library

Wigan Library is hosting a Talk & Putt crazy golf event this Thursday, 12th March.

The pop-up minigolf event aims to encourage conversation, connections and improve mental wellbeing.

Find out more and book your place on the Wigan Libraries Eventbrite page.

New Mini Golf course at The Galleries in Wigan

A new indoor Mini Golf course is being created at The Galleries in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

The new indoor Mini Golf course is part of a development of the former Galleries shopping centre in Wigan town centre.

Find out more about The Galleries redevelopment on the Wigan Council and The Galleries websites

It'll be a new and fairly local course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Mini Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

Visiting the two miniature golf courses at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.

We headed to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to contest the Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament on the two minigolf courses in the park five years ago this weekend.

It's crazy to think that half a decade has passed already. Although two of those five years don't really count as they were a covid write-off!

First up was the Adventure Golf course.

Adventure Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

It was the 700th course we visited in the British Isles and 727th overall.

This was followed by the Crazy Golf layout.

Crazy Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

At just £1 per game, the course was the lowest price we'd ever found for an 18-hole course on our travels. Amazing value for money. We still haven't anywhere charging less than a quid a go.

The Haigh Woodland Park Crazy Golf course was the 728th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 701st in the UK.

We've now been to 983 courses on our travels since September 2006.

Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament

Margate's Scott Lancley won the Great Northern Minigolf Open played in Wigan's Haigh Woodland Park on Saturday 8th April.

Played over two rounds on the park's two 18-hole courses, Lancley won with a 36 hole score of 87. I was runner-up on 93, with Ramsbottom's Russ Dent finishing in third place on 95. A total of nine players took part in the first - and to date, only - staging of the event.

Playing Crazy Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

A visit to the Crazy Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.

On Saturday 8th April 2017 we headed to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to compete in the Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament played out on the two miniature golf courses in the park.

The second course played was the old Crazy Golf layout operated by the Friends of Haigh Country Park group.

At just £1 per game the course was the lowest price we'd ever found for an 18-hole course on our travels. Amazing value for money. We still haven't anywhere charging less than a quid.

Celebrating an ace on the labyrinth hole

The 18-holes are a real hotch potch as the courses has been added to and refurbished by different people and groups over the years. It certainly made for a fun and challenging round.

It was also nice to see a Humpty on the course.

The Haigh Woodland Park Crazy Golf course was the 728th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 701st in the UK. It became the 428th played on our travels since September 2006.

We've now been to 948 courses overall.

I'd first visited the Country Park back in December 2012 when the course was partially derelict.

Playing Adventure Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

Visiting the Adventure Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.

Three years ago we headed to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to contest the Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament on the two minigolf courses in the park.

First up was the Adventure Golf course.

It was the 700th course we visited in the British Isles and 727th overall. We've now been to 909 in the British Isles and 948 overall since 2006.

The Adventure Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan is a very large layout with some long holes and big obstacles.

Visit the Haigh Adventure Golf website for further information about the course.

The layout was designed and built by the team at HM Adventure Golf. Visit their website for more details on their work.

Lupine Travel's most EXTREME tour to date

How would you fancy a holiday to The People's Republic of Wigan?

My friend Dylan Harris runs Lupine Travel, a Wigan-based business that operates holidays and tours to the far flung reaches and hidden corners of our world.

To celebrate their 10th anniversary Lupine Travel are running a very special one-off tour to their most extreme destination to date - The People's Republic of Wigan!

The four-day tour in June will feature trips to Rivington Terraced Gardens, Winter Hill, Wigan Pier, a walking tour of the town and more! You'll also be able to sample local delicacies including the (in)famous Pie Barm!

Last September we revisited Wigan to see the North Korea, An Exploration exhibition at The Old Courts, a showcase of a selection of rare propaganda posters and artifacts collected by Dylan from his travels to the country.

Poster from North Korea's participation in the 2010 World Cup

During our visit to Wigan we enjoyed having a wander and seeing the sights.

The Grand Hotel in Wigan

Emily at Uncle Joe's Mint Balls factory

At Wigan North Weston - one of the towns two railway stations

There are lots of entertainment options in Wigan

On Dylan's 2015 trip to North Korea he and his party competed in the first-ever Pyongyang Minigolf Open Tournament! Check out the blog post Mini Golf in Pyongyang, North Korea for more information and photos of the course, said to have been in Kim Jong Un's personal residence before he gifted it to the North Korean people and had it moved to its current location.

The Pyongyang Minigolf course and red velvet covered bench in the centre where it is claimed Kim Jong Un sat while he directed the workers on where to place each hole

You may be unlikely to ever play the Mini Golf course in Pyongyang, but if you ever do head to Wigan be sure to visit Haigh Woodland Park where you can find two miniature golf courses - a new Adventure Golf and an old Crazy Golf.

Emily playing the Crazy Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park

It's not just North Korea (and Wigan) you can visit with Lupine Travel either, as they operate tours to other far-flung places including Chernobyl, Transnistria, Eritrea, Chad, Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan, Antarctica and more!

Visit the Lupine Travel website for more information on the tours they organise.

Related blog posts:
- Wigan

North Korea Exhibition in Wigan

Visiting the North Korea, An Exploration exhibition at The Old Courts in Wigan.

Last Friday we went along to the opening night of North Korea, An Exploration - an exhibition by our friend Dylan Harris from Lupine Travel. The exhibition is a showcase of a selection of rare propaganda posters and artifacts collected by Dylan from his travels to the country. There were some very interesting items and photographs from his collection on display.

Welcome to Pyongyang!

North Korea, An Exporation is open at The Old Courts in Wigan until the 30th September.

Poster from North Korea's participation in the 2010 World Cup

  

We bought a set of postcards

A book on Kim Jong Il

Also at the exhibition opening party was photography from Sandra Ratkovic's very interesting and colourful Moscow project.

Visit the Lupine Travel website for more information on the tours they organise. It's not just North Korea you can visit with them either, as they operate tours to other far-flung places including Chernobyl, Transnistria, Eritrea, Chad, Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan, Antarctica and more!

On Dylan's 2015 trip to North Korea he and his party competed in the first-ever Pyongyang Minigolf Open Tournament! Check out the blog post Mini Golf in Pyongyang, North Korea for more information and photos of the course, said to have been in Kim Jong Un's personal residence before he gifted it to the North Korean people and had it moved to its current location.

North Korea's first Miniature Golf course

The Pyongyang Minigolf course and red velvet covered bench in the centre where it is claimed Kim Jong Un sat while he directed the workers on where to place each hole

Links:
- Lupine Travel
- The Old Courts

Related blog posts:
- Wigan
- Mini Golf in Pyongyang, North Korea

Crazy Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

Playing the Crazy Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.

On Saturday 8th April we headed to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to compete in the first-ever Great Northern Minigolf Open competition played out on the two miniature golf courses in the park.

The course was open and proving popular

The second course we played was the old Crazy Golf course operated by the Friends of Haigh Country Park group.

The view from hole one

At £1 per game the course is the lowest price we've ever found for an 18-hole course on our travels. Amazing value for money.

My first hole in one of the day - scored on the 'windmill with no blades labyrinth' hole!

The course was incredibly popular and had a good throughput of players all day. It's an interesting layout as the course has been added to over the years so has quite a hotch potch of obstacles. Not that that is a bad thing, it was certainly unique.

The course is quite crazy

The Haigh Woodland Park Crazy Golf course was the 728th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 701st in the UK. It became the 428th played on our travels since September 2006. 

Some holes have newer fibreglass obstacles

Others have older obstacles

While others have a mixture of traditional and modern elements

 

A bowler hatted spider!

Humpty!!!

The tank obstacle was particularly odd and quite out of place on the course. It was an interesting and very tough hole

What a steep ramp

Emily playing the tank

The 17th

The 'green' of the 18th hole

In the second and final round of the Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament the scores were:
1st - Scott Lancley - 38
2nd - Richard Gottfried - 44
3rd - Emily Gottfried - 49
4th - John Moore - 50
5th - Russ Dent - 51
6th - Cat Patterson - 59

The competitors in the Great Northern Minigolf Open competition

Visit the Friends of Haigh Country Park website for further information and course opening times. Back in 2012 the course was partly derelict, but the Friends group have done a brilliant job of getting it spruced up and fully open again.

An interesting bench at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

On our recent visit to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan we spotted this interesting park bench as we were walking towards the Miniature Railway. One for the Park Bench Appreciation Society to make a note of.

I wonder which of the two benches proves more popular...

Adventure Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

Playing the new Adventure Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.

On Saturday 8th April we headed to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to contest the first-ever Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament on the two minigolf courses in the park. First up was the new Adventure Golf course.

The Haigh Woodland Park Adventure Golf course is in a wonderful setting

The 18-hole course is Wigan-themed and was great fun to play. There was a lot of variety and some very large obstacles. It was certainly tricky in places too.

The new course in Wigan was great fun to play and quite tricky in places

The course became the landmark 700th we've visited in the UK and our 727th overall since our crazy golfing adventures began in September 2006.

The course offers ball retrievers for any errant shots into the water hazards. I wonder if this pole extends...

One of the BIG minigolf holes

And its accompanying green!

Back in 2012 I visited Haigh Country Park and the Play Haigh Golf Complex there. Where the new Adventure Golf course now stands there was once a grass Putting Course called The Himalayan Putting Green.

The old Putting Green has made way for the 18-hole Adventure Golf course

The new Adventure Golf course was proving popular on our visit - as was the park in general. It was a good job we teed-off our event at 10.45ish as the park and course only got busier during the day. The weather was wonderful which certainly helped.

The course was nice, bright and colourful

In the first round of the Great Northern Minigolf Open competition the scores were:
1st - Russ Dent - 44
2nd (tie) - Richard Gottfried - 49
2nd (tie) - Scott Lancley - 49
4th - Emily Gottfried - 52
5th - John Moore - 54
6th (tie) - Cat Patterson - 65
6th (tie) - Ryan Lancley - 65
8th - Ethan Rottenbury - 67
9th - Zoe Lancley - 83

We're looking forward to visiting Haigh Woodland Park again

Check out the Haigh Adventure Golf website for further info, opening times and prices.

The course was designed and built by the team at HM Adventure Golf. Visit their website for more info on their work.