British Minigolf Open at Hastings Adventure Golf

British Minigolf Open championships heading to Hastings.

The team at Hastings Adventure Golf have got in touch to let us know about the British Minigolf Open taking place on the 17th and 18th September. Over 50 British and international crazy golf competitors will tee off in a bid to win the title in the two-day, nine round event.

Chris Richards of Hastings Adventure Golf, said: “We’re delighted to be hosting the tournament again this year. It’s a challenging course but this event attracts the very best players in UK crazy golf and is always a spectacle to watch.”

Tackling the challenge of the Pirate Golf course

The tournament takes place on the 18-hole Pirate Course, where players must contend with cannon fire, explosions, water features, tunnels, ramps and banked curves.

The 18-hole Pirate Adventure Golf course in Hastings was the 219th course we played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

With three 18-hole miniature golf courses, Hastings Adventure Golf also hosts the World Crazy Golf Championships. Situated on the seafront in Hastings Old Town, the British Open Championships starts at 9am on Saturday 17th September.

Emily playing the Pirate Golf course in Hastings

Earlier this year Hastings Adventure Golf completed a massive refurbishment at Pelham Place in Hastings that transformed an area of the promenade that had been looking a bit weary. The £450,000 construction project involved the redevelopment of the land behind Hastings Adventure Golf from Pelham Place to the promenade. This is now pedestrianised and includes a plaza-style eating area with modern street furniture and a new fish and chip restaurant.

Over the years Emily and I have competed in a number of British Opens and other national tour events in Hastings and the miniature golf courses there are great fun.

For more information check out the Hastings Adventure Golf website.

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Petanque in Stockport

Playing boules with Woodstock Pétanque Club at Alexandra Park in Edgeley, Stockport. 

As big fans of boules and petanque it was great to hear that we've got a local club in Stockport.

The Woodstock Pétanque Club play at Alexandra Park in Edgeley and recently held a series of open taster events. We went along for a game and it was great fun.

Emily throwing a boules

The Edgeley terrain was certainly an interesting playing surface and there were a few local hazards on the pistes we played our games on.

In action

We had three pairs games - with Paul from the club giving us tips - which resulted in some very close ends, and ultimately three defeats for me. Emily picked up a couple of wins, as did a visiting John 'Big Al' Moore.

A high toss from John

The Woodstock Pétanque Club meet on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month and are looking for new members to enable the club to meet weekly.

It costs just £10 for the annual membership, with a £1 fee per week when you play. The season runs from March to October.

Check out the Woodstock Pétanque Club on Twitter, Facebook and their website for more details.

Related blog posts:
- Pétanque
- Petanque
- Boules

Links:
- Woodstock Pétanque Club on Twitter
- Woodstock Pétanque Club on Facebook
- Woodstock Pétanque Club website
- English Pétanque Association

Mini Golf in a Stockport charity shop

Another odd location for a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour course visit.

While having a wander round Stockport town centre we nipped into the National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline charity shop and lo' and behold we spotted a 'Mini Golf' layout!

Another ludicrous photo of me playing miniature golf. This layout was very mini

The day before the shop had held a fun day and Mini Golf was one of the games on offer. Take a look at the sign.

Another fun day out in Stockport

I got to have three goes for 50p.

My first shot drew a heckle of 'weak' from the lady in the shop. Admittedly it was an underpowered shot.

My second was an Ace. Yee-ha!

My third and final shot drifted had the right weight behind it, but was wide of the mark.

Unexpectedly I was rewarded with a bag of sweets for my efforts.

Check out the National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline charity website for more information about their work.

The Mini Golf course visit was number 696 overall, with the layout the 407th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since the 30th September 2006.

This was the third Miniature Golf course we've found since we moved to Cheadle Hulme from Luton. The first was a 9-hole Grass Putting course at the Park Square office on Bird Hall Lane in Cheadle Heath. The second was the Pitch and Putt course at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle.

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Shuffleboard at Albert's Schloss bier hall in Manchester.

Playing Shuffleboard in Manchester's Albert's Schloss bier hall.

We've played a lot of different sports and games over the years and on a recent visit to Manchester added another to the list - Shuffleboard.

The table we played was at Albert's Schloss bier hall on St Peter Street. It's well worth a visit.

We had a few games against some local competitors. Unfortunately we came up short in the contests, but we put that down to the lack of warm-up. About eight pints by the look of it.

Check out the Albert's Schloss website for more details.

Related blog posts:
- Sports and games played
- Pub
- Pub Games
- Pub Sports

Pitch and Putt at Bruntwood Park, Cheadle

A visit to the Pitch and Putt course at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle.

Cheadle Golf Club's Pitch & Putt course at Bruntwood Park

Today we visited the second miniature golf course since moving to Cheadle Hulme. This one was the Pitch and Putt course at Bruntwood Park.

It looks a nice layout and we'll definitely give it a play one day.

Being under the flight-path of Manchester Airport brought back memories of playing Pitch and Putt at Stockwood Park in Luton.

Bruntwood Park's minigolf course became the became the 695th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since our travels began in September 2006.

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Jurassic Golf course at The Needles on the Isle of Wight

My friend Naomi Carey was recently on holiday on the Isle of Wight and managed to snap this great shot of the Jurassic Golf course at The Needles Landmark Attraction.

It looks well worth a play.

Back in 2009 we visited the Isle of wight on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and are hoping to get back there soon. There a few more new and refurbished courses for us to play there now!

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf on the Isle of Wight and a visit to Isle of Wight Lane in Bedfordshire

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Memories of the 2012 Oslympic Games

Looking back at the 2012 Oswestry Games multi-sport event in Shropshire.

Back in the summer of 2012 we were proud to be a part of the Oswestry Games. The festival of sport in Shropshire saw the sport of minigolf included in a multi-sport games event in the UK for the first time.

The Oswestry Games, or 'Oslympics' as they became known, were a mammoth undertaking for the organisers at the Oswestry Sports Council and it was a real pleasure and honour for Emily and I to organise the minigolf events along with other coaches and players from the national tour.

The coaches and competitors in the Pro-Am minigolf tournament at Cae Glas Park

The Oswestry Games consisted of more than 50 sports and cultural events held over ten-days in July 2012.

Minigolfing at the Oswestry Games

Things got off to a great start on our first night in the town - not only were we recognised while on our way to the sporting quiz night at the town's cricket club, but we also won the bronze medal in the quiz itself.

The bronze medal winning quizzing minigolfers

The Saturday morning of the Games saw us organise coaching sessions for locals youth and adult players on the 18-hole 'Eternit' miniature golf course in Cae Glas Park in the town centre. This was followed by the BMGA Oswestry Games Pro-Am Minigolf Classic team tournament in the afternoon - won by Marc 'The Force' Chapman, Steve Sturdy and Chris Powell.

On the tricky Cae Glas Park miniature golf course

Sunday was the closing day of the Games and a large number of clubs, regional organisations and national governing bodies gathered at the Leisure Centre for a jam-packed day of sporting fun, games and competition.

Playing the Putterfingers Crazy Golf course at the Oswestry Games

With a Putterfingers modular Crazy Golf course we took centre stage and had a large number of the public, athletes and competitors from other events joining us for a round on the 9-hole course.

We scooped Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the Games - and what very fine medals they are too

We ended our trip to the Oslympics by contesting the BMGA & Putterfingers Oswestry Games Minigolf Championship - which I won!

The podium for the pro-tournament - Marc Chapman, me and John Moore

Did you know - Miniature Golf was once played during the actual Olympic Games! While it was not officially part of the Games programme, the participants in the Golf tournament at the 1904 Olympic Games held in St Louis, USA also competed in a Putting Championship on a specially built miniature golf course at the Glen Echo Country Club.

It'd be great to see miniature golf become an Olympic sport one day. And we'd also like to see the Oswestry Games return once more. Perhaps when the UK next hosts the Olympics, minigolf will be an event, and Oswestry will host their Games again.

The future for the sport of miniature golf looks bright, with the international governing body - the World Minigolf Sport Federation - gaining further recognition on the global stage all the time. The WMF is a member of SportAccord and an organisation called AIMS (the Alliance of Independent Members of SportAccord) - who's goal it is to achieve International Olympic Committee recognition for its members.

Back in 1989 the sport (Bahn Golf) was a demonstration event in the IWGA World Games in Karlsruhe, Germany. The WMF is also hoping to have minigolf included in other multi-sport events in the future.

As the umbrella organisation of minigolf sports association's worldwide and continental associations in Asia, Europe and America the WMF has 55 members. The sport is played on an organised level in Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Chinese Taipai, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Kenya, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, USA and Vietnam.

There are more than 38,000 competitive minigolf players registered with the WMF via the 55 member nations, with 900-plus clubs between them. Over 1,000 courses are approved for official competitions and around 1,500 minigolf tournaments are held each year.

Aside from the March 2011 list Emily and I have been in the sport's international rankings since November 2008 following our debut for the Great Britain team at that year's Nations Cup championships in Tampere, Finland.

We're hoping to one day visit the Olimpiapark Munchen too as the venue has an eternit miniature golf course that was set-up in the Athletes Village for the 1972 Olympic Games. That'd be a great course to play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Related blog posts:
- The Oswestry Games
- Miniature Golf and the Olympic Games

Links:
- Oswestry Sports Forum
- The Oswestry Games 2012
- World Minigolf Sport Federation
- Minigolf Report from the 2012 Oswestry Games Multi-Sport Event

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Minigolf in Sweden - Mariefred and Siggesta Gård, Värmdö near Stockholm

John Snelgrove has sent over some more great photos from two more miniature golf courses he's spotted from his travels in Sweden. Both are close to Stockholm.

The first minigolf course is in Mariefred. John tells me its a picturesque town on Lake Mälaren and in addition to the minigolf there is a miniature railway too. Sounds marvellous and it looks great there.

What a nice setting for a game of minigolf

The miniature railway looks great too

The course is a Swedish Felt type

The second course is in Siggesta Gård, on Värmdö and is more of a fantasy course compared to the Swedish Felt layout in Mariefred. It also looks brilliant and a course I'd definitely like a round or two on.

The course looks quite tricky, with some long holes

Quite a u-turn!

A fenced off feeding cow as an obstacle!

Followed by a GIANT teacup and saucer

Quite a normal hole after the teacup

The course looked like it was proving popular

A road bridge takes you to the green on this hole

A building you play into / out of!

Earlier this year John sent me some great snaps of the snow covered 'Bangolf' minigolf course at the Hellasgården in Nacka, Sweden and courses in Sandhamn and Sigtuna. It's always lovely to see different courses from around the world.

In 2011 Emily and I viisted Sweden to play for the Great Britain team in the WMF Nations Cup international tournament in Stockholm.

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

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Miniature Golf course at the Park Square offices in Cheadle Hulme

As some of you will know Emily and I have recently moved to Cheadle Hulme in Cheshire after spending 16 great years in Luton, Bedfordshire.

It's been a marvellous adventure uprooting to the north of England and there's so much for us to explore up here.

On one of our first wanders around the local area we started walking towards Stockport and just five minutes into our journey Emily spotted a miniature golf course at the front of the Park Square office building on Bird Hall Lane in Cheadle Heath!

The Putting course in Cheadle Heath

Proof we can find a course pretty much anywhere we go!

At the 694th miniature golf course visited on our travels

The grass Putting course looks fantastic and in pristine condition.

How nice does that look as a playing surface!

What an office location to work in. We'd love to have a round on the layout and wonder what the course record is?

It's not a flat course either

The course became the 694th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since our travels began in September 2006.

A tee-off marker on the 9-hole course

Look at that for a hole!

While the course at Park Square was the first we've visited while living in Greater Manchester, it's not the first we've visited or played in the area. We've also competed in tournaments in Manchester - with a fair bit of success, winning the Miniature Masters, Miniature Open and the Chrizy Golf Masters.

There are also a number of other minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf courses in the region that we're looking forward to playing over the summer. And beyond.

Check out the Orbit Developments website for more information on the Park Square office location.

The Orbit Development office at Park Square looks like a brilliant location

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Minigolf in Helsinki, Finland

My friend, minigolf rival, sometimes team-mate and international sporting superstar John 'Big Al' Moore was recently in Vantaa, Finland where he was competing in the 2016 European Transplant Sport Championships. In a break in his running competitions - where he won gold medals to add to his World and British titles - he managed to fit in a round of minigolf on a Swedish Felt miniature golf course near the Oulunkylä train station in Helsinki. Check out the photos of the course below. John tells me he scored a rather nifty round of 45(+9) on the layout.

We've played a Swedish Felt course in Finland too. At the 2008 EMF Nations Cup in Tampere we had a round on the course next to the two tournament layouts.

We've also played minigolf in Sweden. But neither of those courses was of the Swedish Felt variety.

You can read a European Transplant Sport Championships interview with John on the Vantaa 2016 Games website.

John is back in action this weekend at the British Transplant Games 2016 in Liverpool. He don't half get around!

Putting at North Lodge Park in Cromer

The 691st course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was at North Lodge Park in Cromer, Norfolk.

There's a sign for the Putting outside North Lodge Park

Unfortunately the course wasn't open on our visit. Or indeed easily identifiable as a Putting course!

But there's no sign of a Putting course inside

It'd be a lovely spot for a game of minigolf though

Related blog posts:
- Cromer
- 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.

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