In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour match-up I won with a score of 33, Emily hit a 36 and Christopher scored 45.
The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour players pose for the camera at the Solent Springs Adventure Golf course
The course is very well maintained and is quite tricky in places. Some of the holes involve pipes and tunnels that can be cruel or kind depending on how lucky you are!
There's also a Top Hole (the 13th) at the course. Unfortunately none of us won a FREE GAME.
A nice touch about the 'clubhouse' is that they have a board where players can post their scores. My 33 was one of the best of the week so I got to put up a sticky-note with my score. There were some other impressive rounds put in by players, with the best going to an 11-year-old who hit a 29!
During our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour roadtrip to Southsea and beyond we had a replay of the Putting Course and Crazy Golf at the Castle Mini Golf Centre on Southsea Common.
First up on Saturday 1st October 2011 we played the 18-hole Putting Course, where I picked up the win with a score of 44(+8) including two holes-in-one. Christopher scored a 48, with Emily hitting a 49.
Next up Christopher and I played a round on the Crazy Golf course using 'proper' Crazy Golf rules. In the very high scoring round Christopher picked up the big minigolf win with a score of 61 to my dismal 73.
The Castle Mini Golf Centre can be found by following the Brown Tourist Signs on the main road nearby.
The Castle Mini Golf Centre has three courses, with the third one a Pitch & Putt. We didn't play it this time as there were some large groups out on the course which would have meant the game would have taken ages and we had plans to visit the Model Village in Southsea and have a go on the Swan Boats at Canoe Lake too, before heading to Gosport to play the 12-hole Adventure Golf course there too.
The Make A Difference (MAD) group is organising a Guinness World Record Attempt for "The most people to successfully High 5 across multiple locations" on Monday 10th October 2011 - World Mental Health Day.
The Make A Difference group aims to promote mental wellbeing across the community and challenge the stigma that exists towards mental illness.
The Guinness World Record Attempt for the most High 5s will be taking place in Luton and Bedford (as well as ten other community sites in the two towns) at 1pm on Monday 10th October. Anyone can take part and the current record stands at 1,790 people. Further details can be see on the poster below and on the MAD website.
Minigolf revisit to Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea - Exactly five years since our first visit
On Friday 30th September 2011 Emily and I headed down to Southsea, Hampshire to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the start of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We were joined by my brother Christopher who was also there at the start of our tour of the UK’s Miniature Golf courses, when we played our Irregular Mini Golf Tour competition on the 9-hole Victory Trail course at Treasure Island Adventure Golf on the seafront in Southsea.
Photo: Emily tees-off on hole 1 of the Victory Trail course as Christopher looks on
Back on Saturday 30th September 2006 a group of us headed to the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course during a weekend away visiting Christopher on one of our seaside trips (Emily and I had made a resolution to visit as many seasides as possible). We played the Victory Trail first, followed by the 9-hole Warrior Trail course on the Sunday.
Photo: Richard plays hole 1 of the Victory Trail course
From there our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour has seen us travel all over the UK and to several other countries too. Following our trip to Southsea’s Treasure Island, a replay of two other courses on Southsea Common, and a roadtrip along the coast to Bognor Regis and Felpham the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour courses played count now stands at 276, with visits made to 430 courses overall.
In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour re-match on the Victory Trail course Emily took the win with a score of 24, followed by me with a score of 25 and Christopher one-shot off with 26. In a nod to nostalgia we played the game under Crazy Golf Rules, as when we first played in 2006 we used very different rules to those we generally use now. Back in 2006I had scored 31, Emily had hit a 34 and Christopher had managed a 36.
Video: Playing hole 18 of the Victory Trail course
Photo: The Scorecard from our revisit to the two Adventure Golf courses at Treasure Island
After the round we then stepped up to try our luck on the lucky last hole and try to Fire the Cannon to win a FREE GAME. I had managed this feat in 2006 and once again I hit a hole-in-one to earn a FREE GAME pass! Something I very rarely manage despite how often we play minigolf!?
Photo: Richard shows off his Top Hole winnings
With the FREE GAME pass safely tucked away as a memento of the visit, and a future exhibit in the Crazy Golf Museum, we decided to play the Warrior Trail Adventure Golf course too.
The light was beginning to fade but our enthusiasm for playing did not. This time round I managed a 28, with Emily hitting a 29 and Christopher once again just one-shot back on 30. Before the scores were added up we stepped up to try to Fire the Cannon, however none of us managed a hole-in-one the second time around.
Photo: Christopher plays hole 5 of the Warrior Trail course
In the overall Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Victory & Warrior Trail 5-Year Anniversary Tournament there was (as in 2006) a tie for first-place. This time it was Emily and me that were joint winners, with Christopher in third spot.
On the 1st October we headed to revisit and replay the other courses in Southsea at the Southsea Common Castle Mini Golf Centre, and the closed course on Southsea Pier. We also played a new Adventure Golf course at Stokes Bay in Gosport. On Sunday 2nd October we then headed along the coast towards Bognor Regis, west Sussex, where we managed to play a further seven courses in Earnley, Selsey, Hunston, Bognor itself and Felpham (next to Bognor).
We had also planned to visit Littlehampton and play the many Miniature Golf courses there, however we ran out of time which means that they will become some of the first we’ll play when they reopen in 2012 after the winter break.
More photos from our revisit to Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea
Photo: Christopher & Richard on hole 8 of the Victory Trail course
Photo: Christopher plays a tricky second shot on the Victory Trail course
We've since gone on to visit a total of 419 courses in eleven countries to date, playing 268 of them. These 419 courses have gone under various names and guises (not all Miniature Golf courses are the same), in fact we've played the game at courses using a total of 43 synonyms!
The tour itself and the many road trips we've been on since 2006 came about after Emily and I set about visiting as many seasides in the UK as we could. So far we've made it to 149 coastal resorts, towns and villages by the sea. We've played Minigolf in 89 of these places.
Photo: Richard plays Hole 7 of the Oddballs Crazy Golf Course in Cleethorpes, Lincs
Photo: Emily putts through a Rocketship hole at the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
So to celebrate the half-decade landmark point of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour we've put together the following facts and stats.
Number of courses played = 268
Number of holes played on the 268 courses = 3,675
Number of courses visited but not played = 151
Number of courses visited overall = 419
Number of courses played that had a Windmill obstacle = 16
- Rottingdean’s Putting Course and Miniature Golf #223 was at an actual Windmill!
- The Extraordinary Golf at Alton Towers has a Windmill on it but the course was flooded on our visit, so we could not play there
Number of countries Emily and I have played Minigolf in = 11 – England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Finland, USA, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden
Number of Piers that have got a Minigolf course on, but which wasn’t open on our visit = One – Southsea
Number of Piers that advertise that they have got a Minigolf course on, but haven’t = One – Brighton
Number of Seasides we’ve played Minigolf in = 89
Number of Capital Cities we’ve played Minigolf in = 6 – London, England; Stockholm, Sweden; Auckland, New Zealand; Vienna, Austria; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland
Islands in the British Isles we’ve played Minigolf on = 7 – Portsea Island, Isle of Wight, Thanet, Isle of Anglesey, Barry Island, Canvey Island, Hayling Island
The Smitten by Britain blog is a blog all about the best of British and is run by American Britophile Melissa Stoey and covers subjects including culture, sports, travel, history, food & drinks and books - it's the home of the Britophile and all things British.
According to the website the £775,000 Pirate Island Adventure Golf course will be open 7 days a week, come rain or shine.
Emily and I are looking forward to heading over to Milton Keynes to give the new course a go as part of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour around all the Minigolf courses in the UK.
Many thanks to Lester at Tea Green Golf Club at Wandon End, near Luton, for the tip.
It got me thinking, as I don’t know the difference between a Crocodile and an Alligator, and as an avid quiz fan I really ought to!
A quick search online led me to some information on the ever reliable Wikipedia, which shows that the main differences are:
• Alligators prefer freshwater
• Crocodiles can better tolerate seawater
• But both Alligators and Crocodiles can survive in either
• Alligators are darker in colour than Crocodiles, often nearly black
• Alligators have wider and shorter heads than Crocodiles
• Alligator’s heads are more u-shaped than a Crocodiles v-shaped head
• Alligator’s upper jaws are wider than their lower jaws
• Alligator’s teeth in the lower jaw fit into small depressions in the upper jaw
• Crocodile’s teeth fit together, as the upper and lower jaws are the same width
• Crocodiles have a jagged fringe on the hind legs and feet
• Alligators have webbed toes on their hind feet
• Crocodiles are more aggressive than Alligators
An animatronic Crocodile (v-shaped head) at the MGM Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
A big fake Alligator (that looks more like a Crocodile) at the Alligator Bar at The Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
A fake Crocodile (I think) at the Outback Steakhouse at Casino Royale in Las Vegas
Not a Crocodile or an Alligator, but a Hippo - oddly this was in the water at Bottons Pleasure Beach Gold Mine Adventure Golf in Skegness, there was no sign of any Crocodiles or Alligators there, but the setting looked like there should've been!
I celebrated this extra special day in the world of Miniature Golf by visiting my local 9-hole Mini Golf course at Tea Green Golf Club at Wandon End, near Luton.
In a challenge match versus Tea Green Golf Club manager Lester Coles I was defeated over 18-holes by a scoreline of 34-36, I did however follow up this loss with a victory against (course record holder) Scott Holmes in an 18-hole match with a score of 33-35.
Next up we hit the very testing 6-hole Putting Green layout for a contest. The three of us began the round, but Lester was conveniently called away to the bar following a 3 and a 4 on the first two holes. Scott and I continued the 12-hole match with Scott hitting a 12(par) on the front 9, and me with a 14(+2). On the back 9 I managed an 11(-1) to Scott's 14(+2) for me to just edge the victory. Scott told me that prior to our rounds no-one had got close to Par on the 6-hole course layout since it was changed round recently.
It's always great fun heading up to Tea Green Golf Club to have a round or two of Putting and Mini Golf and plenty of banter too! A great way to spend Miniature Golf Day!
This week sees Luton Dodgeball Club celebrate it's first anniversary!
The very first meeting of what would eventually become the Luton Dodgeball Club took place at Lealands High School in north Luton a year ago. On Monday 27th September 2010 a bunch of players went along for the first of the "Get Back Into...Dodgeball" sessions coached by Rob Norris that took place at the sports hall on Monday nights.
The Luton Dodgeball Club is a member of England Dodgeball - the home of Dodgeball experts.
The Luton Dodgeball Club is always on the look out for new players to come along to play in the friendly weekly sessions. The sessions for seniors/adults runs from 7pm-8pm every Monday at Leagrave Primary School in Luton. The cost is £4 a session and features warm-ups, competitive games and training drills such as speed, accuracy and dodging!
