Folkestone Sports Centre Crazy Golf - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played Number 198

The one minigolf course we were able to play at Folkestone Sports Centre was their attempt at Crazy Golf. The course become the 198th to be played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 30th 2006.


The 9-hole course was very interesting to say the least. It was constructed out of what appeared to be part of a former skate/BMX park, and was located in half a derelict tennis court beside a dry ski-slope!?





Truly one of the oddest courses and course locations we've encountered on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour to date!

The Folkestone Sports Centre is also home to a Mini Golf (Pitch & Putt) course and a Putting Green.

Links:
- Folkestone Sports Centre
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Course visited but not played - Folkestone (The Rotunda) - Arnold Palmer Putting Course - Demolished

Following our trip to Smeeth we headed to the coast and to Folkestone to see what minigolf courses we could find there.

Once-upon-a-time The Rotunda was home to an Arnold Palmer Putting Course. Sadly the area now resembles a desolate wasteland.


But there is some good news about the fate of the remnants of the Crazy Golf course itself, as it has been 'converted' and now exists as a permanent art installation just along the coastal walk, where it is now three beach huts!!!

Link:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Course visited but not played - Smeeth (The Woolpack Inn) - Crazy Golf

On our way to Hastings, East Sussex to compete in the 2010 Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open minigolf competition we decided to see what other courses we could find in that neck of the woods!

We've been to the south east on a number of occasions, for both tournament play and seaside tours, and we'd heard there were a few courses around.

One such course that has a bit of recent Minigolf history is the Crazy Golf course at the Woolpack Inn in the village of Smeeth. While the course itself has never been played on the BMGA Tour, it does lend its name to the 'Smeeth Cup' tournament that is (was) contested between the Kent Mini Golf Club (KMGC) and the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club (PHCGC). The competition was so-named due to the village's equi-distance between Margate & Hastings!



Unfortunately the course was not to be the next course played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour as we arrived at the pub at 11am, but it didn't open until 12pm!

Richard Gottfried Minigolf Report – Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open

5th September 2010
Press Information
For Immediate Release

Minigolf Report – Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open

On Sunday 5th September Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried competed in the tenth annual Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open. The four-round tournament was played out over 72-holes on the three seafront miniature golf courses and at Planet Hastings (White Rock Gardens) Adventure Golf Course in Hastings, East Sussex.

21 players competed in the event, with Richard finishing in 12th place with a total of 159(+15) after rounds of 41(+5), 38(2), 42(+6) and 38(+2). The tournament was won by Canterbury’s Marc Chapman following a sudden-death play-off with Tim Davies of Hastings, after both players had hit scores of 140(-4).

Following the tournament Richard said “I would have liked to get into the top ten in the Planet Hastings Open, but I can’t say I’m too disappointed with 12th place really. I didn’t play to my fullest on the seafront Crazy Golf course, where I could have shot in the low 30s, but I am very pleased with the new personal best score of 41 I hit on the seafront Adventure Golf course. This Open event was all good practice for the upcoming Minigolf Majors in Hastings.”

Photos from the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open 2010








Ends

Minigolfing North, East, South, West, High & Low

Since September 2006 our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour has taken us all over the UK to both seek and play many new, wierd and wonderful miniature golf courses and compete in BMGA Tour events.

In September 2009 I identified an interesting pattern in the 1st, 100th and 150th courses visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - in that they were all related to the word/area 'South'!!!

However, the pattern of milestone visits including a 'southerly-related' term finished with the the 175th course played being in NORTH WEST Las Vegas, Nevada. But the 168th course we played was in Sudbury, Suffolk, which according to Wikipedia and The Saxon Chronicle records the town as Suthberie ("south-borough"), circa the 9th Century.

Interestingly the landmark 250th course visit overall was to a minigolf course in a garden in EAST Finchley!

We've also played the highest located minigolf course in the UK - situated at the peak of The Great Orme, in Llandudno, Wales. The mountain is also home to the second highest minigolf course in the UK- which is half-way up the mountain!

The easternmost course in the British Isles is located in Lowestoft, Suffolk. Here there is a Pirate Themed Adventure Golf course.

In Denver, Colorado, USA I also played Miniature Golf at an altitude of one-mile, while in The Boondocks!

For further links and details of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour please visit the list page here.

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Conga dancing on the pages of The Racing Post!

Emily and I are photographed on page 7 of today's Racing Post. We were taking part in the Guinness World Record Attempt for the UK's Longest Conga at Huntingdon Racecourse yesterday!

I'm Conga-er #16, Emily is #15.

Eternit Sports and Social Club - No Miniature Golf

Driving to Kingsway Golf Centre in Melbourn to visit the Himalayas Putting Course we drove through Whaddon (itself home to a Crazy Golf course), and equi-distant between the two we found the "Eternit Sports and Social Club"!


The Miniaturegolf format of the sport of Minigolf is often called 'Eternit' as the primary construction material that makes up the course is Eternit. Miniaturegolf is a type of course most often found in Europe. On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour we played one as part of the 2008 Nations Cup competition in Tampere, Finland. We've also played some in the UK (Clacton-on-Sea, Maidenhead, Windsor, Warrington, Oswestry, and West Bromwich), and visited a couple of others that were closed (Colchester and Vienna) and recently a visit to Pontypool Park in Wales turned up a demolished one.

Unfortunately, looking at Google Maps for the Eternit Sports and Social Club it doesn't seem like there is any Minigolf there.

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

The Himalayas Putting Course at Kingsway Golf Centre, Melbourn, Cambs - course played #196

A visit to the new Putting course at Kingsway Golf Centre.


I was tipped off about a new Putting/Minigolf course at Kingsway Golf Centre in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire by my fellow BMGA Tour member Adam 'AK47' Kelly, who informed me that the old Crazy Golf course (#156) has been replaced by a new 9-hole Putting Course called 'The Himalayas'!

When we visited on Saturday 12th December 2009 the area looked like this:


Back then it was the 200th overall course location visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and the 156th course played.

The new look course was great fun and there were a few good Ace opportunities out there. There were also some nice and tricky holes there too!







It's well worth a visit to Kingsway Golf Centre and having a play on the Himalayas. It's good value too, at £3 for multiple plays.

The centre also has a 9-hole Putting Green which became course played number 197!



Melbourn continues to be a Crazy Minigolf 'hotbed' of sorts, as these are the sixth and seventh Miniature Golf courses we've played in the area on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

Related blog posts:
- The 'original' Crazy Golf at Kingsway Golf Centre
- Whaddon Golf Centre (Putting Green & Crazy Golf)
- The Dolphin Pub (4-hole derelict Crazy Golf)
- Melbourn Village Fete (Miniature Crazy Golf)
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland
- Minigolf & Crazy Golf at Wigan's Haigh Country Park

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Huntingdon Races - a UK Conga Line Guinness World Record Attempt & Crazy Golf course played #195

On Bank Holiday Monday 30th August 2010 we visited Huntingdon Racecourse in Cambridgeshire for their Bank Holiday fun day event. Not only was there some great horse racing action, but there were a number of Guinness World Record attempts taking place - including World’s largest group of jockeys in a car, World’s largest group of John McCririck look-a-likes at a racecourse and the World’s greatest number of faces painted by an individual in one hour.

The Guinness World Record attempt that we were interested in though, was the attempt to break the record for the UK's longest Conga line!

The record is currently held by Manchester, with 1,500 people Conga dancing to the Black Lace Classic song.

Unfortunately, despite there being 4,523 people in attendance at the races, only 183 people bothered to Conga!? I was Conga-er number 16, Emily was number 15. It was still great fun, and the Conga is such a great Party-tune.


The Guinness World Record Attempt was the third that I have attempted and Emily's second. On the 25th May 2009 we helped break the Guinness World Record for "The Largest Picnic Across Multiple Venues". On the 19th December 2009 I, along with fellow minigolfer Brad Shepherd, attempted to break the Guinness World Record for Most Brussels Sprouts Eaten in a Minute!. Unfortunately I only managed to eat ten in each of my two attempts.

Huntingdon Racecourse and the event - in aid of Racing Welfare - was a great day out, at a not too unreasonable price. The event was also great for Emily as she won on the two horses she picked for a flutter in the first two races!


As an added bonus, the Racecourse had also put on a variety of entertainment and activities, one of which was Crazy Golf!!!

The 6-hole portable course was the 195th course played on The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and was quite good fun, despite it's relatively small size and the type of obstacles. It was free to play and proved to be incredibly popular throughout the day.









In the two matches we played I beat Emily 10(-2) to 16(+4), and Emily then beat me by 13(+1) to 14(+2). I also had one solo round and scored a 14(+2).

Minigolfing in all four Home Nations in 2010

The playing of the 2010 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament) meant that we have now visited each of the four home nations to compete in Minigolf tournaments in the same calendar year!

The year of Minigolfing competitions started in England with the Luton Invitational Minigolf Tournament on the 1st January 2010, followed by the first British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour event of the year on the 24th January at the BMGA National Open at Adventure Island Mini Golf, Star City, Birmingham.

Scotland was the next stop this year for the Codonas Classic and the BMGA Scottish Open at Codonas Amusement Park in Aberdeen on the 15th and 16th May.

On the 31st July and the 1st August we visited Northern Ireland to play in the 2010 NIBBAL-IT Doubles Minigolf Tournament.

And of course the final of the four home nations visited was Wales, where we competed 2010 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament) at the 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Tredegar Park, Newport.

Click for details of visits to the rest of the UK, and other countries and islands.

Last chance to vote for our 'Minigolf at the Seaside' Holiday Competition Video

Today is the last day to vote on our Minigolf at the Seaside video to help us win a 10,000 minute holiday in the Enjoy England 'Enjoy Every Minute' competition.

All you need to do is click on the link here and then click on the voting link and select our video as the one you'd like to vote for!

The vote closes today (August 27th) and the winner will be announced tomorrow, receiving 10,000 minutes of holiday in England!

Thank you for voting on our minigolf video, it's very much appreciated.

Many thanks.

Richard & Emily

Cwmbran Darts Classic 2010

Prior to the 2010 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament) the participants warmed up their hand-eye coordination with the Cwmbran Darts Classic 2010.

Before the 2009 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament) the players competed in The Boules Invitational Tournament at The Mumbles, in Swansea (Abertawe), Wales, when Seve Kukielka defeated Richard Gottfried in the final.

The format for the Cwmbran Darts Classic 2010 saw six players split into two groups of three. Each player played each other in a 301 one-leg shootout, with the top two players from each group progressing to the semi-finals (Group A's winner would face the Runner-up from Group B and vice versa).

Eventually Cwmbran's own Leo 'Young Gun' Kukielka take the victory with a 2-1 victory over his father Jas 'Hob Nob' Kukielka (the 2009 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg champion).

Full results:
Group A
Jas Kukielka beat Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson lost to Richard Gottfried
Richard Gottfried lost to Jas Kukielka

Group B
Leo Kukielka beat Emily Gottfried
Emily Gottfried lost to Seve Kukielka
Leo Kukielka beat Seve Kukielka

Semi-final 1
Jas Kukielka beat Seve Kukielka

Semi-final 2
Leo Kukielka beat Richard Gottfried

Final
Leo 'Young Gun' Kukielka bested Jas 'Hob Nob' Kukielka 2 legs to 1

Ranking positions
5th & 6th - Paul Johnson beat Emily Gottfried by getting nearest the Bull after neither player could checkout on a double!?

3rd & 4th - Richard Gottfried beat Seve Kukielka to take the podium (and a measure of revenge over his Petanque defeat in 2009)

Photos:

Defeated finalist Jas Kukielka.


Leo lifts the trophy after his win.
Leo in action.

Jas in action.

'Squire' Richard in action.

Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man spotted at a funfair in Luton

Following on from my spots of Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-men (as sold by Al Harrington of Family Guy fame*) I found one advertising Slush Puppies at the Funfair at Wardown Park in Luton this evening.






While in the park I took a snap of the Mini & Crazy Golf course there.


For other blog posts about Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-men click here, here, here and here.

For more links to courses visited and played on The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour click here.

* At his Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man Emporium and Warehouse