Mini Golf in London at Birdies Crazy Golf Club

Playing at a new London mini golf course in Waterloo.

Playing the loop-di-loop at Birdies Crazy Golf Club

On Tuesday 10th November we visited the latest Mini Golf course to arrive in London - Birdies Crazy Golf Club.

The three hole on a ramp double pipe obstacle on the third

You can find the 9-hole miniature golf course tucked away in The Vaults underneath Waterloo station.

The first hole features real sand bunkers

Birdies Crazy Golf Club is open six nights a week until the 20th December, with a round of Crazy Golf costing £9 per person, per round.



In addition to the underground minigolf course, food and drink is available from the Caddy Shack clubhouse. On our visit we enjoyed a couple of 'Glory Hole' cocktails there!

The loop-di-loop fourth hole, with one of the two bars in the background - they've got a good range of golf-themed cocktails on offer. The 'Glory Hole' was particularly pleasing!

We really enjoyed our visit and game of Crazy Golf. When we first arrived the venue was heaving and the course packed with Crazy Mini Golfers. Before we left I had a second round on the well designed minigolf course.

A busy Birdies

One of our favourite holes. We actually saw one player get their ball to stay on the top of the ramp, and another land in the area below the holes!

The course has a par of 23 and in our match-up I scored an 18(-5) to Emily's 22(-1). In my solo round I shot a 17 (or a 16 if you count the hole-in-one on the 7th hole as a -1!).

What an achievement!

The Birdies Crazy Golf Club course is nice and playable and I'd love to go back and try to better my score.

Birdies Crazy Golf Club is well worth a visit

It'd be a great location for a minigolf tournament too - perfect for any weather conditions, a tricky and testing course, fun obstacles, a bar, hot dogs and another bar!

You can get Hot Dogs there too

The new London Crazy Golf course became the 672nd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 390th we've played.

The scene of our 672nd minigolf course visit since 2006

Each of the nine holes at Birdies has a 'pro' tip from Tiger Would, here's a selection of them.

  

Birdies Crazy Golf Club has been launched by the team behind the Underground Film Club. Check out the links below for more info, opening times and to buy tickets.

Links:
- Birdies Crazy Golf website
- Birdies Crazy Golf on Twitter
- Birdies Crazy Golf on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London
- Indoor Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date
- Mini Golf Clubs in the UK

Videos:
- Minigolf at Birdies Crazy Golf Club in Waterloo, London (1 of 2)
- Minigolf at Birdies Crazy Golf Club in Waterloo, London (2 of 2)

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

A Millport Crazy Golf postcard from the Isle of Cumbrae

Last year we visited the lovely little Isle of Cumbrae to play the Crazy Golf course in Millport, the island's only town. It's a great island to visit and just a short ferry voyage from Largs.

As a big collector of minigolf postcards I had to snap up this brilliant Valentine's "Silveresque" style postcard that shows the Crazy Golf course.

Crazy Golf, Millport, Isle of Cumbrae. A Valentine's "Silveresque" 3059V Style Postcard, published by Valentine & Sons Ltd. Dundee and London. Postally used at 4.15pm on the 4th June 1964 and mailed from Millport itself

The Millport Crazy Golf course was the 339th course played and 564th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. If you take a look at the course photos below you'll see that the course has changed very little since the 1960's. You can still see the very same hole layouts and obstacles!

Emily playing the three tunnel hole that you can see on the postcard

The toughest hole on the course was there in 1964 and it's still there now. You can see it in the background of the postcard

The double humps hole and the ramp & three holes hole can be clearly seen on the postcard

You can still purchase postcards of the course from one of the shops in Millport. We bought a stack of them to post to friends and family on our holiday.

Link:
- Millport Crazy Golf

Related blog posts:
- Postcard
- Postcards
- Crazy Golf in Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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

Crazy Golf in Hastings

A look at the Crazy Golf course in Hastings, East Sussex.

Emily playing hole 1 of the course

The 39th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the classic Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf in Hastings, East Sussex back on the 26th of October 2007. Since then we've returned for a number of minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf competitions in Hastings each year and were recently in town again - this time for the 13th annual World Crazy Golf Championships.

Hole 2 at Hastings Crazy Golf

Here's a look at the course as at October 2015. It's well worth a play and is a great piece of seaside heritage.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 5 - the green

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 7 - the middle bit

Hole 7 - the green

Hole 8

Hole 8 - the green

Hole 9

Hole 9

Hole 10

Hole 11

Hole 11 - the green

Hole 12

Hole 13

Hole 14

Hole 15

Hole 16

Hole 17

The flat loop obstacle on hole 18

Hole 18

The Lucky Last Hole where you can attempt to win a free game pass

Hastings Adventure Golf is also home to an Adventure Golf course and a Pirate Golf layout. Visit the Hastings Adventure Golf website for more details, opening times and prices.

Link:
- Hastings Adventure Golf website

Related blog posts:
- Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf in Hastings
- Hastings
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Videos:
- A walk around the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf in Hastings (2010)
- Videos from the 2015 World Crazy Golf Championships

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

Report from the 2015 Worlds £2 Tat Challenge in Hastings

Results from the off-course shenanigans at the amusements in Hastings.

What the sport is all about

Since 2010 Crazy Mini Golfers from around the world have descended on the amusement arcades of Hastings to compete in 'Tat Challenge' tournaments.

One of the machines not in use this year

2015 would be no different at 23 competitors lined-up to fight for the honour and prizes that come with being the World Tat Challenge Champion.

The competitors receive some last minute instructions from The Buttons Committee

Following the first day's play of the World Crazy Golf Championships the group headed over the road to the Old Town Amusement Arcade for 20-minutes of non-stop tu-penny pushers gaming to see who could land the largest haul of prizes. There had been some doubt as to whether the event would take place, as in the lead-up to the contest on Saturday there had been reports that the Old Town Buttons had closed down and the site was up for sale!

Afternoon of the Living Dead - a shocking sight indeed

Fortunately the Old Town ones were open and buzzing on the big day itself. Rendering the recce to the buttons next to The Deluxe pointless. Speculation that an alternative venue would be 'Keith's' buttons down by The Stade were also dismissed as hogwash. Especially when the rumour included something about the use of ten pence pieces. A ridiculous notion.

Tatters Buttonsing

The 2015 champion was Helen Dodd with a total of seven bits of tat, leaving her closest rivals trailing in her wake with a mere four bits. The defending champion Kate 'Mrs' Kelly was unable to hold onto the crown as she slipped to a disappointing last place after drawing a blank.

The Champ Helen Dodd shows off her winnings as a character looks on

The modern era of the sport has quite possibly seen advances in technology that favour 'the house' as the days of one person winning an event with 40 pieces of tat (as veteran James Rutherford rocketed into his pocket during the great summer of sport in 2012).

Sussex's finest

With a total prize bag of 51 tats Helen declared that the toys and stuff would be put to good use as the 'second best Crazy Golfer in the Dodd household' (Emily Dodd) would be given them when Helen and Matt arrived back home.

Results of the 2015 Worlds £2 Tat Challenge (all competitors GB & NI except where stated)
1 - Helen 'Lucky 7' Dodd = 7
2 - John 'Forgot his Waffles' Moore = 4
2 - Richard 'Seen Better Days' Gottfried = 4
2 - Steve 'Stay Puft' Le Velle = 4
5 - 'Peter Peter Ice Cream Eater' Jones = 3
5 - Martin 'Alien' Greenhead = 3
5 - Ollie 'Little Alient' Greenhead = 3
5 - Steve 'The Treasure Hunter' Sturdy = 3
9 - Will 'Donnelaney' Donnelly = 2
9 - Tony 'Better than Kate this year' Kelly = 2
9 - 'The Portuguese Man o' War' Nuno Cunha (POR) = 2
9 - 'Big' Stevie Gow = 2
9 - Ed 'Dressed for the weather conditions for a change' Haynes = 2
9 - Chris 'Tusk' Wood = 2
9 - Adam 'On Par with Pa' Kelly = 2
9 - David 'Local Competitor' Hartley = 2
17 - Marion 'Local Athlete' Hartley = 1
17 - Mark 'Character' Wood = 1
17 - Matt 'Not top' Dodd = 1
17 - Steven 'Bonnie' Langford = 1
21 - Kathryn 'Debutee' Haynes = 0
21 - Ed 'Friend of Le Velle' Pope = 0
21 - Kate 'Oh dear what happened this year' Kelly = 0

To date ten official Tat Challenge competitions have been played with 800 bits of tat won for a total of £382.

Hands like lightning! Peter Jones in action

Local competitor Marion Hartley made her debut this year

The former People's Champion 'Big' Stevie Gow in action, with Johnny Waffles eyeing up some 'rattin' opportunities

Not winning this year

Keith Kellard stalks the floors for some loose change while David Hartley is in the zone. Kellard would eventually find over £2 in dropped money while everyone else competed

An Essex-based character playing the Buttons

Ed Haynes uncharacteristically wearing a jacket

£2 Tat Challenge Hall of Fame:

#1 - Paul Johnson - 9 pieces of Tat (World Title)

#2 - Richard Gottfried - 10 pieces of Tat

#3 - Alan Norman - 6 pieces of Tat +1

#4 - Polly - 11 pieces of Tat (World Title)

#5 - James Rutherford - 40 pieces of Tat

#6 - Richard Gottfried - 23 pieces of Tat (World Title)

#7 - Richard Gottfried and Mike Small - a tie with 32 pieces of Tat each

#8 - William Edwards - 8 pieces of Tat (World Title)
#9 - Kate Kelly - 10 pieces of Tat (World Title)
#10 - Helen Dodd - 7 pieces of Tat (World Title)

Related Blog Posts:

- Report from the 2013 World £2 Tat Challenge in Hastings
- Report from the 2013 World £2 Tat Challenge in Hastings

- Tat Challenge blog posts

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