Revisit to Championship Miniature Golf at Trafford Golf Centre, Manchester

On Monday 12th December 2011 we made a revisit to the 9-hole Championship Miniature Golf course at the Trafford Golf Centre in Manchester.

We’ve played at the centre for fun and in two Miniature Golf tournaments (which I won) with our last visit in 2009. The course was the 84th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On our recent visit we found the course to still be in excellent condition, very playable and still every bit as challenging as before. The course has been designed to replicate famous holes from ‘Big’ Golf courses and each hole has a board next to it telling you the history of the hole, tips on how to play it and quotes from famous golfers.

In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up I defeated Emily 32-35 and then 26-33. The course record of 23 held by course designer Nick Ashfield still stands!

The course provides four different tee-off points to choose from (Juniors, Ladies, Mens and Competition) and the course is definitely a Par-3 set-up. While Holes-in-One are achievable on the course, they are very rare indeed and a two is a very good score on most of the holes.

The 9-hole Championship Miniature Golf course is located at the Trafford Golf Centre (formerly PlayGolf). The Minigolf course costs £5 a round for adults (£4 for under 16s) and a second round is only £2.50. It's well worth a play if you're in Manchester.

While having a wander around the centre we also spotted a Putting Practice hole next to the Driving Range.

Previous Blog Posts about Championship Miniature Golf in Manchester:
- Course #84 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Championship Miniature Golf
- Minigolf Report – Richard Gottfried wins the Manchester Mini Masters tournament
- Minigolf Report – Gottfrieds finish first and second in the Manchester Miniature Open tournament

Links:
- Championship Miniature Golf
- Trafford Golf Centre
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Adventure Island's Aztec & Inca Adventure Golf in Southend-on-Sea (re-visit Dec 11)

On Saturday 2nd of December 2011 we replayed the two 9-hole Adventure Golf courses that were originally the 14th and 15th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in March 2007!

We also played the Aztec Adventure Golf course in 2003, way before our 'proper' Tour began.

On this occasion our Emily defeated (destroyed!) me in our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up with a score of 22 to my 28 on the Aztec Adventure course and a 22 to my 30(!?) on the Inca Challenge course.

Photo: The courses do not contain any fake Crocodiles, or Alligators, but does have a turtle on the 9th hole of the Aztec Adventure course

In April 2007 I made my Professional Minigolf Debut in the BMGA British Masters tournament held on the Adventure Island courses in Southend-on-Sea, where I finished 24th in the field of 28 players and was the runner-up in the Novice Category.

Video: Playing Adventure Island Minigolf Golf in Southend-on-Sea (Dec 11)



Previous Blog Posts
- Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf in Southend-on-Sea - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minehead & Southend on Sea - pre-Crazy World of Minigolf Tour course visits
- From the Minigolf Archives - Results of our first-ever game of Adventure Golf against each other!
- Minigolf in Southend on Sea - The Southend Masters

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Pirate Cove Adventure Golf at Bluewater!

Visiting and playing the Pirate Cove Adventure Golf at Bluewater Shopping Centre.

On Friday 2nd of December 2011 we made a slight detour on our way to Southend-on-Sea to stop-off at Bluewater Shopping Centre as we hadn't yet played the two 18-hole Adventure Golf courses that opened there in the summer.

The Pirate Cove Adventure Park features two Adventure Golf courses - Pirates & Smugglers - and also has pedalos and a high-wire activity centre.

The courses became the 278th and 279th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up I defeated Emily 41-47 on the Pirates course and 41-46 on the Smugglers course.

The new courses cover the area that used to be a 'Pro Tour Putting' Minigolf course that we visited on our Tour in March 2009.

Visit the Pirate Cove Adventure Golf course website for details of the opening times and prices.

Previous Bluewater Blog Post:
- March 2009 - Minigolf Course Visit No. 80 - Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Revisit to Poole Park in Dorset - Crazy Golf & Minigolf

On Saturday Poole Park 8th of October 2011 we made a stop off at Poole Park in Dorset to revisit the Crazy Golf and Putting courses there and also to finally meet minigolf friend and twitterer/facebooker extraordinaire Mick Gisbourne.

We first visited Poole Park in October 2009 when the course was a 9-hole one, on our visit last year a new 12-hole course had been built in its place.

Photos of the Putting Course:

The Crazy Golf course has also had some new obstacles added to it, in the form of some weighty concrete tunnels.

Photos of the Crazy Golf:

Photos of us with Mick 'The Man' Gisbourne at Poole Park.:

In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up on the Poole Park Crazy Golf course Emily defeated me 38-43.

At the time of writing this post, my most viewed YouTube video is the one of me playing the old Pinball hole on the Poole Park Crazy Golf course. It's attracted over 20,000 views and a number of comments.



Previous Blog Posts:
- Minigolf Course Visit No. 153 - Poole Park Crazy Golf
- Minigolf Course Visit No. 154 - Poole Park, Putting Green
- Poole Park, New 12-hole Crazy Golf Course - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course played 203
- Minigolf Course Visit No. 106 - Sandbanks
- Minigolf Course Visit No. 108 - Boscombe Chine Gardens

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Putting Course in Felpham, near Bognor Regis - Minigolf course played #276

The 276th and final Miniature Golf course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour roadtrip from Southsea to Felpham was at the Blakes Road Putting Course.

The 18-hole layout was tricky indeed, with Emily scoring a 52 to my round of 50. A very close battle on the Irregular Mini Golf Tour.

A wayward shot left Emily with a tricky next Putt!

Felpham is walkable from Bognor Regis and the course is worth a visit if you're in the area.

It's also another Miniature Golf course that has a Brown Tourist Sign to lead you to it.

As an aside, if you do visit Felpham then the Beachcroft Hotel is very close to the course and the restaurant there does some very good food. We dined there with both the 'Gluten Free' and 'normal' options after our round of Minigolf and before the long journey back home. Very tasty it was too.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour courses visited and played list

Arnold Palmer Mini-Golf course at Waterloo Gardens in Bognor Regis - course played #275

The 275th Miniature Golf course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Mini-Golf course at Waterloo Gardens, on the esplanade in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.

We visited and played the course on Sunday 2nd October 2011.

The course is in excellent condition and in a great location. With the very warm weather on the day the course was also very busy every time we walked past it, but we managed to find a time when we wouldn't have any large groups in front of us and jumped on for a round as part of our Irregular Mini Golf Tour competitions.

In our match-up Emily beat me 39-42 with a start of two Aces in a row. However this was followed by two 3's, but she still scored an 'out' of 18. Some excellent play on an excellent Crazy Golf course.

Unfortunately neither of us managed to win a FREE GAME on the Lucky Last Hole.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour