Minigolf at The Great Ideas Summit 2016, presented by ERA

A pop-up indoor minigolf course in Orlando, Florida.

Emily's friends and colleagues were recently at the Electronic Retailing Association's Great Ideas Summit in Orlando, Florida and found there was a miniature golf course set up for a Tee Up Tuesday Evening Reception!

The minigolf layout looked very interesting. It certainly did look like a great idea!

Indoor pop-up glow-in-the-dark minigolf at the ERA's GIS in Orlando. Photo by Liezl van Zyl

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Splash Point Mini Golf Open competition in Worthing

The team at Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing, West Sussex are holding their Open tournament in July. The three-round strokeplay contest will tee-off at 5pm on Saturday 30th July. Entry is £20 for adults and £10 for juniors, with competitors benefiting from free practice all day as part of the entry fee.

In 2010 the Splash Point Mini Golf course became the 181st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've been back a number of times since then and it's well worth a visit.

Links:
- Splash Point Mini Golf course website
- Splash Point Mini Golf course on Twitter

Related blog posts:
- Mini Golf Dates for your Diary 2016
- Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

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Putting Green in Arundel, West Sussex

My friend, minigolf rival and co-owner of Splash Point Mini Golf Anthony 'His Excellency' Pope recently sent me some photos of a very nice looking Putting Course in Arundel, West Sussex.

The Mill Road Putting Green in Arundel. Photo by Anthony Pope

The grass miniature golf course on Mill Road looks like a cracker. I'm looking forward to a game there in the future.

Photo by Anthony Pope

Photo by Anthony Pope

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Crazy Golf at Mill Hill Park in London

Back in 2012 I visited the 510th course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour at Mill Hill Park in London. I'd been tipped off about its existence by fellow minigolfer Jon 'The Stance' Angel.

The Crazy Golf course in Mill Hill Park as it was in 2012

Last weekend our fellow minigolfing adventurers Matt and Helen Dodd were scouting out the north London region for places to play the game and sent through the snaps below. Not a lot has changed by the look of things!

The Crazy Golf course in Mill Hill Park as it is in 2016

Some of the holes look more playable than others

A bit of a ramp off of the tee off area!

Lumpy and bumpy

Related blog posts:
- Matt Dodd
- Helen Dodd
- Visiting the Crazy Golf course in Mill Hill Park, London
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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Plonk Golf at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Brixton

Playing the new Plonk Golf minigolf course at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Brixton.

On Friday 26th February we visited the 676th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we headed to the Plonk Golf course that is set-up in a marquee in the giant beer garden of the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Brixton, London.

Plonk Golf in Brixton

The course was the 392nd played on our tour since September 2006.

A view of the interior of the Plonk Golf course located in the outside of the Duke of Edinburgh pub

We were joined on this leg of the tour by Swedish minigolf legend Hans Olofsson - a winner of multiple tournaments around the world - and miniature golf professional Andreas Sollman who were on a short trip to the UK.

The crazy golfers at Plonk Golf

In our match-up Emily won with a round of 20, including one ace. I was runner-up with a round of 21, aceing the first hole. Hans was the bronze medallist shooting a 23, with Andreas taking home the wooden spoon after scoring a 29.

Emily on her way to victory. Fuelled by wine

There is certainly talk of a rematch!

The path to the course in the big beer garden at the Duke of Edinburgh

Hole 8 looked like a great hole-in-one opportunity. It'll need a bit more practice to make the shot though

Andreas on the 1st hole

Emily on the 2nd hole

Hans in a tricky predicament

The 6th hole has a classic Plonk Golf volcano on it. It's a very tall minigolf volcano indeed!

It's always great to see new minigolf courses opening in London. Until fairly recently there was a real dearth of places to play Crazy Golf in the capital, but this is certainly changing for the better.

Lining up the right angle on the 9th hole

The Plonk Golf course costs £7.50 a round for 9-holes, and while a bit on the pricey side, it was very good fun. In a relatively small space the Plonk Golf team have put together a great layout. Many of the holes had good hole-in-one opportunities and there were a few very tricky holes too.

The course is well made and sturdy. It looks good too

Playing Crazy Golf in a pub is also a nice novelty. We've played a few Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Pub Beer Gardens over the years. In fact Plonk Golf are opening more pub courses - with set-ups at The Four Thieves pub in Clapham and The Peoples Park Tavern in Hackney.

We spotted an urban fox on the prowl outside the marquee before our game

Visit the Plonk! Golf website for more information.

Links:
- Plonk! Golf website
- Plonk! Golf on Facebook
- Plonk! Golf on Twitter
- Duke of Edinburgh pub website
- Duke of Edinburgh pub on Facebook
- Duke of Edinburgh pub on Twitter
- The House of Revelry website

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Pub Beer Gardens
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Indoor Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses
- Plonk! Golf
- Plonk! Golf Crazy Golf at Efes Snooker Hall in London
- Plonk! Golf in Dalston, London
- New Plonk! Crazy Golf course open in Brixton, London

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

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World Minigolf rankings update

Latest minigolf rankings from the World Minigolf Sport Federation.

The World Minigolf Sport Federation, the international governing body for miniature golf, has published the latest edition of the General Class Rankings for the year ending 31st December 2015.

The GB 3 team of John Moore, Emily Gottfried, Richard Gottfried and Craig Patterson at the 2013 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters. The team finished in 5th place

In the Nations Rankings Great Britain is ranked 13th of 30 countries, up from 16th place. Fourteen GB players (13 men and 1 woman) have contributed to the nations ranking between 2013 and 2015. Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic lead the rankings.

Once again Emily and I are both in the General Class Rankings.

On international duty

In the Women's World Ranking List Emily is the sole British female player and is in tied 98th place (105 players) alongside Erika Benka (HUN), Anja Derks (NED), Asta Korpi (FIN), Ana Lopes (POR), Tänia Monteiro (POR), Amara Silva (POR) and Nathamon Tayutivuthikul (THA).

Emily on her way to a British Women's Record Round of 24(-12) on the Eternit format of Miniature Golf at the WMF Nations Cup in 2011

In the Men's World Ranking List I am in tied 387th place (404 players) together with Mislav Bjazic (CRO), Miguel Angel Hernandez (ESP), J. Hinojosa De Torres-Peralta (ESP), Erik Hjalmarsson (SWE), Marcel Korinek (SVK), Arton Krasniqi (KOS), Pawel Larus (POL), Hugo Madera (ESP), Sabri Maloku (KOS), Santiago Paramo (ESP), Jawaharlal Purohit (IND), Jose Maria Rivera Cadierno (ESP), Juan Pablo Ruano De Fruto (ESP), Petri Saukko (FIN), Craig Small (GBR), Georgij Srebren (CRO) and Lavdim Zylfiu (KOS).

Playing hole 17 on Concrete (Beton) at the Tantogårdens Minigolf Club in Stockholm

Aside from the March 2011 list Emily and I have been in the sport's international rankings since November 2008 following our debut for the Great Britain team at that year's Nations Cup championships in Tampere, Finland.

The 2008 GB team in Finland

It's nice to be listed alongside my friend Lavdim Zylfiu. He's a great ambassador of the sport and his country of Kosovo. I had the pleasure of competing against him in his international debut at the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings. This year Lavdim is helping to organise the 2016 edition of the tournament on his home course in Prishtina.

At the 2011 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Hastings with Lavdim (right), Alan 'Stormin' Norman and Arben Alija (left). Alan and I took on Kosovo's first ever international minigolfers in a doubles match on the Pirate Golf course

Check out the WMF website where you can find out more about the sport, as well as the Junior and Senior Rankings - both lists feature GB players.

The Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team is sponsored by UrbanCrazy, suppliers of permanent and portable mini and crazy golf courses.

The 2011 GB 2 team and coaching staff in Stockholm

The World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) is the umbrella organisation of Minigolf sports association's worldwide and continental associations in Asia, Europe and America.

The WMF has 55 member nations, with the sport played in Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Chinese Taipai, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Kenya, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, USA and Vietnam.

There are more than 38,000 competitive minigolf players registered with the WMF via the 55 member nations, with 900-plus clubs between them. Over 1,000 courses are approved for official competitions and around 1,500 minigolf tournaments held each year.

The WMF is a member of SportAccord - the union for both Olympic and non-Olympic international sports federations, and organisers of international sporting events. The WMF is also a member of AIMS, the Alliance of Independent Members of SportAccord.

Links:
- World Minigolf Sport Federation
- European Minigolf Sport Federation
- British Minigolf Association
- UrbanCrazy
- SportAccord
- Alliance of Independent Members of SportAccord (AIMS)

Related blog posts:
- Updated WMF World Minigolf Rankings (March 2015)
- World Minigolf Sport Rankings
- Minigolf Diary - 5 Days on International Minigolf Duty - WMF Nations Cup 2011 - Stockholm, Sweden

Player profiles
- Miniature Golf Player Profile for Richard Gottfried
- Miniature Golf Player Profile for Emily Gottfried

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

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New Swingers Crazy Golf course in London

The opening of the brand new Swingers Crazy Golf course is getting closer.

Swingers Crazy Golf is opening on the 27th May 2016 on a brand new site and will have two 9-hole courses - The Lighthouse and The Windmill.

You'll be able to find the new Swingers venue at Swingers – the crazy golf club, 8 Brown’s Buildings (Between Bury Street and St Mary Axe), London EC3A 8AL.

We played the original Swingers Crazy Golf course in September 2014

In September 2014 we played a round on the Swingers Crazy Golf pop-up course in Shoreditch, East London. The course became the 581st miniature golf course visited and 347th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Check out our blog from the visit.

Emily in action at Swingers Crazy Golf

For more information check out the Swingers Crazy Golf website.

Related blog posts:
- Swingers Crazy Golf in London
- Swingers Crazy Golf in Shoreditch, London
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London

Link:
- https://swingers.club/uk

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

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Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf course is in Nottingham this summer

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf course is heading to Nottingham this summer!

The course was first on display at the Venice Biennale last year and you'll soon be able to play the course when it's set up in the main gallery at the New Art Exchange in Nottingham from the 2nd April to the 19th June.

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf in Venice last May. Photo by Gareth and Lhurlyn Holmes

Our friends Gareth and Lhurlyn Holmes were lucky enough to visit the course in Venice. Check out their guest blog post for more pics.

We can't wait to give it a play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Links:
- New Art Exchange (NAE)
- Doug Fishbone

Related blog posts:
- Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf
- Art
- Gareth Holmes
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Nottingham

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

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Mini Golf course opening in Saltburn-by-the-Sea

An update on Saltburn MiniGolf.

Photo by Jon Angel/UrbanCrazy

The new minigolf course in Saltburn-by-the-Sea is nearing completion and it looks great.

A photo of the course - now with freshly laid carpet. Photo by Jon Angel/UrbanCrazy

The marvellous new attraction on the Lower Promenade in Saltburn-by-the-Sea is a 10-hole course built by the minigolf marvels at UrbanCrazy.

Photo by Jon Angel/UrbanCrazy

We've played many many UrbanCrazy courses around the country and they're always very good fun and a nice test of putting skill.

Photo by Jon Angel/UrbanCrazy

Saltburn MiniGolf opens to the public on Saturday 19th March, with a Grand Launch on Saturday 26th March.

Photo by Jon Angel/UrbanCrazy

We can't wait to get along for a game.

Photo by Jon Angel/UrbanCrazy

Check out Saltburn MiniGolf on Facebook for more photos and a video showing how the course has developed in the last few months.

Links:
- Saltburn MiniGolf on Facebook
- UrbanCrazy

Related blog posts:
- UrbanCrazy
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Crazy Golf course opening in Saltburn-by-the-Sea

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

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Hurrah for sensible price reductions

Spotting some gluten free bargains.

I've always had an eye for a bargain. This has been honed even more so in the eight years since I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease.

Shopping for gluten and wheat free food is a hassle at the best of times - not to mention the trouble with gluten free prescriptions - and one of my bugbears is the fact that most supermarkets reduce the price of their free from food incrementally, rather than sensibly! This means that the best you can often hope for is to pay about £1.50 for an item near its sell by / use by date, rather than £2 to £3. It's a rare thing indeed to find gluten and wheat free goodies for mere pence.

That was until I found this great haul in Morrisons this evening.

Over ten quids worth of gluten and wheat free food - for just £1.16. Lovely stuff

There were also some bagels and another loaf of artisan bread in the reduced section, but I'm not greedy so left them for some other poor Coeliac to pick up.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

Link:
- Coeliac UK

World of Bun Throwing: Abingdon Bun Throwing Championships announced

World of Bun Throwing: Abingdon Bun Throwing Championships announced: Bun Throwing Championships to find town's best thrower to be held on the 30th of May.

The crowd looks on as I throw a currant bun at the first-ever Abingdon World Bun Throwing Championship back in 2012

Ahead of the Royal Bun Throwing to celebrate the Queen's 90th Birthday, Abingdon-on-Thames will be hosting the second-ever World Bun Throwing Championships to find the town's best bun thrower.

Read more over on the World of Bun Throwing blog.

Crazy Golf in Swanpool Park, Falmouth, Cornwall

Playing the Crazy Golf course in Swanpool, Falmouth.

The 631st course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the Crazy Golf course at Swanpool Park in Swanpool, Falmouth, Cornwall.

The 18-hole Crazy Golf layout was the 32nd played on our tour of the South West of England and the 373rd played overall on our tour.

It's certainly a unique course. The colour of the concrete was very different to the norm. And the hole configurations weren't particularly normal. It was a real test and good fun too.

Its in an excellent location and we had brilliant weather on our visit.

In our match on the 18-hole course on the 7th June 2015 Emily scored 52 to take the win as I scored a 56.

The course is open all year round. For more information, opening times and prices visit the Swanpool Beach website.

Swanpool is a really nice spot to spend some time. As well as the Crazy Golf we did a bit of rock pooling, had a walk on the beach and relaxed at a seafront bar with some cold drinks and oysters. Bliss

We couldn't visit Swanpool Park and not see some swans!

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Mini Golf in the South West of England

Link:
- Swanpool Beach website

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

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