Mini Gulf minigolf at Dismaland

Photos of the miniature golf course at Banksy's Dismaland Bemusement Park.

The oil caliphate themed crazy golf course at Dismaland

Our fellow minigolf enthusiasts Matt and Helen Dodd recently visited the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare and went along to the Dismaland theme-park created by renowned street artist Banksy. They were kind enough to send along some photos of the five-hole Mini Gulf course which features an oil caliphate theme.

A flamingo looks on

When I asked Matt, the reigning Surrey Invitational Minigolf Champion, what the it was like, he said "It was a dreadful course."

The corner of the flamingo hole

"But it's Dismaland after all." he added.

It might've been dismal, but it was only a quid a go. Although for five-holes after you've already paid to go in and it doesn't look so cheap. That grey sky looks bleak too

With the Dismaland site closing this weekend it's a course we won't ever get to play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. But it's great to know that plenty of people got to have a go on the layout before it shut down.

Some barrels

A green

Matt and Helen recently hit 102 minigolf courses visited on their travels! Their landmark 100th course visit was the Tropical Trail course at Treetop Adventure Golf in Cardiff, Wales. That's another course on our 'to play' list! Matt also let me know there's an Adventure Golf course at Fishers Farm Park in Wisborough Green, West Sussex - that was their 101st course played.

Minigolf explorer Helen Dodd putting through an old tyre obstacle. In the Dismaland battle of the Dodds the result was a draw with a score of 18 apiece. There was no official par for the course. Nor were there scorecards

The Dismaland Bemusement Park was built on the site of the old Tropicana Lido on Marine Parade in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset. You can watch the Dismaland advert on YouTube to see what you've missed.

Weston-super-Mare has some permanent mini and crazy golf courses that we have played. We've also played a few art installation miniature golf on our tour too.

Link:
- Dismaland website

Related blog posts:
- Banksy's Dismaland Bemusement Park
- New indoor adventure golf course in Cardiff, Wales
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Mini Golf in Pyongyang, North Korea

Report from the first Pyongyang Minigolf Open Tournament in North Korea.

North Korea's first Miniature Golf course

My friend Dylan Harris runs Lupine Travel, a business that operates holidays and tours to the far flung reaches and hidden corners of our world. On his recent trip to North Korea he and his party competed in the first Pyongyang Minigolf Open Tournament!

The Pyongyang Minigolf course club house sign

The Pyongyang Minigolf Open Tournament was a warm-up event to the 2015 DPRK Amateur Golf Open competition which was part of the Lupine Travel trip.

Some coaching on the Flat Loop hole. A very tough obstacle

The competition was held on North Korea's first Miniature Golf course which is next to the Rungna People's Pleasureground. The course itself has a small clubhouse that sells beer and food.

One of the competitors in the tournament receives some tips from the course staff

Fourteen players from nine countries competed in the one-round, 18-hole Pyongyang Minigolf Open Tournament. The competitors were from North Korea, the UK, Australia, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, Estonia, the Netherlands and Singapore.

Caddies from the course accompanied each group of three players and marked their scores. Players were also able to choose from a selection of professional minigolf balls to use on the tricky course.

The winner of the Pyongyang Minigolf Open Tournament was Calum Slowther from the UK with a score of 46.

The Volcano hole

Organiser Dylan said "It was an interesting course to play. The staff there were very knowledgeable about minigolf and the various types of balls. We were told that the course used to be in Kim Jong Un's personal residence but he decided to gift it to the North Korean people and had it moved to its current location. The red velvet covered bench that can be seen on the photos is where it is claimed Kim Jong Un sat while he directed the workers on where to place each hole."

The Pyongyang Minigolf course and red velvet covered bench in the centre

Dylan added "We were told the course holds local competitions and we were introduced to one of the members of staff who'd won the most recent staff competition. I'm going to get lots of practice in for the event next year and hopefully come back as a winner next time."

Lupine Travel run trips every month, but the next minigolf event will take place in October 2016 to coincide with the DPRK Golf Open.

Lupine Travel was formed in 2007 and specialises in trips to unique destinations. You can travel to North Korea, Chernobyl, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Transnistria, Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan, Bhutan/Nepal, Somaliland/Ethiopia, Antarctica and more with Lupine Travel. Check out the Lupine Travel website for details of the trips available.

The Miniature Golf course in Pyongyang is of the 'Eternit' variety found in Continental Europe. Emily and I have played some of these courses in Finland, Sweden and in the UK. Emily also holds the British Women's Record score on the format with a round of 24(-12) when she competed at the WMF Nations Cup in Stockholm, Sweden in 2011.

Links:
- Lupine Travel website
- Lupine Travel on Twitter
- Lupine Travel on Facebook

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Happy Miniature Golf Day 2015!

Today is a BIG day in minigolf!

According to various sources 'Miniature Golf Day' is always celebrated on the 21st of September - a date that is always highlighted on our calendar. So head out and have a putt, there are hundreds of courses in the UK (indoors and out) and tens of thousands of layouts around the world.

Playing in the World Crazy Golf Championship in Hastings - home to some fine minigolf courses

We've visited 670 miniature golf courses since September 2006, cracking our initial target of 600 earlier this summer.

Check out the post 'Mini Golf Days in 2015' for more info on days to celebrate the great game.

On Saturday 9th May it was 'National Miniature Golf Day' and for the occasion we headed to the English seaside resort of Skegness - a hotbed of minigolf!

Playing some Arnold Palmer Mini Golf in Skegness on National Miniature Golf Day 2015

Each Monday is #MinigolfMonday on Twitter, so hashtag your Crazy, Mini and Adventure Golf posts.

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Crazy Golf at Greens Cafe in Padstow

Playing Crazy Golf in Padstow, Cornwall.

This summer we hit the BIG minigolf milestone of our 600th course visit as part of our holiday in the south west of England. During that trip we also made our 650th visit when we arrived at Greens Cafe, Crazy Golf and Grass Putting in Padstow Harbour, Cornwall.

We had great weather on our visit

Greens Cafe and Minigolf is very close to the harbour in Padstow

Greens Cafe is home to a brilliant Crazy Golf course that has 18 unique holes. We've played a lot of minigolf courses with concrete surfaces and they are not always that playable. The Green's course was not only playable, but skill-based and great fun too. We'd definitely play there again.

The Crazy Golf course is set out on four levels

An uphill shot from Emily

We had a whale of a time on the course visit

Emily heading towards a very good score

There are plenty of unique obstacles on the course

The course was the 629th visited in the UK and the 378th played overall. It was also the 51st visited and 12th played on our holiday roadtrip.

Some Egyptian-theming!

We really enjoyed our round on the course and both scored some great holes-in-one. In our match-up we tied on a score of 34.

On the home-straight

There's also a good looking Pitch & Putt course at Greens, however we didn't have time to play it this time.

The Pitch & Putt course was also called Grass Putting on some of the signs

The tiered grass miniature golf course

We really liked the scorecards at the course, and a really nice touch was receiving a sticker for scoring a hole-in-one. Some great minigolf souvenirs.

What a view

For more information, opening times and prices visit the Greens Cafe website.

There's a sprinkling of Arthurian legend on the course too

To date we've visited 670 minigolf courses on our Tour, with 21 of them overseas. This means the next course we visit will be the 650th in the UK. When we began travelling to visit all the courses in the UK there were around 600!

Links:
- Greens Cafe Padstow website
- Greens Cafe Padstow on Twitter
- Greens Cafe Padstow on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Mini Golf in the South West of England
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Minigolf competition at Gilmore's Golf in Newquay

Gilmore's Golf on Tower Road in Newquay, Cornwall is holding a Celebrity* miniature golf tournament on Sunday 20th September! Tee-off for the end of summer charity night is 4pm.

The tournament at Gilmore's Golf is in aid of the Rosie May Foundation

We played the 18-hole minigolf course on our holiday roadtrip around the south west of England earlier this summer and had a great time.

Emily playing a loooooooong hole at Gilmore's Golf

Gilmore's Golf became the 639th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

An uphill shot on hole 4 at Gilmore's Golf

The tournament is taking place on the eve of Miniature Golf Day too.

Check out the links below for more info on Gilmore's Golf and the minigolf competition.

Links:
- Gilmores Golf website
- Gilmores Golf on Facebook
- Gilmores Golf on Twitter

Related blog posts:
- Gilmores Golf in Newquay
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Mini Golf in the South West of England
- Christopher Gottfried celebrates seven years of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour by not playing Minigolf in Newquay, Cornwall
- UK Mini Golf Competitions in 2015
- Mini Golf Days in 2015

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

World Pickled Egg Championships 2015

The fourth edition of the World Pickled Egg Championships will be taking place at The Brewery Tap pub in Ipswich, Suffolk on Saturday 10th October!

An unpickled egg that won me the World Egg Throwing Championships in 2012

The World Pickled Egg Championships (WPEC) is hosted by the pub and there are guidelines on how to enter your potentially prize winning egg in the prestigious contest in the latest newsletter from the pub.

The deadline for entries is midday on the 10th October, with celebrity judging taking place from 6pm and the winner announced at 7pm.

You can find The Brewery Tap on Cliff Road, Cliff Quay, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 0AT. It's a nice spot and they've got a dartboard there too.

As you can imagine, with a blog called The Ham & Egger Files I've got quite a few egg-related stories and posts! One of the highlights of my sporting career was when me and my mate Jas Kukielka became the World Alternative Games Egg Throwing Champions in 2012!

A world championship winning throw of an egg in 2012

Links:
- The Brewery Tap website

Related blog posts:
- Ipswich
- Eggs
- Eggheads

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

A visit to Bridlington

Blog from a couple of hours in Bridlington.

In July we had a fun, albeit short, trip to Bridlington. The seaside town has long been on our to-visit list and it did not disappoint. We're already really looking forward to going back for longer next summer.

By the Crazy Golf course on the Foreshore

Well be posting more pics and videos from the minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf courses we played there, but before we get to that I had to post a snap of this great inflatable that we saw at the Bayside Fun Park on the seafront!

'Homer' in Bridlington. Notice the little Frog bin too

A view of the Bayside Fun park in Bridlington. I picked up some great amusement park tokens for my collection of seaside exonumia there as well

I'm always on the lookout for quirky and fun stuff to spot on our travels. We see quite a few Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube Men aka Airdancers. And next door-but-one to the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course there was one sat atop the Tidal Treats shop!

Videos:
- Crazy Mini Golf Hole-in-One at Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Bridlington
- Mini Golf Hole in One at Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Bridlington
- Foreshore Sands Crazy Golf course in Bridlington

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Revisiting The Lost City Adventure Golf course in Nottingham

A trip to Nottingham and a few rounds at The Lost City.

We recently visited The Lost City Adventure Golf course in Nottingham to compete in the Midlands Invitiational Minigolf Tournament played on the Temple Trail course.

The entrance to the two-course, 36-hole themed indoor adventure golf centre

We first visited the indoor 36-hole centre in 2014 when the two courses there became the 330th and 331st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The bridge hanging above the Temple Trail

A skull on the Sacred Skull course

The last hole on the Sacred Skull course where you can play to win a free game

The lucky last hole on the Temple Trail

The adventure golf centre has got great theming and since our last visit to play in the English Open competition The Lost City has had some updates. The theming can be seen beyond the courses themselves - from the nicely designed scorecards, down to the coasters that sit on the branded tables.

An adventure golf table!

There's also an amazing animatronic adventure golf alligator lurking on the Sacred Skull Pass course!

Scorecards and a coaster from The Lost City

You can find The Lost City Adventure Golf courses at The Cornerhouse in Nottingham City Centre. Check out the website for more info on opening times and prices.

For more photos and videos of the courses check out the post from our first visit to The Lost City.

Links:
- The Lost City Adventure Golf website
- The Cornerhouse website

Related blog posts:
- Visiting The Lost City Adventure Golf
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Nottingham

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Cambridgeshire and Essex Open minigolf championship

Cambridgeshire and Essex Open championship to be held at Dunton Hills, Essex.

The Cambridgeshire & Essex Mini Golf Club are hosting their first-ever Open Tournament on the 10th October.

The Cambridgeshire and Essex Open championship will be a three-round tournament played on the 18-hole Miniature Golf course at the Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre in West Horndon, Essex. Play will tee-off at 1pm, with the course open for practice in the morning.

CEMGC member Emily in action on the Dunton Hills course

For more information on the tournament and the Cambridgeshire & Essex Mini Golf Club (CEMGC) check out the club's Facebook page.

Emily putting at Dunton Hills

The CEMGC have organised three Invitational events at the course, with Emily winning the first contest in December 2014, while I won the next event in February of this year. The Sussex Wasps Minigolf Club Captain Steve Lovell won the most recent competition at the venue in August.

Richard playing the 46 foot long 16th hole at Dunton Hills 

The Dunton Hills Minigolf course was the 299th played and 499th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in July 2012.

Links:
- Cambridgeshire & Essex Mini Golf Club on Facebook
- Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre website
- Cambridgeshire and Essex Open competition event page on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Playing the Dunton Hills Miniature Golf Course in West Horndon, Essex
- Minigolf at Dunton Hills Family Golf Centre in Essex
- CEMGC Invitational Minigolf Tournament
- Dunton Hills Invitational Minigolf Tournament

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Ireland in Bedfordshire

Back in January 2010 we were driving through rural Bedfordshire and spotted that we were near Ireland!

On our way back from Biggleswade yesterday we revisited the hamlet

The hamlet of Ireland, Bedfordshire is near the town of Shefford. Apart from the sign and the Black Horse pub there's not much there at all!

We first found this Ireland while on a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour revisit to The Green Man Pub in Stanford.

On our travels we've been to New England, Essex, Egypt, Buckinghamshire, the Isle of Wight, Bedfordshire, and Oxford in Northumberland. This summer we also visited another Luton in Devon.

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

The Midlands Minigolf Club Ball of Fame

The Midlands Minigolf Club has a Ball of Fame!

Following the Midlands Minigolf Club's victory in the BMGA British Club Championships this year the club had the honour of producing a Ball of Fame to mark the achievement.

The Midlands Minigolf Club's Ball of Fame!

The Midlands Minigolf Club (MMGC) was formed in 2005 and are two-time national team champions, winning the title for the first-time at Stratford-upon-Avon in 2008 and regaining the title in Hastings in March.

Playing in the national final in Hastings

I'm proud to have been a member of the MMGC since my debut season in 2007 and have been a member of both winning teams alongside Chris Harding (2008), John Moore (2008 & 2015), Jam Trubridge (2008), Michael Smith (2015) and Seth Thomas (2015).

The winning Midlands MGC team of Seth Thomas, John Moore, Michael Smith and Richard Gottfried

The Midlands Minigolf Club's Ball of Fame (BoF) was produced by 3D Minigolf in Germany. Details of other Balls of Fame can be found on the 3D Minigolf website.

When playing in minigolf-sport competitions players can choose to use a wide-variety of specialist balls. Each has a a different property in terms of hardness, weight, bounce, surface and size. In the last 70 years more than 10,000 minigolf balls have been produced!

The Midlands Minigolf Club's BoF has the following properties: Bounce 5cm, Shore 37, Weight 45g. It's a low bounce ball and is slightly softer than average. It's good for direct shots and our club captain Michael Smith has highlighted some holes on the Pirate Golf course in Hastings and the Star City Adventure Golf course in Birmingham where it could be useful. The MMGC BoF costs £15. To secure one of the limited edition balls please get in touch via the MMGC's Facebook page.

The MMGC consists of a dedicated group of crazy minigolfers from around Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the USA. For more information check out the club's Facebook, Twitter, and other MMGC-related blog posts.

The 2015 BMGA British Club Champions in Hastings. From l-r Seth Thomas, Michael Smith, Brenda Smith, Paul Johnson, Owen Johnson, Richard Gottfried, John Moore, Chris Smith

Around the world there are over 900 minigolf clubs and 38,000 competitive minigolf players registered with the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) via the 55 member nations. For further info on the sport of minigolf and essential kit and equipment check out the WMF's Starting out in Minigolf guide.

Links:
- Midlands Minigolf Club on Facebook
- Midlands Minigolf Club on Twitter
- 3D Minigolf 

Related blog posts:
- Midlands Minigolf Club
- Crazy about Mini Golf Balls
- Minigolf Clubs in the UK

Loo-town

This evening I popped into Luton town centre to collect a parcel and decided to park up in my old stomping ground of High Town.

Driving along Havelock Road I saw this most peculiar sight!

There wasn't even a building site nearby. Perhaps the lavvy had just been dumped

Are the council calling for people to recycle EVERYTHING now! Or has someone flytipped an actual portable toilet at the recycling point?

There's a dearth of public conveniences in Luton, perhaps this is the future...

Links:
- Rubbish, Waste and Recycling on Luton Borough Council's website
- Elliott Loohire website

Related blog posts:
- Recycling
- Public Toilets
- Toilets