Smugglers Bay Adventure Golf at Stonham Barns

A look at the Smugglers Bay Adventure Golf course at Stonham Barns.

Last April we revisited Stonham Barns in Suffolk to play the new Smugglers Bay Adventure Golf course.

In 2018 we'd called in to Stonham Barns Golf Park and seen the course under construction.

We've been to Stonham Barns a number of times before when visiting family in nearby Ipswich.

The old Crazy Golf course there was the 33rd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in August 2007.

Playing the old Stonham Barns Crazy Golf course in 2013

The new Smugglers Bay Adventure Golf course at Stonham Barns Golf Park became the 506th we've played and was the 815th visited overall.

Happy National Gardening Week

This week is National Gardening Week.

A look at garden centre minigolf courses.

A look at some of the garden centre minigolf courses we've played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

When lockdown is lifted and minigolf courses reopen there are some really good layouts to check out at garden centres.

Minigolf in Traben-Trarbach, Germany

Traben-Trarbach is home to Germany's first minigolf course.

The Beton Concrete Mini Golf layout was built in 1955. You can find it at MGC Traben-Trarbach.

We've played a few Beton Concrete Mini Golf courses on our travels, notably in Nations Cup tournaments in Finland and Sweden.

Spotting a Miniature Golf course in Traben-Trarbach 

In 2018 my brother Christopher was on a cycling trip in Luxembourg and Germany and spotted a minigolf course in Traben-Trarbach. That one was an Eternit Miniature Golf layout.

He did see a Beton Concrete Mini Golf course while in Zeltingen-Rachtig.

Beton Minigolf

Paul Bongni standardised the game with the Beton type of minigolf courses in 1953. The first Beton course was opened in Locarno, Switzerland.

Dr Walter Spier introduced minigolf to Traben-Trarbach two years later. The first German Minigolf Championship was held on the course in 1956.

Eternit Miniature Golf

The first Eternit Miniature Golf course opened at the 'Planten un Bloomen' Leisure Park in Hamburg, Germany in 1958.

Swedish Felt Minigolf at the Askoe Wien Wasserpark in Vienna, Austria

A look at the Swedish Felt Minigolf course at the Askoe Wien Wasserpark in Vienna, Austria.

In March 2010 I visited the Askoe Wien Wasserpark in Vienna, Austria and got to play one of the toughest - and longest - Swedish Felt Minigolf courses in Europe.

The layout was the 163rd course played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Pit-Pat

The Askoe Wien Wasserpark was also the first place I spotted a Pit-Pat course (a cross between Billiards/Pool/Snooker and Minigolf!).

Minigolf Tag

On this day in 2013 it was Minigolf Tag (Minigolf Day) in Austria. The event was organised by the Austrian Minigolf Federation (Österreichischer Bahnengolf-Verband - OBGV).

Each year around 550,000 Austrians (15% of the country's population) play Miniature Golf.

It was an out-of-season visit so I didn't get to play the Miniature Golf course there

Posted from Skegness

A look at a minigolf stamp from the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Skegness.

Playing the course in May 2011

Playing the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Skegness as part of our Minigolf Weekender in 2015

Of the places we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Skegness is the town with the most minigolf courses in the UK. Skeggy has 120-holes spread across ten seafront courses.

Posted from Worthing to Worthing

A look at a minigolf stamp of Splash Point Mini Golf in Worthing.

The stamp shows me playing hole 13 of the course in 201. It looks a lot different there now

Hole 13 in 2010

Hole 13 in 2019

Tantogårdens Miniature Golf at Tantolunden Park in Stockholm, Sweden

A look at the Eternit Miniature Golf course at Tantogårdens Bangolf in Stockholm, Sweden.

Hole 5

In June 2011 we traveled to Stockholm, Sweden to play for Great Britain in the WMF Nations Cup international minigolf tournament played at Tantogårdens Minigolf at Tantolunden Park.

Hole 8

The Eternit Miniature Golf course was the 251st we played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Fantasia Adventure Golf on Sea Road in Felixstowe, Suffolk

A look at the Fantasia Adventure Golf course in Felixstowe a year ago.

The course is one of our most visited layouts. We've been there around three times a year for the last 14 years.

It's looking likely that we won't be going there at all in 2020.

The 9-hole layout was the 7th course we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Minigolf postcards from Bournemouth

Check out my guest post for the Picture Postcard Magic blog from Reflections of a Bygone Age.

An old postcard from Worthing's Denton Gardens Putting Green

A look at an old postcard from Denton Gardens in Worthing, West Sussex.

Minigolf was first played in Denton Gardens on Tuesday 1st July 1924.

Worthing, Denton Gardens, Putting Green. The Photochrom Co Ltd. Posted to Birchington, Kent on 30 July 1928

You can still enjoy a round of miniature golf on the Splash Point Mini Golf course there.

The 18-hole course was the 181st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Related blog posts:
- A Putting Green postcard from Denton Park in Worthing
- Worthing
- Splash Point Mini Golf

InterFun Expo 2021

A look ahead to next year's InterFun Expo.

With the coronavirus pandemic affecting all areas of daily life and businesses around the world, the team at the InterFun Expo have moved the event to April 2021.

InterFun Expo is open to anyone in the business of providing fun activities for families and friends. The event has a wide-range of trade exhibitors and expert speakers from the industry including family entertainment centres, arcade games, aerial adventures, minigolf, VR, tenpin bowling, interactive surfaces, edutainment, laser tag, table games and more a lot more.

I'm really looking forward to attending and speaking about minigolf and competitive socialising at the InterFun Expo next year.

I was due to be speaking at the event this week. I can't wait for the 2021 event

The InterFun Expo takes place at New Dock Hall in the Royal Armouries complex in Leeds on the 27th and 28th April 2021.

You can find out more and register for your free ticket on the InterFun Expo website.

You can read my blog about keeping active, social and competitive in the new world of physical distancing at 'Competitive socialising in isolation'.

Tantogårdens Minigolf at Tantolunden Park in Södermalm, Stockholm, Sweden

A look at the Beton Concrete minigolf course at Tantogårdens Bangolf in Stockholm, Sweden.

In June 2011 Emily and I traveled to Stockholm, Sweden to play for Great Britain in the WMF Nations Cup international minigolf tournament played at Tantogårdens Minigolf at Tantolunden Park.

The Beton course was the 250th we played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Crazy Golf at The Grove Park in Carshalton, Surrey

A look at the Crazy Golf course at The Grove Park in Carshalton.

Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Seth Thomas for sending me a snap of the Crazy Golf course at The Grove Park in Carshalton, Surrey. He photographed the course while he was out on his daily exercise.

Crazy Golf course at The Grove Park in Carshalton

Obviously the course is closed during the lockdown.

We visited the 9-hole course late in the day on a Sunday in March 2013. It was closed then too.

It was the 527th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now been to 948 courses since September 2006.

The course was home to a Humpty

The course once appeared in an episode of British police procedural drama The Bill.

Holidaying at home - a postcard from Bournemouth

A blog post about not going to Bournemouth.

We were supposed to be starting our holiday in Bournemouth today and were going to be staying at the Miramar Hotel. The hotel was once home to a Putting Green.

Sea and South Frontage, Hotel Miramar, Bournemouth. Eversheds. St Albans. Postally unused

We'd planned visits to 16 miniature golf courses in the Bournemouth, Boscombe, Southbourne, Poole and Sandbanks area of Dorset on the trip. We've now been to 948 courses since September 2006.

We've collected quite a few old postcards of minigolf courses in the area. Some are still there, such as the Lower Gardens course in Bournemouth, while others, like the Alum Chine course are long gone.

Postcard of Alum Chine, Bournemouth. Printed by Deardon & Wade Bournemouth.Postally unused. Undated

The 'Miniature Golf in Central Gardens, Bournemouth' postcard by The Photographic Greetings Cards Co Ltd, London was posted from Bournemouth to Cleveleys in Lancashire on the 24th July 1970

Mini-Golf at the Lower Gardens, Bournemouth, Dorset. J. Arthur Dixon postcard. PDO/89332 Posted August 1990

A Boscombe Crazy Golf postcard. JH 40 Plastichrome by Colourpicture. Pub. by J. Hammersley, Boscombe, Bournemouth. Posted in 1967

Crazy Golf and Rockery, Sandbanks, Poole. P.2674 Dennis Productions Postcard. Postally used. Date unknown

The Isle of Wight from Highcliffe-on-Sea. PT3098

We're looking forward to visiting the area on holiday next year.

The Himalayas at St Andrews

A look at The Himalayas putting course, the world's first Miniature Golf course.

Playing The Himalayas course at the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club back in 2012.

The layout was created in 1867 and is the world's first Miniature Golf course.

When we visited there were two courses to play, an 18-hole course and a 9-hole layout. They were an absolute pleasure to play and one of my very best putting experiences.

Visit the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club website for more information.

The two courses at The Himalayas became the 292nd and 293rd miniature golf courses played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now been to 948 courses since September 2006.

Crazy Golf in Onchan, Isle of Man

A look at the Crazy Golf course at Onchan Pleasure Park on the Isle of Man.

In the summer of 2018 we had a holiday on the Isle of Man and clocked up five more course visits on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. One of which was the Crazy Golf course at Onchan Pleasure Park.

The 9-hole course at Onchan Pleasure Park became the 825th visited and 490th played on our travels.

Happy National Picnic Day

Today is National Picnic Day.

To mark the occasion I might eat a miniature Scotch Egg in the garden washed down with a glass of fizzy orange before getting stang off of a bee and then going indoors.

Back in May 2009 Emily and I actually helped set a Guinness World Record for the Largest Picnic ever in the UK. Over 8,300 people took park in that effort.

The previous holder of the Guinness World Record for "The Largest Picnic across multiple venues" was Tenerife, Spain which set the record with 8,000 picnickers in 1999.

Looking at other picnicking records the Largest Picnic ever was held in June 2009 when 22,232 people gathered in Lisbon, Portugal.

Remember social gatherings?

Happy World Book Day

Today is World Book Day.

Please do check out my minigolf marketing ebook.

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

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

As a minigolfer with over a decade of experience as a tournament competitor and years of experience in marketing and communications I designed the guide so that anyone interested or involved in minigolf could help promote the game. It's a niche title, but an audience and subject I know a lot about.

I've been so pleased to see the book bought and used by a number of competition players, course owners and managers, bloggers, course reviewers, minigolf associations and federations around the world.

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 minigolf 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 (BMGA) and the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF).

The Putting Penguin Pandemic Putt Off

Information about The Putting Penguin Pandemic Putt Off minigolf competition.

The team at The Putting Penguin minigolf review site have organised a Pandemic Putt Off.

Pat of the Putting Penguin playing minigolf in London when we were allowed outdoors

As many minigolfers around the world are in lockdown, self-isolation or quarantine the Putting Penguin has challenged all minigolf professionals, fanatics, and casual players to build a minigolf hole in their homes. Players who film themselves playing it, and post it to the Putting Penguin's Facebook page will be entered into the judging to win a prize pack of swag.

Putting Penguin team members Mandy and Pat will judge the holes based on the same criteria they use on their website: creativity, difficulty, and atmosphere.

More details and competition rules can be found on The Putting Penguin's Facebook Page.

The closing date for entries is Saturday 9th May (National Miniature Golf Day).

With Pat Sheridan of The Putting Penguin review site at Putt in the Park, Wandsworth in 2015

The 2020 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society #Putt4Pledges Challenge

Details of the 2020 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society #Putt4Pledges Mini Golf Challenge.

The team at Jack-Putt are organising the 2020 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society #Putt4Pledges Challenge on Saturday 9th May.

Participants will have the option to design their own minigolf / golf hole at home, or at a local miniature golf / golf course (subject to Shelter in Place permits / lockdown situation).

Players are asked to obtain pledges through family, friends and followers to support their efforts.

Players will putt live on Instagram or Facebook on the 9th May (National Miniature Golf Day) with each competitor having ten putts.

Check out the 2020 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society #Putt4Pledges Mini Golf Challenge website for more information and competition rules.

Jack-Putt organises minigolf events and challenges in the USA. The driving force behind Jack-Putt is 'Mister Mini Golf' Karl Barth. Visit the Jack-Putt website for more information.

I'm looking forward to an 'outside world' minigolf match-up against Karl in the future as he's the Putt4Dough Championship Title belt holder!

Mini Golf Champion Mister Mini Golf Karl Barth