Crazy Golf at Roxy Ball Room in Manchester

Checking out the new indoor Crazy Golf course at Roxy Ball Room in Manchester.

Last week I had a round at a new local minigolf course here in Manchester as Roxy Ball Room on Deansgate has added an 18-hole indoor Crazy Golf course to the pool, beer pong and table tennis on offer at the venue.

The Roxy Ball Room Crazy Golf course was the 810th minigolf course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

It wasn't a particularly easy course and while I managed to get two holes-in-one my total score was 59!

To play the first 9-holes was £9 and it was £15 to play all 18-holes. It was the first time I've seen that pricing system in operation.

Hole 1

  

Hole 1 - the jump to the green

Hole 2

Hole 2's green - nigh on impossible to get!

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9

 

Hole 10

Hole 11 - one of two I aced

Hole 11

Hole 12

Hole 13

Read this before playing hole 13

The 'green' on hole 13

Rules

The bell

Hole 14

Up the ramp on hole 14

And down to a big green

Hole 15

 

A tricky ramp shot

Ideally you want to land in the blue section

The green of hole 15 is on the right

Hole 16

Hole 16

Hole 17

Hole 18

One of the bunkers on hole 18

Hole 18 - the other ace I got was on this hole. It's not easy though

  

The way in / out of Roxy Golf

Check out the Roxy Ball Room Manchester website for more info.

There are plenty of other pub sports to play at Roxy Ball Room

We've also played the indoor Crazy Golf course at Roxy Ball Room in Leeds. That course was the 673rd we visited.

A nice graphic on the wall in the pool / beer pong area near the minigolf

The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing

Marking a year since the publication of my marketing ebook.

A year ago today I published The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing, my ebook guide to promoting the great sport of miniature golf.

Find out how to wow the crowd in the crazy world of miniature golf

It's amazing how quickly the last year has flown by and I've been really pleased to see the book bought and used by a number of players, courses, bloggers, associations and federations around the world.

Check out the Amazon listing to see a preview and read reviews of the book.

The marketing and communications guide was designed for anyone interested or involved in minigolf. It's certainly a niche title, but an audience and subject I know a lot about. 

Writing the book was brilliant and enabled me to bring two areas of my life together. I've worked in marketing since 2003 and have played minigolf since I was a child. Stepping up to compete on the national tour circuit and in international tournaments opened my eyes to the potential of the game. I’ve also had the honour of serving on the committees of the British Minigolf Association and World Minigolf Sport Federation.

Minigolf is a sport for all. People of all ages, sexes, backgrounds and abilities can pick up a putter and play the game.

There are a huge amount of stories to tell and positive aspects to highlight to potential players, the media, sponsors and the wider sporting community. The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing should give federations, associations, clubs and fellow players ideas, inspiration and support in their marketing efforts.

A lot of the guidance could also be applied to a number of other sports clubs and organisations to help raise their profile and boost memberships.

Links:

- The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing on Amazon

- The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing on Ganxy

New Dino Golf course at the Blackpool Tower

There's a new Dino Adventure Golf course open on Level 7 of the Blackpool Tower.

Dino Mini Golf recently opened up on Level 7 of the world famous Blackpool Tower and is a 9-hole prehistoric-themed minigolf course.

We're looking forward to a game there on a return visit to the resort on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

If you're in Blackpool you can't miss the tower!

Jiggers Miniature Golf at Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel.

New Miniature Golf course at Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel.

There's a new Miniature Golf course open at Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel in Suffolk.

Jiggers Miniature Golf recently opened at Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel and is a 9-hole minigolf course on the banks of the Meare boating lake. We're looking forward to a game there on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we're next in Suffolk.

You can find Jiggers Miniature Golf at Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel, Thorpeness, Aldeburgh, Suffolk IP16 4NH.

Crazy Golf at Fakenham Fairways in Norfolk

New Crazy Golf course at Fakenham Fairways in Norfolk.

There's a new Crazy Golf course under construction at Fakenham Fairways in Fakenham, Norfolk. The latest addition to the camping and golf site will join the Pitch & Putt course and Driving Range.We're looking forward to a game there on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we're next in Norfolk.

You can find the golf centre at Fakenham Fairways, Burnham Market Road, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 9SA.

Enter the World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

Entry to the World Crazy Golf Championships is now open.

Taking place at Hastings Adventure Golf on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th June the World Crazy Golf Championships are open to anyone and any level of Putting ability.

Playing the potential round-killer second hole at Hastings Crazy Golf course in my last tilt at the title back in 2015

This year the global tournament has two categories - one for novices that is played out on Saturday 9th June and one for professional players and contested over the two days.

Each category competes for a separate prize fund, with a £3,000 prize fund allocated to the professional category the overall winner will receive £1,000. A separate prize fund of £1,500 is allocated to the novice* category.

Competitors must beat the windmill and watermill as well as negotiate the bends, twists and ramps on the traditional seaside Crazy Golf course at Hastings Adventure Golf.

We played in the tournament from 2007 to 2015 - back when it was a winter event. Emily won The Gommery trophy in 2014 & 2015

For the first time ever the organisers are also awarding prizes for 'best dressed', 'personality of the weekend' and 'most improved player’.

This is the sixteenth year that Hastings Adventure Golf has hosted the global championships - now firmly considered the pinnacle competition for Crazy Golfers in the UK and beyond.

Simon Tompkins of Hastings Adventure Golf said: “We want players of all abilities to get involved. The novice category is open to anyone who fancies their chances at taking home the prize fund. So get the putters polished and start practicing!”

You can gain entry to the World Crazy Golf Championships via the Hastings Adventure Golf website. All entrants are entitled to half price practice golf at the complex.

*Players are classified as a novice if:
- They have not entered the World Crazy Golf Championships before
- Are not a recognised international player
- Have not finished in the top ten of a British Minigolf Association tour event

Adventure Golf at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Wokingham

New Adventure Golf course at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Wokingham.

There's a new Adventure Golf course at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Wokingham. We're looking forward to a game there on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we're down that way in the future.

You can find Dinton Adventure Golf course at Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Wokingham, Berkshire RG10 0TH.

Museum Week 2018

This week is Museum Week.

Running from the 23rd to 29th April, Museum Week is back for a fifth edition and celebrates the vital role culture, art, science and education plays in the development of societies, forging links which know no borders between women and men. This is why Museum Week 2018 is dedicated to shared values of living together, citizenship and tolerance.

The Crazy Golf Museum - the worldwide archive of miniature golf memories, histories and ephemera

Over the week there are seven different hashtags focusing on a different areas, with the overall theme of #womenMW.

Although the role of women in society is obviously just as important as that of men, it is far from being properly recognised. On Monday 23rd April Museum Week will focus on famous women in the fields of history, art, culture and science, as well as all those anonymous women whose lives structure our societies. Not women chosen for their beauty, but artists, intellectuals, workers, and so on.

The hashtags are:
#womenMW
#cityMW
#heritageMW
#professionalMW
#kidsMW
#natureMW
#differenceMW
#MuseumWeek

Find out more on the Museum Week website.

As a BIG fan of Miniature Golf and a Curator of the Crazy Golf Museum I wouldn't be doing what I am if it wasn't for women creating the game of minigolf.

Emily playing the world's first Miniature Golf course back in 2012

The world's first minigolf course was the Himalayas Putting course at St Andrews, Scotland. The layout was created in 1867 specifically for female players to use. Emily and I visited and played The Himalayas in 2012. It's a wonderful layout and a must-play course for fans of minigolf.

You can read more about the history of the St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club on their website. It's interesting to note there had previously been a small putting area set-up before 1860, while the 9-hole course opened in 1867.

Today there is a 9-hole and an 18-hole course, both open to the public for a nominal charge.

Scorecard from the 2017 USPMGA Master's minigolf competition held at the Hawaiian Rumble Mini Golf course in North Myrtle Beach. Donated by Pat Sheridan of The Putting Penguin

A selection of Putt-Putt tokens from the Museum's vaults

Pencils from the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Prestatyn

Some of the other key dates in world minigolf are:

• 1916 - The first minigolf course in the USA. James Barber opened the 'Thistle Dhu' layout in Pinehurst, NC.
• 1926 - The very first Crazy Golf course in the UK opened on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England.
• 1926 - The first artificial miniature golf course in the USA. Garnet Carter created the 'Tom Thumb' miniature golf course near Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN.
• National Miniature Golf Day always falls on the second Saturday in May.
• Miniature Golf Day is always on the 21st of September.
• 30th September marks the day we visited our first course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2006.

Check out the Crazy Golf Museum website and Crazy Golf Museum-related blog posts for more info.

Crazy Golf at One Adventure in Droylsden

New indoor Crazy Golf course at One Adventure in Droylsden.

Reading the Tameside Reporter newspaper recently I spotted an item about the new indoor glow-in-the-dark Crazy Golf course at One Adventure in Droylsden, Manchester. It's very nearby to us so we're looking forward to a game there soon.

You can find One Adventure on Floor 2 of Greenside Mill in Droylsden, Manchester M43 7AJ.

In addition to the Crazy Golf course you can also do axe throwing, laser tag and a lot more!

A delightfully dull, brilliantly boring evening from the Dull Men's Club

The Dull Men's Club is organising a Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston on the 15th May.

At the event you'll be able to meet men and women who enjoy ordinary, everyday things — things that are often thought of as mundane, dull, boring — but actually can be quite interesting. Meet people who have been in DMC calendars and the book Dull Men of Great Britain: Celebrating the Ordinary. We do more than watch paint dry.

Dr Sandi Mann, aka ‘Dr Boredom’, author of The Science of Boredom: The Upside of Downtime, will tell the attendees about the benefits of boredom and her research on the Thirty Habits of Boring People.

The "Anorak of the Year 2017.4" will also be announced at the event (".4" as we are now 40% into 2018).

The evening event will be held at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), Fylde Road, Preston PR1 2HE.

More details and tickets are available on Eventbrite.

You can also join 15,750 other people at the Dull Men's Club Facebook Group - a place in cyberspace where dull men — and women who appreciate dull men — share experiences of enjoying everyday, mundane things, far from glitz and glam — "Celebrating the Ordinary".

The Carpet Factory in Middleton is NOT a Tesco Extra

Close, but not.

So close to Tesco, in more ways than one

Related blog posts:
- Bootlegs

National Miniature Golf Day 2018

It's less than a month until National Miniature Golf Day 2018.

A snap of a shot during the 2015 National Miniature Golf Day tournament in Skegness

The first of the years Miniature Golf Days is fast approaching.

National Miniature Golf Day falls on the second Saturday in May, this year that's Saturday 12th May.

Where will you be teeing-off?

We played at Championship Adventure Golf in New Brighton on National Miniature Golf Day 2017

For some ideas and inspiration check out our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour blog post to see the 809 courses we've visited on our travels over the last twelve years.

Related blog posts:
- National Miniature Golf Day
- Key minigolf dates for the year ahead

Update to our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour newsletter

Update to subscriptions to our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour enewsletter.

We love keeping you updated with information on our travels on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and since 2016 we've sent out a newsletter.

You may have heard about the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), that comes into effect on the 25th May 2018. To help comply with GDPR consent requirements, we need to confirm that you would like to receive the newsletter from us.

We hope that our newsletters are useful to you. If you're already a subscriber and would like to continue hearing from us, please update your subscription settings by clicking the button in the email we've sent to you today (15th April).

If you haven't yet subscribed, but would like to please sign-up online.

Links:
- View our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour newsletter archive
- Subscribe to the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour newsletter

The DinoFalls Masters

Results of the DinoFalls Adventure Golf Masters competition at the Trafford Golf Centre in Manchester.

On Friday 6th April I competed in the first-ever DinoFalls Masters Adventure Golf competition at the Trafford Golf Centre in Manchester - and won it!

Playing a tricky tee-shot up onto a ridge

The 18-hole DinoFalls Adventure Golf course is a nice layout and is an eye-catching sight from the M60.

Putting on the 18th

The event saw hundreds of players complete a round and submit their scores. My win in The DinoFalls Masters came with a score of 37.

I returned to DinoFalls Adventure Golf to compete in a Midlands Minigolf Club Invitational Tournament on Wednesday 11th April and won that too. What a great week.

The Midlands Minigolf Club competitors at DinoFalls Adventure Golf

MMGC DinoFalls Invitational Tournament results:
1. Richard Gottfried - 40*
2. Henri Myers - 40
3. Alex Hyman - 41
4. Rocky Bullin - 43
5. Steve Sturdy - 45
6. Ruth Burke - 46
* won a sudden-death play-off at the first extra hole

The DinoFalls Adventure Golf course at the Trafford Golf Centre was the 476th played and 792nd visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Check out the DinoFalls Adventure Golf and Trafford Golf Centre websites for more information.

I've now won four tournaments at the Trafford Golf Centre site. In addition to the DinoFalls Masters and the MMGC Invitational I won the 2009 Mini Masters and Mini Open on the 9-hole Championship Miniature Golf course which used to be at the venue. That particular course was the 84th played on our tour. It closed in 2013.

I certainly cracked the DinoFalls Adventure Golf course on my recent visits

Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf opening in Milton Keynes

New Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf course opening in Milton Keynes.

The Milton Keynes Adventure Golf venue is opening on 27th April and will have two 18-hole indoor Adventure Golf courses, as well as a restaurant and late-night bar.

A view of Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf

We've visited and played most of the Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, most recently at the new Lost World indoor Adventure Golf course in Cheltenham. Last month Mr Mulligan's Space Golf launched in Newcastle.

Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf in Stevenage

The new indoor Adventure Golf course at Mr Mulligan's will be using the Lost World Golf theming also found at the Stevenage venue.

One of the UV obstacles at Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf

Milton Keynes also has an outdoor Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course. Located at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre that course was the 281st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Other Mr Mulligan's courses can be found at Castleford, Nottingham, Woking, Sidcup and Tonbridge. There are plans for more new sites in the coming year too!

Check out the Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf website for more information and updates on the launch.

Links:
- Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf website
- Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf, Milton Keynes on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Mr Mulligan
- Milton Keynes
- Indoor Adventure Golf
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Caddies Crazy Golf and Restaurant in Southend

There's a new indoor Crazy Golf course opening in Southend next month.

The venue will feature two Crazy Golf courses and a range of food and drink including BBQ, craft burgers, vegan dishes and desserts.

Check out the Caddies Crazy Golf course website, Facebook and Twitter for more information.

We're looking forward to checking it out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - we've played the other minigolf courses in Southend a LOT over the years.

Related blog posts:
- Southend
- Southend-on-Sea
- Indoor Minigolf
- Minigolf in Essex
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Start of the Petanque season in Stockport

Today marks the start of the Pétanque season in Stockport as the Woodstock Pétanque Club take to the terrain at Alexandra Park in Edgeley.

The club meets on the second and fourth Sunday of the month and play between 1pm and 4pm.

Playing a shot last April

The club receiving coaching from the English Petanque Association last summer

Check out the Woodstock Pétanque Club Facebook Group, Twitter and website for more information.

The Woodstock Petanque Club

Mini Golf Masters

This week will see a number of Mini Masters miniature golf tournaments taking place.

Teeing-off on Wednesday 4th April is the first MiniLinks Mini Major of the year at MiniLinks in Lytham Saint Annes.

Hole 1 of the MiniLinks Par-3 miniature golf course

DinoFalls Adventure Golf at Trafford Golf Centre in Manchester is hosting its first-ever DinoFalls Masters tournament between Thursday 5th and Sunday 8th April.

On Sunday 8th April two CrazyPutt Masters Tournaments are being held at the CrazyPutt Adventure Golf courses in Nottingham and London.

You can find the CrazyPutt Adventure Golf courses at the Riverside Family Golf Centre in Nottingham and the N1 Golf Greenwich Peninsula Golf Range in London.

In April 2007 I made my British Minigolf Association tournament debut in the British Masters. This year the 18th staging of the event will be at Mr Mulligan’s Dino Golf in Sidcup on Sunday 22 April.

We visited the Adventure Golf courses in Sidcup back in 2010

Back in 2009 I won the Mini Masters at the Championship Miniature Golf course in Manchester.

The 2009 Mini Masters Champion

Balls

My April Fools' Day story yesterday may have been a load of balls, but chipping in a rugby ball shaped golf ball might've got me closer to the hole than all these shots with pro minigolf balls.

At the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Adventure Golf course in 2008. Time has certainly flown by since that visit

What a postcard!

A look at a Blackpool beach scene in 1975.

We bought this great old postcard from a car boot sale yesterday. It was just 10p. What a scene.

Look at that sunburn!

We've been to Blackpool a fair few times over the years, but we've never seen the beach anything like that. Although it was sunburn weather on my visit to nearby St Annes on Sea last year.

The card has a nice special postmark on it with a list of the resorts that make up the 'Happy Holiday Coast'

We'll be heading back to Blackpool soon as we've heard there's an Adventure Golf course up the Blackpool Tower!

Related blog posts:
- Blackpool
- Postcards

Happy April Fools' Day!

Happy April Fools' Day!

Did you get reeled in by our egg-shaped minigolf story or not?

A spoof story about an egg-shaped golf ball on April Fools' Day AND Easter Sunday was impossible to resist

New regulation minigolf ball

We've heard there's going to be a new shape of golf ball allowed in minigolf tournaments - it's oval!

The egg-shaped ball will certainly add to the unpredictable nature of Crazy Golf tournaments.

Who knows who hatched the ingenious plan to inject more fun into the sport of minigolf. Hopefully we'll find out later today

Popular in our antipodes, the balls are used for the game of Golf Cross aka Kiwi Ball and enjoyed a short trial run at Adventure Island Mini Golf in Birmingham back in 2013 thanks to minigolf star Tiger Pragnell. Unfortunately the test event ended prematurely with myself and team-mate Adam Kelly in the lead. I'm looking forward to using the ball again - even though it rendered any course notes irrelevant with it's ludicrous bounce and roll.

There are thousands of different specialist minigolf balls available for use in tournament play, with hundreds more produced each year. I own a fair few - including a special Ball of Fame created to celebrate the second time the Midlands Minigolf Club won the British Club Championships

With the sport gaining momentum down under it's little surprise that the strange new ball is going to be used in competitions more often. The New Zealand Mini Golf Federation recently hosted the second NZ Minigolf Open competition at Lilliputt's T Rex Alley and Safari mini golf on Tamaki Drive in Auckland. The pro event was won by Australia's Allan 'The Putter King' Cox.

I bet my mate, minigolf rival and North West rugby correspondent Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley will be pleased to hear about the move too.

We've played quite a few variants of 'golf' including most kinds of miniature golf, although we're yet to play the Putt Putt brand of the game. Some of the versions include Pitch & Putt, FootGolf, Crazy Golf Pool, FootPool and Pit-Pat.