Crazy Golf in Fleet, Hampshire

There was a pop-up crazy golf course in Fleet, Hampshire yesterday.

Fleet's Business Improvement District arranged for a pop-up crazy golf course to be a part of a fun day in Fleet town centre yesterday.

   

Pop-up minigolf

During the summer Lincoln Business Improvement Group created Cornhill Cove, a seaside-style pop-up crazy golf, street food and drinking area in the city centre.

It was one of a number of pop-up minigolf courses we've seen over the last 14 years.

Retailtainment

Minigolf has grown in popularity in the last eight years and has moved from only being a traditional outdoor seaside summer activity to become a year-round game that can be played indoors, outdoors and at pretty much any time of the day.

A number of high streets, retail parks and shopping malls are now home to minigolf courses, with more new venues planned to open.

Minigolf is also a popular addition to boost footfall and create awareness and much like in the Fleet and Lincoln examples is a way to attract people to a location.

Businesses also use portable and temporary minigolf layouts for product launches and promotions.

Competitive socialising

Before the pandemic the phrase 'competitive socialising' had become a popular way to describe going out, with lots of new operators catering to the demand of a public who wanted to compete at something while eating and drinking in a nice setting.

Whether it was table tennis, darts, shuffleboard, bingo, tenpin bowling, arcade games, or minigolf, people were finding new ways to quench their thirst, have fun and compete without signing-up to a full sports league or taking things too seriously.

There are still new competitive socialising venues opening during the pandemic, including the new Roxy Ball Room at Withy Grove in Manchester.

Minigolf in the time of Coronavirus

Take a look at my blog posts about minigolf and competitive socialising in the time of coronavirus and social distancing.

You can also watch episode 1 of the InterGame Video Insights on Minigolf in the time of Covid-19.

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Minigolf marketing

With over twenty years of marketing and sales experience Emily and I offer consultancy services to people and businesses looking to set-up miniature golf courses, review their operations, hole designs, contests, tournaments and more.

Do get in touch for a chat to see how we can help and work together.

You can also buy my minigolf marketing ebook on Amazon and Kobo.

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Putt Club crazy golf opening in Watford

A new Putt Club minigolf venue is opening in Watford, Hertfordshire.

The team at Putt Club are gearing up to open the brand's second venue with a new location in Watford.

The first Putt Club opened in Hull in January this year.

The new Putt Club in Watford is scheduled to open on the 21st October.

For more information on motorsport-themed indoor crazy golf courses visit the Putt Club website.

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Treasure Island Adventure Golf at Wonderland Telford

A look at the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course at Wonderland Telford in Telford Town Park in Shropshire.

We had a look at the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course at the Wonderland Telford theme park in Telford Town Park earlier this month!

We first visited the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour while en route to Oswestry on Friday 13th July 2012. It was the 500th course we'd been to and the 300th played!

We really enjoyed our visit to Wonderland Telford and are looking forward to returning in the future.

Visit the Wonderland Telford website for more information.

Dinosaur at Wonderland Telford!

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

We've visited a total of 956 courses since our adventures began at Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea on the 30th September 2006.

We've been to 46 courses in 2020, with 15 of those being new courses visited. We've swung by eight new courses in the time of coronavirus.

We've got 40 of the original 600 we set out to visit left and a lot of new courses to play at too!

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The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing

Check out The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing.

My ebook to help minigolf players better market themselves, their clubs, associations, tournaments and courses is available to purchase from Amazon and Kobo.

Mini-golf in the time of Covid-19

InterGame Video Insights - Mini-golf in the time of Covid-19.

Check out episode 1 of InterGame's Video Insights with a discussion of the opportunities and challenges of operating a mini-golf venue amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Old Littlewoods logo in Ashton-under-Lyne

Finding an old mosaic tile logo at the former Littlewoods shop on Stamford Street Central in Ashton-under-Lyne.

A few doors down from the old Woolworths on Stamford Street Central in Ashton-under-Lyne is a Cash Converters. The doorways to that shop also hold a link to the past.

Past meets present - the decades old Littlewoods logo and the signs of the pandemic times of 2020

Before becoming Cash Converters the building was home to Hitchens, a catalogue clearance store.

Another interesting thing about the building is that the street light is attached to the building itself, rather than on a pole.

Many thanks to Richard Eccles on Instagram for help in identifying the logo.

Old Woolworths sign in Ashton-under-Lyne

Finding an old mosaic tile logo at the former Woolworths on Stamford Street Central in Ashton-under-Lyne.

This branch of Woolies opened in 1927. It closed in the 1960s.

The building is now a charity shop for the Wooden Canal Boat Society.

I found out about this old logo on the excellent Woolies Buildings blog.

It's great to look up, down and all around while out exploring as you can see so many interesting things.

You can see still other remnants of Woolworths on the UK high street if you know where to look.

We visited the old Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent earlier this month. It's one of the few former Woolworths shops that has not been occupied since the brand's demise in January 2009.

We also spotted an old Woolworths store in Brunstane, Edinburgh on a minigolfing trip back in August 2011. That was the Big W Woolworths store at The Jewel retail park.

Week 6 of 7 in the Putt18 World Pro League

Results from week 6 of the Putt18 World Pro League.

I've been competing in the inaugural Putt18 World Pro League during the pandemic and six of the seven events in the first season have now been completed.

Players from the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand have been pitting their Putt18 putting skills against each other in the fortnightly challenges. The final week gets underway next Wednesday, 30th September with the champion crowned on Sunday 4th October.

After six weeks a total of 480 rounds of Putt18 have been recorded.

At the top of the leader-board is Matt Ansley of New Zealand with 742 points scored in the six events.

GB's Dave Gomm in second spot with 602 points. Dave has also set a new world record for an individual round with a score of 57 recorded last week.

John Ansley of New Zealand is in third place with 548 points.

I'm currently in 18th place of the 20 players left competing in the marathon of putting with 91 points.

It'll be an interesting final week of games to see if there is any movement at the top and bottom of the leader-board!

Many thanks to my fellow players for keeping track of all the action.

Putt18 World Pro League

Each player has a 20-minute time limit to play four 18-hole rounds for a 72-hole total score in each of the seven events. There are a variety of points on offer for low scores and total rounds.

Check out the Putt18 World Pro League Facebook Group for more info.

Putt18

We first played the Putt18 game format in the Putt18 Home Putting Challenge 4 Nations Cup international event against Australia, New Zealand and the USA back in May.

The Putt18 game mat consists of six tee-off boxes and three target score zones. Players must hit their balls from each of the tee boxes in turn aiming at the Par-4, Par-5 and Par-3 targets while avoiding fairways, bunkers and water hazards that carry penalty points. After the 18 shots have been played you tot up your score to see what you've shot for your round.

Further details of the Putt18 golf game mat can be found on the Putt18 website.

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Read my blog post about keeping social and competitive in the new world of physical and social distancing

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Princess Parade Crazy Golf in Blackpool, September 2020

A visit to the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course in Blackpool.

We visited Blackpool for the first time this year on the 3rd September. It was really nice to get back to the seaside.

You can see the top of the Blackpool Tower from the sunken gardens crazy golf course

While there we had a catch-up with Ian and Paul from the Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels - the two groups that have joined forces to refresh and reopen the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course on Blackpool's North Shore.

It was brilliant to talk to people in real life for a change!

It's a pleasure to be a part of the Princess Parade Crazy Golf project and I've enjoyed working with the teams at Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool & the Fylde Street Angels, Blackpool Council and the Blackpool Civic Trust to get the course reopened.

The area has been given a massive clean up by the project team and a number of the holes have required repairs. You can see how the course looked in May 2019 and October 2019 in my blog post.

How the course looked in May 2019

The Princess Parade Crazy Golf course will be opening next year once the refurbishment work is complete and it is safe to do so.

One of the holes under repair

More information on the project can be found on the Blackpool Princess Parade Crazy Golf Facebook Group.

Photos of the 18-hole Princess Parade Crazy Golf course, September 2020.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 10

Hole 11

Hole 12

Hole 13

Hole 14

Hole 15

Hole 16

Hole 17

Hole 18

Seaside heritage and Blackpool minigolf history

We've recently found out that the course has been there since the late 1950s. We've got quite quite a few old postcards showing the course. It's lovely to see the photos of it in its heyday and it'll be brilliant to be down there on a hot, sunny day in the future.

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Putt In The Park Mini Golf

We played Putt In The Park Mini Golf at Battersea Park in London five years ago today.

The course was the 650th we visited in the UK and 671st overall.

A visit to the Putt in the Park minigolf course at Battersea Park in London on Miniature Golf Day five years ago

We've now been to 956 courses since 2006.

The first Putt In The Park course we played was in Wandsworth Park, London in 2013.

We're yet to play Putt In The Park in Acton Park, London and Colchester, Essex.

Visit the Putt In The Park website for more information.

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Viking-themed Adventure Golf planned for Southport Pleasureland

A new Adventure Golf course is planned to open at Southport Pleasureland.

There are plans for a new Adventure Golf course to open at Southport Pleasureland.

The idea of a new course were first proposed last year and that layout was planned to have a dinosaur theme.

The new proposals will see a Viking-themed Adventure Golf course created alongside a Viking pub.

Southport is one of our local seasides and we've played minigolf there a number of times over the years.

We first visited Southport back in 2009. At that time the old Pleasure Land theme park had recently closed down and had been home to a Moroccan-themed Adventure Golf course.

Check out the Southport Pleasureland website for more information.

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New indoor Adventure Golf at Charnwood Golf Complex in Loughborough

A new indoor Adventure Golf course is being built at Charnwood Golf Complex in Loughborough, Leicestershire.

The indoor Adventure Golf layout is being created by Adventure Golf Solutions and is due to open in November this year.

We visited the Charnwood Golf Complex to play the 9-hole outdoor minigolf course there in August 2015. It was the 670th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the Charnwood Golf Complex website for more information.

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666

A look back at the 666th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

For the 666th blog post of the year here's a look at the 666th course we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Bridlington.

The Treasure Island Adventure Golf course was the 384th played on our travels when we swung by on the 31st July 2015.

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Happy Miniature Golf Day!

Did you know: The Original Crazy Golf course opened in Skegness in 1926.

It was the first Crazy Golf course to open in England

We visited the South Parade course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2011 and 2015.

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Happy Miniature Golf Day 2020

Today is Miniature Golf Day!

Miniature Golf Day is always on the 21st September.

It'll certainly be a crazy Miniature Golf Day this year!

We played the Crazy Golf course at Southport's Botanic Gardens to celebrate the day last year.

How times change!

One of the holes at Southport's Botanic Gardens Crazy Golf course

We also visited The Masters Putting Green at King's Gardens while we were in Southport. The excellent 18-hole course was really really really busy so we didn't have time for a game. Here's a video of me scoring a hole-in-one there on a previous visit.

Dates for your minigolf diary 2021

Each year there are two minigolf days.

• The first of the year is National Miniature Golf Day which is on the second Saturday in May. In 2021 that is Saturday 8th May.
• The second, Miniature Golf Day, is always on the 21st September. In 2021 that will be a Tuesday.

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Putt18 World Pro League - Week 6 Results

Scores for Week 6 of the Putt18 World Pro League.

I shot rounds of 79, 76, 83 and 78 for a total of 316 in Week 6 of 7 in the inaugural Putt18 World Pro League.

Video of my four rounds in Week 6.

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More information on the Putt18 golf game mat can be found on the Putt18 website.

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