Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #44 Blackpool (Pleasure Beach) - Adventure Golf (New)

In April 2008 Emily and I travelled to Blackpool, Lancashire for the inaugural Blackpool Pleasure Beach Open, which was played at the brand new Adventure Golf course at the Pleasure Beach.










On our return visit to the Adventure Golf at the Pleasure Beach in Blackpool in 2009 I won the tournament!

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf Courses in and around Blackpool
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Courses Visited List

Closed Minigolf courses in Great Yarmouth

Back in the early days of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, February 2007 to be precise, we visited Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth in the hope to play some of the many Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses there. Unfortunately, they were all closed!

On our return in June 2007 they were open!

We've since visited the courses in Great Yarmouth a number of times. Sometimes we've been lucky enough to play, other times we've had to play Bowlingo instead.

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Crazy World of Minigolf Tour course visited, but not played - Kirkley Cliff, Lowestoft

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to Lowestoft, Suffolk in February 2007 one of the courses we found (but couldn't play) was at the Kirkley Cliff Putting Green!




It was only looking through the Ham & Egger Files archives that I remembered we had visited this course, perhaps it was forgetten - along with the other memories of 'courses not played on that roadtrip'!

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #62 Southsea - Putting Green

While in Southsea, Hampshire on the 25th July 2008 we also played the Mini Golf Putting Course (#62 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour).



While playing, the match was interrupted by a display by the Red Arrows!

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #61 Southsea - Crazy Golf

On the 25th July 2008 we visited and played course number 61 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - the 18-hole Crazy Golf course on Southsea Common.










Southsea was also the location for the very first course visit on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, way back on the 30th September 2006!

We've also played Minigolf in quite a few places with the word 'South' in them!

Dodgeball - then and now

Back in 2005 Emily and I were part of a Dodgeball group known as Dodgeball UK, which had leagues and teams in Luton, Welwyn, Hatfield, Abingdon, Portsmouth and Ipswich, and players travelling from all over to play.

The first officially recorded match in Dodgeball UK’s history was played on the 8th August 2005 – a battle between the ‘New Lutonians’ and the ‘Ipswich Invaders’ held at ‘Monday Madness’. The ‘New Lutonians’ took the victory 3-2 but the ‘Ipswich Invaders’ swore revenge in the future!

As Co-Captain of the pioneering Abingdon Dodgeball Alliance (ADE) I helped lead the team to victory at the first ever DodgeDay event on the 21st August 2005 at the Vauxhall Leisure Centre in Luton, Beds, defeating the teams of The Belly Dancers (later the WDW) and Just Might Lose in the tournament.

Dodgeball UK formed its rulebook on the 1st June 2005. Regular competitions stopped in 2007 following eight official 'DodgeDay' events and a number of other mini-tournaments and Trios-format competitions, and the Dodgeballs have been dormant since.

That was until recently, as I have now taken up the sport again, this time playing to the rules of the United Kingdom Dodgeball Association (UKDBA), with a new group of players in Luton, Beds on the Team Beds & Luton 'Get Back Into...Dodgeball' programme. The sessions have now been running for eight weeks and over the coming months (and years) I'm looking to get back into the swing of Dodging, Ducking, Dipping, Diving and Dodging all over again!

Information from the 2005-2007 Dodgeball UK Archives:

Teams



Players



Roll Call of Champions
‘DodgeBowl’ Winners
Season 2005-2006
- Champions – The Welwyn Dowed Warriors (WDW)
- Runners-up – Abingdon Dodgeball Alliance (ADE)
Season 2006-2007- Champions – The Welwyn Dowed Warriors (WDW)
- Runners-up – Portsmouth Dodgeball Association (PDA)

Photos from the 2005-2007 Dodgeball UK Archives

DodgeDay 1

Players from DodgeDay 1 (from l-r - 'The Narcissist' Christopher Gottfried, 'Crushing' Caroline Constable, 'Mighty' Matt Kenrick, 'Jumping' Janice Nixon, 'Stunning' Steve Noble, Jon 'Or is it Jaba' Constable, 'Stentorian' Richard Gottfried, Emily '9 Lives' Gottfried, 'Big Jon Boy' Jon Gottfried, 'Super Excited' Helena Sundarajoo, Maney 'MVP' Ullah, 'Rowdy' Russell Fenner, Paul 'Barer' Harvey and Jumpin Jaba Flash(er).

No Ball Games - yeah right!



On your marks



DodgeDay 1 Champions - The Abingdon Dodgeball Alliance (ADE)


The 'new' ADE in their new kit


'Referee' Richard Gottfried


Team Deutschland at the 'World Cup' matches at 'DodgeDay 6 - When Worlds Collide'



Team England at the 'World Cup' matches at 'DodgeDay 6 - When Worlds Collide'



Team Turkey at the 'World Cup' matches at 'DodgeDay 6 - When Worlds Collide'


'Stentorian' Richard Gottfried's Dodgeball Win/Loss Record (as at 22nd November 2010)Original Dodgeball UK (2005-2007) - Played 99, Won 37, Tied 7, Lost 55
Get Back Into... (2010) - Played 85, Won 43, Tied 0, Lost 42
Other (2010) - Played - 3, Won 2, Tied 0, Lost 1
All-Time Dodgeball Career Record (2005-2010) - Played 187, Won 82, Tied 7, Lost 98



'Stentorian' Richard Gottfried back in Dodgeball Action in 2010


Note: Doing a bit of research I found out there is a new 'Dodgeball UK' organisation operating out of London, which was founded in August 2009 - we'll have to go along to one of their events in the future.

Glow Golf BlackLight Mini Golf in Melbourne, Australia - course played #207

Emily's visit and play of the Glow Golf BlackLight Mini Golf in Melbourne, Australia is the 207th course visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since the 30th September 2006.

Blog posts from Emily's visit to Glow Golf BlackLight Mini Golf course in Melbourne, Australia on the 21st November 2010:
One
Two
Three
Four

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Australia
- Indoor Mini Golf courses

A Putting Green from 1943 in Letchworth Garden City

Speaking to my barber yesterday he told me that there is a Putting Green in Howard Park in Letchworth Garden City! It's not a million miles away from Luton, and we've played a course there on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour before - back in September 2007 at the Par 3 Golf Centre, where there used to be a Putting Course.

According to the Friends of Howard Park & Gardens, the plans for the 18-hole Putting Green were approved in 1943!

While we haven't yet found/or played this 'new' Putting Course in Letchworth, we have driven around the UK's first roundabout in the Garden City.

I'll be heading over to Letchworth in the future to get some snaps and hopefully have a round as part of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

My Crazy/Odd/Obscure/Strange Sporting Week

Saturday

• Course visits 205 and 206 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
• Minigolf at the World of Golf in Sidcup - practice for the 2010 Kent Open tournament
• 2010 UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships at the Durell Arms, Fulham - a second-round loss

Sunday

• Kent Open Minigolf Tournament - tied for 8th and a win in the team competition

Monday

• Dodgeball Training Session and a 6-1 victory in Luton

Tuesday

• Day off

Wednesday

• 2010 Macmillan Annual Tenpin Bowling Challenge Competition at Namco Station in Luton - 3rd place finish with The Ham & Eggers Team

Thursday

• Minigolf at the Green Indoor Mini Golf - tied for 7th place in the weekly Club Tournament

Friday

• Day off, bar a bit of Ping Pong practice for the World Series of Pong

Saturday

• A re-visit to the 12-hole Crazy Golf course in Verulamium Park in St Albans, and a look at the 9-hole Putting Green

Sunday

• Ping Pong training for the World Series of Pong Slam Jam Grand Final
• Dodgeball training at Wardown Park in Luton
• A re-visit to the 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Wardown Park in Luton

Crazy Golf at Luton's Wardown Park - November 2010

After my Ping Pong & Dodgeball exercise on Sunday 21st November I headed over to the Mini Golf and Crazy Golf courses at Luton's Wardown Park to see what they looked like 'out-of-season', photos below:






The Crazy Golf was the 18th course we played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, back in May 2007. The Mini Golf course was the 19th course played.


We've played there a number of times since then. If you're a visitor to Luton, the Park and Museum are worth a look.

Dodgeball training session and a "Best-of-three-match last-man-standing best-of-11-points One-on-One" Dodgeball Match-up!

After warming up by practicing our Ping Pong at Luton's Wardown Park Simon 'Practice' Hall and I had a Dodgeball training session, which included a "Best-of-three-match last-man-standing best-of-11-points One-on-One" Dodgeball Match-up!




I won the match 2-1 after a 6-5 game win, an 8-3 loss, and a 7-4 win.

The "Dodgeball & Ping Pong Arena" in Wardown Park, Luton.

Practicing for the World Series of Pong at Luton's Wardown Park

Early on Sunday 21st November I headed to Luton's Wardown Park to play my first Table Tennis match in over 16 years, in preparation for my participation in the upcoming "World Series of Pong" Ping Pong Tournament!





In a best-of-three sets match I lost to my Pitch & Putt and Dodgeball Adversary Simon 'Practice' Hall 18-21, 16-21, followed by a one-off 15-21 defeat. Simon hadn't played in over 20 years!





I had hoped not to stink up the place at the World Series of Pong Slam Jam event, so I'd better improve my game before the Slam Jam Grand Final!

About the World Series of Pong.