American Golf Adventure Golf National Pairs Championship

A look back at the American Golf Adventure Golf National Pairs Championship.

My team-mate Peter Jones and I qualified for the American Golf Adventure Golf National Pairs Championship Final by winning the Welsh Regional Qualifier at Clays Golf Centre on this day in 2017!

Champion minigolfers

In action

Each of the holes on the 9-hole Miniature Golf course at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham are based on famous holes from big golf.

The American Golf Adventure Golf National Pairs Championship Final was played at The Belfry in September 2017 and was televised on Sky Sports Golf.

You can watch the tournament in the video below from 26m 55s.

You can also watch the American Golf Championship Tour Season Review programme on the American Golf YouTube Channel with the Adventure Golf competition starting at 31m 33s.

Players earned their places in the final by competing in qualifying events at courses in England, Scotland and Wales:

• Great Western Golf Clydebank
• World of Golf Croydon
• Top Golf Watford
• Bristol Golf Centre
• Trent Lock, Long Eaton
• Clays Farm Golf Centre, Wrexham

Action from the TV tournament at The Belfry

Links:

• American Golf
• Clays Golf Centre

Mini Golf in Watford

A look at Mini Golf courses in Watford, Hertfordshire.

One of the first miniature golf courses we ever played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was at TopGolf in Watford. A course we returned to many times when we lived nearby.

With the popularity of minigolf booming there have been a number of new courses opening in the town, including:

• Putt Club Crazy Golf 
• Glow in One Golf
• Puttshack

There is also a Crazier Golf course being created as part of the new Boom: Battle Bar at the Atria Watford shopping centre.

The Adventure Golf course at TopGolf in Watford was the 8th played on our travels in 2006. We've now been to 982 courses.

New Crazy Golf course open in Edmonton, London

A new motorsport-themed Crazy Golf course has opened in Edmonton, North London.

The new 9-hole indoor Crazy Golf course has been created by the team at Putt Club.

Putt Club London Edmonton joins other Putt Club courses in Hull, Watford and London Docklands. A new location is opening in Leicester in November 2021.

Visit the Putt Club website for more information.

Minigolf in London

There has been a real boom in minigolf courses opening in London. When we worked in the city there were very few options for minigolfing, but a number of new indoor, late night competitive socialising style venues have opened in London over the last seven years.

Competitive socialising

Before the coronavirus pandemic the phrase 'competitive socialising' had become a popular way to describe going out and having fun, with a number of new businesses catering to the demand of a public who wanted to compete at something while eating and drinking in a nice setting.

Whether it was table tennis, darts, shuffleboard, bingo, tenpin bowling, arcade games, or our personal favourite crazy golf, people were finding new ways to quench their thirst, have fun and compete without signing-up to a full sports league or taking things too seriously.

Retailtainment

Minigolf has grown in popularity in the last nine years and has moved from being seen as 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.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

We've played minigolf in London a number of times on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour over the last 15 years. We're looking forward to a return visit to the capital for a few rounds in the future.

New Crazy Golf course opening in Leicester

A new motorsport-themed Crazy Golf course is opening in Leicester in November.

Leicester will soon be home to a new indoor Crazy Golf course as the team from Putt Club are opening a venue in the city on the 6th November.

Putt Club Leicester joins other Putt Club courses in Hull, Watford, London Docklands and the newly opened London Edmonton location.

Visit the Putt Club website for more information.

Minigolf in Leicester

There has been a real boom in minigolf courses opening in Leicester, with the new Putt Club joining Treetop Adventure Golf and Caddyshackers in the city centre. The wider Leicestershire area is home to a number of other courses too.

Retailtainment

Minigolf has grown in popularity in the last nine years and has moved from being seen as 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.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

We've played minigolf in Leicester and Leicestershire a number of times on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour over the last 15 years. We're looking forward to a return visit in the future.

New Boom: Battle Bars opening soon

There are plans for lots of new Boom: Battle Bar indoor entertainment venues to open in the coming months.

As well as the existing locations in Norwich, Cardiff, Lakeside, Eastbourne and Liverpool there are plans for new Boom: Battle Bars to open in:

• Aldgate East, London
• Bath
• Blackpool
• Bournemouth
• Chelmsford
• Coventry
• Ealing, London
• Edinburgh
• Exeter
• Glasgow
• Hull
• Ipswich
• Leeds
• Manchester
• Oxford
• Oxford Street, London
• Reading
• Sheffield
• Southampton
• Swindon
• The O2, London
• Wandsworth, London
• Watford

Boom: Battle Bars are home to crazy golf courses, shuffleboard, darts, axe throwing and more.

Visit the Boom: Battle Bar website for more information.

We played the 'Crazier Golf' course at the original Boom: Battle Bar in Norwich while on our recent Crazy World of Minigolf Tour trip to East Anglia.

Playing hole 1 of the Crazier Golf course at Boom: Battle Bar at the Castle Quarter shopping and entertainment centre in Norwich

Glow in One Golf opening in Watford

A new glow-in-the-dark minigolf course is opening in Watford, Hertfordshire.

The indoor glow-in-the-dark minigolf course will have a mixture of an urban/street theme for part of the course and a space-theme for the other!

Visit the Glow in One Golf website and Instagram for more information.

It'll be another new minigolf course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Putt Club Crazy Golf at London Docklands

There's a new Putt Club indoor minigolf course opening in London this month.

The team at Putt Club are rolling out their third venue following Hull and Watford with a new location opening in London's Docklands on the 11th June.

Visit the Putt Club website for more information on the 9-hole motorsport-themed indoor crazy golf course.

The American Golf Adventure Golf National Pairs Championship

Looking back at the American Golf Adventure Golf National Pairs Championship.

My team-mate Peter Jones and I qualified for the American Golf Adventure Golf National Pairs Championship Final by winning the Welsh Regional Qualifier at Clays Golf Centre on this day in 2017. Where has that time gone!

Minigolf champions

In action on the course

Each of the holes on the 9-hole Miniature Golf course at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham are based on famous holes from regular golf.

The American Golf Adventure Golf National Pairs Championship Final was played at The Belfry in September 2017 and was televised on Sky Sports Golf. You can watch the tournament in the video below from 26m 55s.

The American Golf Championship Tour Season Review programme can also be watched on the American Golf YouTube Channel with the Adventure Golf competition starting at 31m 33s.

Players earned their places in the final by competing in qualifying events at courses in England, Scotland and Wales:

• Great Western Golf Clydebank
• World of Golf Croydon
• Top Golf Watford
• Bristol Golf Centre
• Trent Lock, Long Eaton
• Clays Farm Golf Centre, Wrexham

On telly at The Belfry

Links:

• American Golf
• Clays Golf Centre

Putt Club crazy golf opening in Watford

A new Putt Club minigolf venue is opening in Watford, Hertfordshire.

The team at Putt Club are gearing up to open the brand's second venue with a new location in Watford.

The first Putt Club opened in Hull in January this year.

The new Putt Club in Watford is scheduled to open on the 21st October.

For more information on motorsport-themed indoor crazy golf courses visit the Putt Club website.

--

Join our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour enewsletter mailing list

Competing in the American Golf National Adventure Golf Championship

A look back at the American Golf National Adventure Golf Championship.

A long second putt on the first hole at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham

Three years ago today Peter Jones & I won the Welsh Qualifying Tournament at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham to enter the grand final of the American Golf National Adventure Golf Championship.

With Peter Jones at the American Golf National Adventure Golf Championship Welsh Regional Qualifier in Wrexham

The televised final was played on the Ryder Legends Mini Golf course at The Belfry in Sutton Coldfield.

The Ryder Legends Mini Golf course at The Belfry

It was the first miniature golf tournament to be televised in the UK.

The qualifying event took place on the 9-hole Miniature Golf course at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham. Each of the holes on the course are based on famous holes from regular golf.

Playing the par-5 fifth hole at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham

Players earned their places in the final by competing in qualifying events at courses in England, Scotland and Wales:

• Great Western Golf Clydebank
• World of Golf Croydon
• Top Golf Watford
• Bristol Golf Centre
• Trent Lock, Long Eaton
• Clays Farm Golf Centre, Wrexham

The grand final of the tournament was a televised event and the competition was shown on Sky Sports Golf in November 2017. The National Adventure Golf Championships can be seen in the video below from 26m 55s.

Each of the 12-holes on the Ryder Legends Mini Golf course is based on a famous hole from 'big' golf. It's a tricky layout with some very long holes.

Peter Jones in action on the 3rd hole in the semi-final at The Belfry

Playing hole 3 in the final game at The Belfry

The American Golf Championship Tour Season Review programme can also be watched on the American Golf YouTube Channel with the Adventure Golf competition starting at 31m 33s.



The American Golf National Adventure Golf Championship was a brilliant event to compete in and to see ourselves in a televised event was superb. The matchplay format in the grand final was well suited for television.

A pre-final interview with Gemma Care from Sky Sports 

Qualifiers

Finalists

Fingers crossed we get to compete in another televised tournament in the future.

Links:

• American Golf
• Clays Golf Centre
• Sky Sports Golf
• The Belfry

New Puttshack Super Tech Mini Golf opening in Bank, London

The next Puttshack indoor minigolf course is opening at Bank in London.

After we'd played a round at Puttshack in White City we headed to the city to meet some friends and en route swung by 1 Poultry at Bank to have a look at the new Puttshack location being built there.

It was a nice touch to have the windows looking down on the site

The new Puttshack venue will be home to three 9-hole high-tech minigolf courses, with technology enabling tracking of player scores on screens around the course.

One of the entrances to the course will be via Bank underground station

Puttshack Bank is due to open on Saturday 23rd November.

Playing a game at Puttshack White City

Puttshack's first location opened at Westfield London in White City in 2018. The second of the Puttshack venues opened at intu Lakeside in August this year. There are plans for a new Puttshack to open in Watford next year.

For more information visit the Puttshack website.

Here's a view of the Sapphire course at Puttshack White City from our recent visit.

Playing Puttshack super tech mini golf at White City

A visit to Puttshack super tech mini golf at White City in London.

We celebrated my birthday with a game of super tech mini golf at Puttshack while down in London. It was the first time we've played a course using technology-enabled balls.

A Puttshack ball

Waiting for take-off!

We played a round on the Emerald course - one of four 9-hole layouts at Puttshack.

I'm always ready for minigolf

Once you place your ball on the tee you have to wait until the lights go green before teeing-off. You've then got one minute to play the ball.

Two apiece on hole one, but Emily was slightly quicker on her putting

Time is against you on each subsequent putt and the quicker you play, the more points you'll pick up. However, accuracy is required and so you still need to get the ball in the hole in the least shots possible.

There are also 'Super Tube' holes on the course which give you a nice route to the cup and are the best chance for a hole-in-one. Emily managed to hit two aces during our game.

Emily about to shoot an ace

Hole 8 was interesting as there were three routes to the cup - the tricky Super Tube, a tunnel to the left and a tunnel to the right. Which tunnel you putted through depended on whether you knew the answer to a question that appeared on the screen when you placed the ball on the tee. Luckily I got my question right and picked up some extra points, while Emily was incorrect and dropped ten points.

The question hole

Spin the wheel...

...to win a prize or points...

...or not as was the case in our game

Minigolf roulette

Sgt Putters Club Band

Emily hit an ace on hole 7

Emily picked up the win in our match-up with a score of 390 points to my 376.

I lost

Unfortunately there aren't any scorecards to take away with you after playing at Puttshack, nor are your scores emailed to you. It's a real shame as we didn't take note of the number of strokes on each hole, or the points we picked up along the way. According to the screens Emily took 17 shots while I played 19 strokes.

After our game we had some drinks and Emily enjoyed some food at the venue. It was nice to see branded wet-wipes at the course, one of which is now in the Crazy Golf Museum's vaults.

I first visited Puttshack while in London last December. The Christmas party season was in full swing and the courses were heaving!

One of the three courses was asleep when we arrived, but was busy by the time we left

The Sapphire course

A view of the Sapphire course

A pool-themed hole on the Sapphire course

Puttshack White City was the brand's first location and opened at Westfield London in 2018. The second Puttshack opened at intu Lakeside in August this year. The new Puttshack at Bank is due to open on Saturday 23rd November. There are also plans for a new Puttshack to open in Watford next year. For more information visit the Puttshack website.

Shopping mall minigolf

The growth of shopping centre crazy golf.

It's wonderful to see miniature golf courses popping up in different places. Minigolf courses are becoming a fixture on the high street and at out-of-town shopping malls where customers are looking to be entertained while they shop.

Minigolf is becoming more and more popular and has grown from 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.

On Saturday we made a short trip up the road to the Walkden Town Centre shopping mall in Worsley, Salford, Greater Manchester to have a game on the pop-up Crazy Golf course there.

Crazy Golf at Walkden Town Centre

The 9-hole Crazy Golf layout was set-up for three days as part of the shopping centre's Summer of Fun events.

We got there nice and early and had a clear course ahead of us.

Crazy Golf at Walkden Town Centre

After our game we had a wander round the shopping centre as we hadn't been there before. As we walked past the course a few more times it was nice to see lots of people enjoying a game and were glad we got there early.

The course at Walkden Town Centre was the 924th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 526th played.

When our travels began back in September 2006 there were just two permanent indoor minigolf venues among the 600 courses in the UK. One of those was in Felixstowe and the other in Great Yarmouth. There are now close to 100 indoor venues, with more opening up every week.

This summer has seen pop-up miniature golf courses in shopping centres including Affinity Outlet Staffordshire and Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull.

New permanent courses have opened at retail venues this year including Treetop Adventure Golf at the Highcross shopping centre in Leicester. There are also Treetop Adventure Golf courses at St David's shopping centre in Cardiff and at The Printworks in Manchester.

There are now three Treetop Adventure Golf venues, each with two indoor courses

More Junkyard Golf venues have opened, with courses at the Westgate Shopping Centre in Oxford and at The Light in Leeds. There is also a Junkyard Golf course at the Liverpool ONE shopping, leisure and entertainment complex.

Junkyard Golf in Oxford

The new Angry Birds Adventure Golf course at the intu Metrocentre in Gateshead is nearing completion and will open this year.

The minigolf boom is also continuing in London, with a new Puttshack course set to open in the city this December. The first Puttshack course opened at the Westfield shopping centre in White City last year. The second Puttshack opened at the Lakeside shopping centre earlier this year and there are plans for a fourth venue to open at intu Watford next year.

While in Greater Manchester the new Riverside entertainment, leisure and shopping centre in Rochdale will be home to an indoor minigolf venue called Puttstars when it opens in April next year.

One of the first indoor Adventure Golf courses to open at a shopping mall was Paradise Island Adventure Golf. Back in 2008 the first of the PIAG venues opened at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. It's now our local course and we've won some tournaments there too.

Paradise Island Adventure Golf in Manchester, one of seven PIAG locations. A new course is opening in Plymouth soon

A new entertainment centre, including an Adventure Golf course, is also being planned for the Market Walk Shopping Centre in Chorley, Lancashire.

Some of the courses we've seen on our travels have been more seasonal pop-up layouts.

In 2013 the Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough hosted a Christmas-themed 9-hole Miniature Golf course from Mini Golf and Games. I'd played the course when it was set-up, without the festive decorations, in Letchworth Garden City that summer.

Minigolf in Letchworth Garden City

Lakeside Village Shopping Centre in Doncaster has also hosted minigolf courses, with summer and Christmas pop-ups.

Crazy Golf in Doncaster

Over the years we've played pop-up Crazy Golf, Jurassic Golf and Pirate Golf courses at The Centre MK in Milton Keynes.

Jurassic Golf in Milton Keynes

Pirate Golf in Milton Keynes

I also visited the Pirate Mini Golf course when it was set up at the Galleria Shopping Centre in Hatfield.

Pirate Golf in Hatfield

Having fun activities on offer like minigolf where people of all ages and abilities can take part is a nice way to attract both new and old customers to a shopping centre, and to help them stay at the venue for a little longer too.

If you are interested in installing or building a minigolf course and would like to receive specialist help, Richard Gottfried is able to provide experience, knowledge and support for all aspects of minigolf business, at any stage of the process. Get in touch to find out more.