Update from the Putt18 Battle of the Brits putting tournament.
- Round 1 - 68
- Round 2 - 73
- Round 3 - 73
- Round 4 - 67
A blog about our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. With a sprinkling of nostalgia and urban exploration for good measure.
The American Golf National Adventure Golf Championship is on YouTube (from 26m 55s).
Peter Jones in action in our semi-final match-up |
I'm looking forward to playing in minigolf competitions again in the future.
Playing hole 3 of the Ryder Legends Mini Golf course at The Belfry |
Minigolf is a big part of the retailtainment boom, with courses opening as standalone entertainment activities, or as part of large shoppingtainment leisure offerings in malls, high streets and retail parks.
Some of these retailtainment activities are permanent, while others are pop-ups catering to a mix of audiences, from children and families, to adults looking for competitive socialising fun.
Miniature Golf has grown in popularity in the last decade 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, create awareness and attract people to a location. Businesses also use portable and temporary minigolf layouts for product launches and promotions.
In 2020 we found out about a lot of new minigolf courses opening in the UK and already this year we've heard about four new locations in planning and development.
We know of 91 new miniature golf courses opening, in planning or under construction since the pandemic hit the UK.
Check out the new courses page for more information.
Many thanks to our friends Tom & Robin at A Couple of Putts for sending us this ace new miniature golf postcard.
The minigolfing duo are seeing in the New Year by posting a hole-in-one video from a different course each day throughout January to #Make2021aHoleInOne.
Happy New Year! We’re feeling hopeful about 2021 and we’re kicking it off with some fun. Let’s have an ace of a new year!
Posted by A Couple of Putts on Thursday, 31 December 2020
The new Gravity Active Entertainment centre is planned to open in Summer 2021 |
Boom: Battle Bar Glasgow will be the fifth venue from the brand.
As well as an indoor crazy golf course - known as 'Crazier Golf' - Boom: Battle Bar at the St Enoch Centre in Glasgow will no doubt be home to other competitive socialising sports and games such as axe throwing, darts and shuffleboard.
The first Boom: Battle Bar opened at the Castle Quarter shopping and entertainment centre in Norwich in July 2020.
There are also plans for Boom: Battle Bars to open in Liverpool and Oxford in 2021.
Boom: Battle Bars are a relatively new entrant to the world of competitive socialising and retailtainment. A number of shopping malls, town centres and retail parks are adding minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf and other experiential entertainment and activity leisure offerings to their sites to attract and retain customers.
National Miniature Golf Day takes place on the second Saturday in May. In 2021 that is Saturday, 8th May.
We had a walk round Bruntwood Park in Cheadle on New Year's Day and while there took a look at the Pitch & Putt course.
Rules for the time of Covid |
A view to the 7th tee |
A frosty bunker |
An icy green |
Visit the Bruntwood Park Pitch & Putt website for more information.
The Bruntwood Park Pitch & Putt course was the first place saw social distancing measures in place in person. That was in May last year.
The last course we swung by in 2020 was the grass Putting course at Park Square in Cheadle Heath on the 29th December.
Before the first national lockdown hit and our out-of-home putting was paused we'd visited 948 courses since September 2006.
We had a very strong start to the year and visited 20 courses in the first 20 days of 2020.
We've now been to a total of 956 courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.
While having a walk round Bruntwood Park in Cheadle on New Year's Day we spotted this nice old sign for Leisure Orienteering at the park.
The sign is at the Pitch & Putt kiosk in the park |
It's one of the few remaining signs in the borough that carries the old council logo. We've seen others near the Stockport Pyramid, at Woodford Recreation Ground and on Adswood Road.
The logo for Stockport Leisure Services |
A very nice addition to my collection |