Minigolf at Liverpool Golf Centre

Playing two miniature golf courses at the Liverpool Golf Centre.

On Saturday 10th September we headed to Liverpool and the Liverpool Golf Centre & Driving Range where we added two more courses to our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The 9-hole short game Putting course and 9-hole Mini Golf layout were great fun and a good challenge.

The Putting Green was the first course we played on the visit and became the 697th and 407th course played since our travels began in September 2006.

I enjoyed hitting two holes-in-one during our round. Always pleasing on a Putting course.

The Mini Golf course is a real challenge of Putting skill as the holes were borderless.

We received a nice welcome from the golf pro on the till when we arrived and enjoyed a couple of rounds on the two courses.

The Liverpool Golf Centre has a great weather vane

Visit the Liverpool Golf Centre & Driving Range website for more information.

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

Videos:
- Mini Golf at Liverpool Golf Centre - hole 1
- Mini Golf at Liverpool Golf Centre - hole 4
- Mini Golf at Liverpool Golf Centre - hole 8
- Mini Golf at Liverpool Golf Centre - hole 9
- Putting Green Mini Golf at Liverpool Golf Centre - hole-in-one

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.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

The Park Bench Appreciation Society

It's good to have a nice sit down.

We recently met up with Leland Carlson from the Dull Men's Club - Mission Statement: “It’s OK to be dull” - and had a nice day out in Stockport. Our first port of call was the Town Hall to visit a giant postcard fair, surprisingly the first Leland had visited.

It's quite possible he's now been hooked on collecting postcards as Emily managed to find a card depicting one of his areas of interest - park benches. In fact he ended up buying more than one.

Having a nice sit down on a bench in Stockport. Photo by Leland Carlson

On our travels Emily and I have also had a sit on the Longest Bench in the world. It's in Littlehampton.

Earlier this year we also had the opportunity to see the new bench at the excellent Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing.

The new addition to Splash Point Mini Golf

Visit the Dull Men's Club website to find out more.

Cyberdine Electronic Darts in Luton

Playing darts on an interesting board in Luton.

We recently returned to our old Luton stomping ground and while in town we spotted a brilliant darts game in the downstairs bar of The Gospoda Polish restaurant on Chapel Street.

A futuristic dart board if ever I saw one

As big fans of darts, strange games and odd machines - we had to take a closer look. We were amazed to see it was made by Cyberdine!

This particular product from the Cyberdine range is the CYD03-01.

In action on the soft tip darts game

We gave it a play and luckily it didn't become self-aware.

With the CYD03-01

Fellow darts and sci-fi movie aficionado Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley commented that it "Looks like the Raffletech 3000's long-lost cousin."

The RaffleTron!

Related blog posts:
- Darts
- Luton
- Novelty Automation arcade in London
- Cullercoats Lifeboat Charity Evening and the 'Raffletech 3010'

Links:
- The Gospoda
- Cyberdine Darts

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.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

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.

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.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

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.

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.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

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.

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.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

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

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.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

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

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.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

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

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.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.