Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Krazy Golf on Porth Island

Playing Krazy Golf on Porth Island, Newquay.

We unexpectedly spotted a Crazy Golf course at Porth Island on our drive from Newquay to Padstow during our South West of England roadtrip in 2015.

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
The most difficult hole on the course

The course looked interesting, and similar to a Beton Concrete type of miniature golf course.

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
At the 646th course visited on our tour

However, the playing surface was one of the most bumpy we'd ever played on and coupled with the bouncy golf balls made for one of the most frustrating rounds of minigolf we've ever played. In fact we didn't even manage to finish the round, instead calling it a draw with the score level at 55 shots apiece!

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
Emily teeing-off on hole 1

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
Loopy
 
Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
Playing over three cups before a tunnel and the actual final hole on this lane!

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
Very crazy Krazy Golf
  
Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
The last hole was fairly straightforward...

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
...but had a funny green...

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
....with signs of repair...

Crazy Golf course at Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
...and a scary cup that we refused to putt into! Far too many cobwebs for our liking!

The course was the 47th visited on our two-week holiday, the 377th played overall and the 646th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.



You can find the Crazy Golf course next to the Newquay Football Golf layout. Check out the website for more info.

Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
The Porth Island Football Golf course is different to FootGolf...

Newquay Football Golf on Porth Island
...most notably because it has a goal!

Related blog posts:
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
Mini Golf in the South West of England

Video:
Playing Krazy Golf on Porth Island, Newquay

Link:
- Newquay Football Golf

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Playing Crazy Golf in St Erth

Crazy Golf at Penwith Pitch and Putt in St Erth, Cornwall.

This is a bit of a throwback blog post, but it seems crazy that our adventure around the south west coast of England was back in 2015! We've still got a few minigolf blog posts to do about that trip!

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

You can see the full list of 62 courses we visited on our two-week holiday in our post 'Mini Golf in the South West of England'. One of those courses was the Crazy Golf layout at the Penwith Pitch & Putt centre in St Erth, Cornwall.

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
Emily playing the very tricky 18th

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
On the Wishing Well

It was a brilliant and brightly coloured 18-hole course and great fun to play.

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
A happy character. And a fun Crazy Golf obstacle

The course was the 37th visited on our south west trip, the 375th played overall and 636th course visited since September 2006.

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

In our game on the 8th June 2015 Emily won with a score of 42 to my 46.

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
Emily on the Wishing Well hole

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
On the 4th hole

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
Emily putting on the Helter Skelter

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
Playing the 14th

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
On the long last hole

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
It's always nice to see a windmill on a Crazy Golf course

For more information and opening times visit the Play Golf Penwith Pitch & Putt Facebook page.

Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
A view of the Pitch and Putt course in St Erth

Related blog posts:
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
Mini Golf in the South West of England

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Friday, January 27, 2017

Winning at Subpar Miniature Golf

A great online minigolf contest.

I do enjoy a good minigolf contest and courses often hold online 'guess the number of ball' competitions. A recent promotion from Subpar Miniature Golf in Alameda, California was definitely one of the best I've ever seen and had a fun and novel twist.

To win you had to incorrectly guess the number of golf balls in the photo!

Incorrectly guess the number of golf balls used to create this Valentine and you may win! Photo by Subpar Miniature Golf
How many golf balls do you see?

Using my many years of minigolf experience I guessed at 732 and won!



The prize is a Subpar Miniature Golf bumper sticker - it'll be a fine addition to my collection and the Crazy Golf Museum archives - and by posting a photo of it stuck on my car I'll also receive a free round at the course. Now, to book my flights so I can collect the sticker...

Let's hope it's not my last minigolf win of the year!

You can find the Subpar Miniature Golf course at 1511 Park Stree, Alameda, California. Visit the Subpar Miniature Golf website for more info, opening times and prices.

It sounds like a great place as it's also got pool, a slot car track, an arcade and air hockey. On Fridays and Saturdays the Miniature Golf course becomes a Glow Golf layout too!

Our friends over at A Couple of Putts played the course last year, check out their review. It certainly looks like they had fun there.

Links:
- Subpar Miniature Golf website
- Subpar Miniature Golf on Facebook

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Laser Disk shopping!

I've found the perfect shop to take over to expand my business empire!

At the out-of-business Jubilee Films video, DVD and Laser Disk shop in Ashton-under-Lyne
Laser Disks!?

I'm sure there's still money to be had in the VHS tape and Laserdisc markets...

A trip to Ashton-under-Lyne railway station

Visiting Ashton-under-Lyne railway station.


While visiting Ashton-under-Lyne and the great Portland Basin Museum for the first time we swung by the railway station for a quick look for some classic Northern trains.

Train nerd Richard Gottfried at Ashton-under-Lyne railway station
Train nerd

We were in luck as we saw BOTH 16:34 services arriving at and departing from the station! One was a two-coach Class 150 Sprinter heading to Huddersfield, the other was a four-coach Pacer Railbus en route to Wigan Wallgate.



Ashton-under-Lyne railway station
Bound for Wigan Wallgate

Ashton-under-Lyne railway station
Off to Huddersfield

One of the non-stopping trains passing through Ashton-under-Lyne station
One of the non-stopping trains passing through Ashton-under-Lyne station

Videos:
- Northern Sprinter and Pacer Railbus trains at Ashton-under-Lyne station
- Northern Sprinter train on a railway bridge at Normanton Road, Cheadle
- GBRf 66737 with Drax freight trucks at Cheadle Heath

Related blog posts:
- Train nerd
- Trains

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Some new old minigolf postcards

A look at minigolf postcards from Woolacombe, Droitwich and Margate.


I recently bought some excellent old postcards from one of my favourite dealers and the batch included many we'd never seen before.

One was from the Once Upon a Time theme park in Woolacombe, Devon and features the attraction's mascot Pippa Pig enjoying the activities that were on offer - including an interesting looking Crazy Golf. Checking online, the Once Upon a Time theme park is long gone, having closed at the end of the 2005 season. The park had opened in the early 1990's and was based in the old Mortehoe and Woolacombe railway station.

Pippa Pig at Once Upon a Time Children's Theme Park, Woolacombe, N. Devon. Postally unused postcard published by Dowland Press Ltd,. Frome, Somerset. No date
Pippa Pig at Once Upon a Time Children's Theme Park, Woolacombe, N. Devon. Postally unused postcard published by Dowland Press Ltd,. Frome, Somerset. No date

Another of the brilliant cards shows the Putting Greens at the Raven Hotel in Droitwich, Worcestershire. It's the first minigolf card I've seen from Droitwich. Unfortunately I can't find any information on the exact location of the hotel but I'm fairly certain it's not there now. There are a number of other hotels in the area that are, or were, called the Raven. The closest looking one is the St Andrews Town Hotel.

The Putting Greens, Raven Hotel, Droitwich, Worcs. Postally unused 'Gravure' postcard by Lucas Engraving Co. Ltd., Birmingham. No date
The Putting Greens, Raven Hotel, Droitwich, Worcs. Postally unused 'Gravure' postcard by Lucas Engraving Co. Ltd., Birmingham. No date

The card showing The Oval in Cliftonville is the first I've seen that contains a full view of all 36-holes which used to form the Little Oasis Crazy Golf course. Luckily we managed to play both of the classic Arnold Palmer Putting Courses before they were removed in 2014.

The Oval, Cliftonville, PT4419. Postally used postcard postmarked from Thanet, Kent on the 24 September 1975. By Photo Precision Limited, St. Ives, Huntingdon
The Oval, Cliftonville, PT4419. Postally used postcard postmarked from Thanet, Kent on the 24 September 1975. By Photo Precision Limited, St. Ives, Huntingdon

Related blog posts:
- Postcards
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.