Mini Golf courses visited in 2014

A look at the miniature golf courses visited and played this year.

At the Pirate Island Adventure Golf course at Hoebridge Golf Centre in Old Woking, Surrey - the 352nd course played on our tour

Since September 2006 we've visited 588 courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. During 2014 we visited 46 courses that added to our tally.

Playing Moby Adventure Golf in Romford, Essex in June. The course was the 337th played

The first new course of the 28 we played in 2014 was the Indoor Pirate Adventure Golf course at the Pleasure Island Amusement Arcade in Whitby, Yorkshire.

At the indoor Pirate Adventure Golf course in Whitby in March. The layout was the 544th visited and 327th played

During the summer we visited and played fourteen courses in Scotland.

One of the most picturesque views in Minigolf. Playing the Crazy Golf course in Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae in July

The final new course of the year played was the Jungle Island Adventure Golf at Horton Park Golf Club in Epsom, Surrey, while the last new Crazy Golf layout putted on was the UrbanCrazy minigolf hole at a wedding aboard the HMS President on the River Thames!

Emily playing minigolf at Swingers Crazy Golf in Shoreditch, London on the launch night in September

Courses played 20th March 2014 - 27th November 2014
327 Whitby (Pleasure Island Amusement Arcade) - Indoor Pirate Adventure Golf course
328 Harrogate (Valley Gardens) - Crazy Golf

329 Blaby (Blaby Golf Centre) - Congo River Adventure Golf

330 Nottingham (The Cornerhouse) - The Lost City Adventure Golf - The Temple Trail

331 Nottingham (The Cornerhouse) - The Lost City Adventure Golf - Sacred Skull Pass

332 Long Eaton (Trent Lock Golf Centre) - 6-hole Putting Green

333 Long Eaton (Trent Lock Golf Centre) - Pirate's Landing Adventure Golf

334 Littlehampton (Harbour Park) - Sharksville Adventure Golf

335 Gillingham (Strand Leisure Park) - Wild Frontier Crazy Golf

336 Milton Keynes (thecentre:MK) - Pirate Adventure Golf

337 Romford / Chadwell Heath (Golf Kingdom) - Moby Golf adventure golf

338 Windsor (Alexandra Gardens) - Adventure Golf - a replacement for the old concrete miniature golf course (visited in May 2009)

339 Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland - Crazy Golf

340 Largs - Mackerston Putting Green

341 Ayr (Pirate Pete's) - Mini Championship Golf

342 Ayr (Seafront) - Crazy Golf

343 Ayr (Seafront) - Putting Green

344 Portaputt - Llanwrtyd Wells

345 Croydon (Platform Ruskin Square) - Putt Putt #2 Crazy Golf Art Installation by TURF Projects

346 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - KISS by Monster Mini Golf

347 Shoreditch, London (Swingers Crazy Golf by the Institute of Competitive Socialising) - indoor Crazy Golf

348 Prestatyn (Pontin's Prestatyn Sands Holiday Village) - Crazy Golf

349 Rhyl (East Parade Bowling Club at the Wales National Crown Green Bowling Centre) - Mini Golf Grass Putting

350 Billington, near Leighton Buzzard (Mead Open Farm) - Swedish Felt B-run Crazy Golf

351 Camber Sands (Pontins Camber Sands Holiday Park) - Crazy Golf

352 Old Woking (Hoebridge Golf Centre) - Pirate Island Adventure Golf

353 Epsom (Horton Park Golf Club) - Jungle Island Adventure Golf

354 London - an UrbanCrazy minigolf hole at a wedding aboard the HMS President on the River Thames

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour wouldn't be the same if we hadn't been to a number of closed or derelict courses. This year we arrived at 18 courses to find them in an unplayable condition.

At the derelict Eternit Miniature Golf course on Ayr seafront in July. It was the 230th unplayable course on our tour and 572nd visited overall

The first was the Arnold Palmer Putting Course on North Terrace in Whitby, with the last unplayable course being Ohana Mini Golf in Las Vegas which was closed when Emily passed by at 6am.

At the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Whitby in March. The course was the 545th visited and 218th unplayable one on our tour

Courses visited but not played 20th March 2014 - 14th September 2014

- Whitby (North Terrace) - Arnold Palmer Putting Course
- Whitby (North Terrace) - Pitch & Putt Mini Golf
- Harrogate (Valley Gardens) - Pitch & Putt Mini Golf
- Derby (Mundy Play Centre at Markeaton Park) - Crazy Golf
- Gillingham (Strand Leisure Park)
- Barton's Point Coastal Park, Sheerness (Isle of Sheppey)
- Margate (Temporary mobile theme park)
- London (Clerkenwell Design Week 2014)
- Ardrossan (Seafront) - Crazy Golf - derelict course.
- Largs (Putting on the Ritz) - 18-hole Putting course
- Largs (Putting on the Ritz) - 18-hole Putting course #2
- Largs (Mackerston Putting Green) - 18-hole Putting course
- Largs (Aubrey Park) - Crazy Golf
- Ayr (Seafront) - Derelict Minigolf
- Troon (Seafront) - Crazy Golf
- Prestwick (Seafront) - Putting course
- Falkirk (Callendar Park) - Crazy Golf
- Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - Ohana Mini Golf

We've revisited a number of courses this year, notably in Prestatyn, West Horndon, Abingdon-on-Thames, and quite a few during the 2014 tournament season.

Emily putting her way to victory in the Holiday on the Buses Pro Minigolf Championship at the Central Beach Crazy Golf course in Prestatyn in September

Check out the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour list for links to all of the courses we've visited and played to date.

Crazy about Mini Golf Balls

A blog about golf balls.

Practicing for the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Open - one of them went in. Eventually

As an avid collector of ephemera and souvenirs from the world of miniature golf I was interested to recently receive a follow on Twitter from Martyn Vallance @Logo_Golf_Balls.

Martyn is crazy about golf balls and has a collection of over 70,000!

Before I mentioned it, Martyn didn't realise there were quite so many specialist balls used in the sport of minigolf (not many people do unless they dip their toe into the sporty side of crazy golf).

Over 10,000 minigolf sport balls have been produced in the last 70 years!

With a Metro Golf Centre Mini Golf branded golf ball on a visit to play the 9-hole course in Barnet in 2010

Each minigolf sport ball has special qualities that allow for a variety of shots to be played on the range of different courses and obstacles - the balls range from 'dead' where there is no bounce, through to super bouncy balls for multiple rebounds.

A selection of minigolf sport balls I took to a recent tournament weekend in Hastings

Together with my fellow curator of the Virtual Crazy Golf Museum, Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, we've built up quite a collection of stuff from all types of minigolf, from scorecards, pencils, leaflets and postcard, to pin badges, tokens, jigsaw puzzles and games. Tim has even found a sugar cube from a minigolf course!

We've also got a lot of balls between us. Check out the 'Other Miniature Golf Ephemera' page on the Crazy Golf Museum website for more info and pics.

A set of four golf balls from the KISS Glow-in-the-Dark Indoor Minigolf course in Las Vegas

I've also had a look through my collection and dug out the following 'normal' golf balls that are branded with minigolf-specific info and/or are tournament approved balls. I've also picked out a selection of my favourite minigolf sport balls.

The other side of a KISS by Monster Mini Golf ball

A World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) approved competition ball

The other side of a special WMF branded ball given to delegates at the WMF Media Workshop in Vienna, Austria in 2010

A British Minigolf Association golf ball used at the 2013 World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

The other side of the World Crazy Golf Championship ball

A ball from the Japanese Putter King minigolf franchise and app

The other side of the Putter King minigolf ball

The official ball of the World Crazy Golf Championship 2014

A ball from the mini-golf course that was in Devonshire Square, London in 2009

A ball given to people who played the Lyle & Scott 'Wooly Golf' course in Covent Garden, London in 2012

The official ball of the 2008 Nations Cup minigolf tournament in Tampere, Finland - the event was me and Emily's debut for the Great Britain team 

The official ball of the 2011 World Adventure Golf Masters competition held in Hastings. The ball was made by 3D-Minigolf

The Finnish Heavy Gentlemen 100 Year Anniversary ball by 3D-Minigolf

The Minigolfnews.com ball #5 by Ravensburg

A Tim 'Ace Man' Davies Legends ball by M&G

A NIFO 2 minigolf sport ball - a great ball to use on many minigolf lanes (holes). Made by NIFO

A Fun-Sports 2 ball - there are a number of Fun-Sports balls and they're a good entry level type of ball to use

In 2009 I won the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Open minigolf competition held on the 12-hole Adventure Golf course in the seaside resort. The trophy I was presented for winning the tournament was a magnificent and BIG golf ball mounted on a wooden plinth

Check out the @Logo_Golf_Balls to keep up-to-date with Martyn's collection as it continues to grow, as well as The Crazy Golf Museum for all things mini and crazy golf-related.

Links:
- @Logo_Golf_Balls
- The Crazy Golf Museum
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Related blog posts:
- New (Minigolf) Balls Please
- What's in a Minigolf Kitbag?
- Some new minigolf kit from Fun-Sports
- Ephemera
- Merchandise

Indoor Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses

Details of indoor Miniature Golf courses we’ve found on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

At Quest for Golf in Dudley

With the British weather getting rather wintry I thought it’d be good to put together a blog post about the indoor Miniature Golf courses Emily and I have found on our travels.

Richard at Brean's indoor Crazy Golf at the Leisure Dome Amusement Arcade

The great thing is most are open 364 days of the year whatever the weather.

Richard playing in a League Match at Adventure Island Mini Golf at Star City, Birmingham

Putting in the Brewmaster's Open Tournament at the Camden Town Brewery in London

Richard on the Search for Atlantis indoor Mini Golf course at Castleford's Xscape centre

Richard plays the indoor Adventure Golf course at the Fairworld Amusement Arcade in Cleethorpes

Richard playing the Minigolf course at Alexandra Palace, London

Emily putting at the King Putt indoor Mini Golf in Henderson Las Vegas

Here’s a list of those we’ve played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour:

5. Magical Golf (formerly Golf FX) at Mannings Amusements in Felixstowe

26. Windmill Theatre Indoor Adventure Golf Course in Great Yarmouth

57 and 58. Adventure Island Mini Golf at Star City, Birmingham

66. Indoor Adventure Golf on Sandown Pier on the Isle of Wight

85 and 85. Paradise Island Adventure Golf in Manchester's Trafford Centre

90 and 91. Paradise Island Adventure Golf at Xscape Braehead, Scotland

151. Golden Isle Indoor Adventure Golf in Blackpool

161 and 162. Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf, Bristol

172. Indoor Congo Adventure Golf course at Codonas Aberdeen, Scotland

175. King Putt Indoor Mini Golf - North West Las Vegas, USA

176. Pike's Pass Miniature Golf - Circus Circus, Las Vegas, USA

177. King Putt Indoor Mini Golf - Henderson, Las Vegas, USA

199 and 200. Cosmic Golf at Xscape Castleford

207. Glow Golf BlackLight Mini Golf in Melbourne, Australia

209. Indoor Putting Green at UrbanGolf, London

212 and 213. Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf, Liverpool

227. Indoor Adventure Golf at Fairworld Amusement Arcade, Cleethorpes

312. Leisure Dome Amusement Arcade in Brean

317. Quest for Golf Krazy Golf at Quest Merry Hill
327 Whitby (Pleasure Island Amusement Arcade) - Indoor Pirate Adventure Golf course
330 Nottingham (The Cornerhouse) - The Lost City Adventure Golf - The Temple Trail
331 Nottingham (The Cornerhouse) - The Lost City Adventure Golf - Sacred Skull Pass
346 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - KISS by Monster Mini Golf
347 Shoreditch, London (Swingers Crazy Golf by the Institute of Competitive Socialising) - indoor Crazy Golf
355 Swindon (The Golfing Hole) - Indoor Adventure Golf
359 Castleford (Volcano Falls Adventure Golf at Xscape) - T Rex Trail Adventure Golf course
360 London (Efes Snooker Club, Dalston) - Plonk Golf
384 (666) Bridlington (Esplanade) - Treasure Island Adventure Golf and Pirate Ghost Walk
386 (668) Whitby (Pleasure Island Amusement Arcade) - Indoor Pirate Adventure Golf course - first visited in March 2014 (see 327). Since then the layout has changed significantly and now includes new holes and a reversal of many of the holes
390 (672) London (Waterloo) - Birdies Crazy Golf Club
391 (674) Sheffield (Valley Centertainment) - Paradise Island Adventure Golf, Cinnamon Cove course
392 (676) Brixton, London (Plonk Golf) - Crazy Golf at the Duke of Edinburgh pub beer garden

Lining up a shot on the very tricky Lucky Last Hole at the Paradise Island Adventure Golf course in Sheffield

Emily at the Golden Isle Indoor Adventure Golf course in Blackpool

There are also indoor Minigolf courses at The Corner House in Nottingham, the Paradise Island Adventure Golf courses at Valley Centertainment in Livingston and Cheshire Oaks that we hope to play in the future. And for Christmas 2013 the Mini Golf and Games course is set-up at Peterborough's Queensgate Shopping Centre.

The 2012 Chrizy Golf Champion

Some of the indoor minigolf courses we've played were only temporary or pop-up courses, while sadly a few of the other indoor courses have closed. Check out the posts below for details:

- Watford's TopGolf centre used to have a 9-hole indoor Putting Green, that then became a 5-hole layout before being turned into a decked restaurant area.

- Devonshire Square was home to an indoor Minigolf course in 2009. It was also Christmas-themed in December of that year.

- In 2010 the O2 had a Q-Golf indoor Crazy Golf course set-up.

- Alexandra Palace was also home to an indoor course in 2011.

- The great Swedish Felt indoor Minigolf course in Hither Green, Lewisham was a great tournament venue.

- There was Crazy Golf at the indoor beach at the centre:MK in Milton Keynes in 2011.

- In 2011 the Ipswich Building Society's Sudbury branch had a Minigolf layout set-up.

- The Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas used to have an indoor Mini Golf course called The Swingers Club.

- In 2011 we attended the launch of the Birdies Pop Up Minigolf business in Manchester.

- In 2012 we headed to the Camden Town Brewery to play a one-day only Minigolf course.

- There was a ‘Mini golf’ layout at the Paralympic Flame Festival hosted by The Disability Resource Centre in Dunstable in August 2012.

- The Tintype Art Gallery in London had a playable art exhibition entitled Crazee Golf in September 2012.

- In November 2012 and November 2013 I played the UrbanCrazy Minigolf course layouts at the London Golf Show at Earl's Court.

- At the London Golf Show in 2013 I also played the new puttup indoor Golf Putting game and UrbanCrazy's PongCrazy gourmet Table Tennis game

- In December 2012 I won the Chrizy Golf Masters Minigolf tournament played on the temporary course layout in Manchester.
- London (London Golf Show at Earls Court) - UrbanCrazy "Signature Course" - 6-hole Portable Crazy Golf. Also played the new PongCrazy table tennis mini-golf game!
- London (London Golf Show at Earls Court) - puttup indoor putting game - 3-hole layout
- Portaputt - Llanwrtyd Wells
- Shoreditch, London (Swingers Crazy Golf by the Institute of Competitive Socialising) - indoor Crazy Golf
- London - an UrbanCrazy minigolf hole at a wedding aboard the HMS President on the River Thames
- Skegness (Lost World Adventure Park) - Indoor Jungle 3D Mini Golf - Closed down and abandoned
- Hatfield (Galleria Outlet Shopping Centre) - Indoor Pirate Mini Golf - Course closed at 6pm (last ticket at 5.30pm)
- Sheffield (Valley Centertainment) - Paradise Island Adventure Golf, Shell Bay course - didn't have time to play this time

Playing the UrbanCrazy Minigolf course at the 2012 London Golf Show

And for hardy types, many of the UK’s outdoor Minigolf courses are also open throughout the year.

Do let us know if you find any other indoor Minigolf courses!

Related Blog Post:

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow Richard and Emily on Twitter. You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf Courses on the Lincolnshire Coast

Details of Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf, Minigolf and Putting Green courses that we've visited in Cleethorpes, Mablethorpe, Chapel St Leonards, Skegness, Ingoldmells, Woodhall Spa and Spalding.

In the summer of 2011 our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour took Emily and I to Lincolnshire where we spent a pleasent week touring the seasides, with a few stops inland along the way. As part of our tour of Lincolnshire (and a little bit of Norfolk) we went to seven seasides, visited 34 minigolf and crazy golf courses, played in countless Amusement Arcades and walked along a few Piers too.

At the Jolly Roger Adventure Golf course in Skegness

Note: The numbers below relate to the 'visit number' on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

225 Skellingthorpe (Daisy Made Ice Cream Shop & Drive-Thru) - Crazy Daisy Golf (Swedish Felt B-Run)

226 Cleethorpes (Oddballs) - Crazy Golf

227 Cleethorpes (Fairworld Amusement Arcade) - Adventure Golf

228 Mablethorpe (Queen's Park/Linda's Pavilion) - Crazy Golf

229 Mablethorpe (Sea Front) - Crazy Golf

230 Mablethorpe (Arnold Palmer/Captain Hook's) - Adventure Golf

231 Chapel St Leonards (Sea Dwellers Crazy Golf) - Crazy Golf

232 Chapel St Leonards (Golden Palm Resort Crazy Golf) - Crazy Golf

233 Skegness (North Shore Caravan Park) - Miniature Golf

234 Skegness (Arnold Palmer) - Crazy Golf

235 Skegness (Arnold Palmer) - Putting

236 Skegness (Arnold Palmer) - Crazy Golf

237 Skegness (Jolly Roger) - Adventure Golf (Skull Trail)

238 Skegness (Jolly Roger) - Adventure Golf (Treasure Trail)

239 Skegness (Bottons Pleasure Beach) - Gold Mine Adventure Golf (Adventure Putting) & Cactus Canyon River Ride

240 Ingoldmells (Fantasy Island) - Crazy Golf

241 Woodhall Spa (Bainland Country Park) - 5 Star Crazy Golf - RICHARD SCORES A 'PERFECT' ROUND, WITH 9 HOLES-IN-ONE IN A ROW!

242 Woodhall Spa (Bainland Country Park) - Putting

243 Spalding (Springfields) - Secret Garden Adventure Golf

On the same roadtrip we finished up in Hunstanton where we were able to play a further five Miniature Golf courses.

244 Hunstanton (Victorian Pavilion) - Putting

245 Hunstanton (Victorian Pavilion) - Crazy Golf

246 Hunstanton (Blackbeard's Adventure Golf) - Adventure Golf (Aztec Course)

247 Hunstanton (Blackbeard's Adventure Golf) - Adventure Golf (Pirate Course)

248 Hunstanton (Vegas Amusement Arcade) - Crazy Golf

During the trip we visited the following courses, but were unable to play them for a variety of reasons (details and links below).

- Cleethorpes (Arnold Palmer) - Crazy Golf - Closed on Visit

- Cleethorpes (Terry's Traditional) - Crazy Golf - Closed on Visit

- Cleethorpes (Terry's Traditional) - Putting - Closed on Visit

- Cleethorpes (Thorpe Park Haven Caravan Park) - Putting - £10 Day Rate To Use Facilities - Not Enough Time on Roadtrip

- Cleethorpes (Thorpe Park Haven Caravan Park) - Adventure Golf - £10 Day Rate To Use Facilities - Not Enough Time on Roadtrip

- Cleethorpes (Thorpe Park Haven Caravan Park) - Crazy Golf - £10 Day Rate To Use Facilities - Not Enough Time on Roadtrip

- Mablethorpe (Queen's Park/Linda's Pavilion) - Putting - No Flags Out - Not Fully Open

- Sutton on Sea - Crazy Golf - Demolished

- Chapel St Leonards (Lakeside Boating Lake) - Crazy Golf - Derelict

- Skegness (North Shore Caravan Park) - Mini Golf - Pitch & Putt - Also home to "The Pitch And Putt Inn"

- Skegness (Pebble Adventure Golf) - Adventure Golf - Closed on Visit

- Skegness (South Parade) - Crazy Golf - Closed on Visit

- Skegness (South Parade) - Putting - Closed on Visit

- Skegness (South Parade) - Pitch & Putt - No Time Left To Play

- Long Sutton (The Butterfly and Wildlife Park) - Closed on Visit

On our trip to Lincolnshire we also visited the smallest pub on the planet - The Signal Box Inn - in Cleethorpes. Following our visit I sent them a mini-Miniature Golf course for their games area!