Saturday, August 15, 2015

Luton Mini Golf Meadows

Visiting the new meadows in Wardown Park, Luton.

Photo of Luton Mini Golf Meadows in Wardown Park
Luton's new Mini Golf Meadows

Earlier this week I read about the developments at the old minigolf and crazy golf site in Luton's Wardown Park and today Emily and I headed down for a look at the new 'Luton Mini Golf Meadows'.

Photo of Luton Mini Golf Meadows in Wardown Park
The area does look really nice

As part of our visit we met the project's co-ordinator Helen Hoyle who told us about the project, while we were able to tell her more about the minigolf courses that used to be there. We also completed a survey for the research while we wandered around the meadow.

Photo of Luton Mini Golf Meadows in Wardown Park
Exploring the Mini Golf Meadows and completing my survey of 'Plot G'. Emily did 'Plot H'

The year-long project has been set-up to monitor how local Luton residents and insects react to the new meadows.

Photo of Luton Mini Golf Meadows in Wardown Park
One of the pretty plots in the meadow

Over the years we played the minigolf courses in the park a fair bit. The Crazy Golf course that used to be in Wardown Park was the 18th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour way back on the 5th May 2007. The Grass Putting Miniature Golf layout became the 19th played on the 19th May. Until the meadows were planted minigolf had been played in the park since the 19th June 1934.

Photo of the old Crazy Golf course in Luton's Wardown Park
I spotted a metal cup from one of the grass minigolf holes sitting on the 'green' of the old Crazy Golf course. As a connoisseur of derelict minigolf courses it was interesting to see what had become of the old holes

Photo of the Crazy Golf course in Wardown Park, Luton
Hole 1 as it used to look

Photo of the old Crazy Golf course in Luton's Wardown Park
Hole 1 now

Photo of the old Crazy Golf course in Luton's Wardown Park
A view of the old Crazy Golf site. The markings from the old fibreglass holes are still clear to see

Photo of the old Mini Golf course in Luton's Wardown Park
Out standing in his field. In the middle of what once was a grass putting course

It was nice to see at some signs that the area was once home to two miniature golf courses.

A view of the Luton Mini Golf Meadows from the old Crazy Golf course
A view of the Luton Mini Golf Meadows from the old Crazy Golf course

Photo of Luton Minigolf Meadows in Wardown Park
Hole 8 is no longer this way. You can find plots A-D there though

Two old golf balls in Luton's Minigolf Meadows in Wardown Park
Signs of golf still exist 'in the rough'

Photo of the Miniature Golf course in Wardown Park, Luton
Playing the Miniature Golf course back in 2010

Links:
- Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield
- F3ues Urban BESS project
- Green Estate
- Pictorial Meadows
- Luton Borough Council

Related blog post:
- Crazy Golf in Wardown Park Luton

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Mark Swain Minigolfing in the USA Part 2

Miniature Golf at Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin.

Photo of the Miniature Golf course at Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin
Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin

Earlier this year my minigolf rival and friend Mark 'The Horse Whisperer' Swain visited the USA very kindly brought me back scorecards from the mini golf courses he visited out there.

Miniature Golf scorecard from Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin
A pair of scorecards from Vitense Golfland

Mark was lucky enough to visit and play at the Vitense Golfland miniature golf courses in Madison, Wisconsin.

Photo of the Miniature Golf at Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin

Photo of the Miniature Golf at Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin

Photo of the Miniature Golf at Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin

Photo of the Miniature Golf at Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin

Miniature Golf scorecard from Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin

Miniature Golf scorecard from Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin

Miniature Golf scorecard from Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin

Miniature Golf scorecard from Vitense Golfland in Madison, Wisconsin

Hopefully we'll get to visit and play at Vitense Golfland on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour one day...

Related blog posts:
- Mark Swain
- USA
- Mark Swain Minigolfing in the USA Part 1

Links:
- Mark Swain on Twitter
- Vitense Golfland
- The Putting Penguin, Minigolf course review-site in the USA
- The Crazy Golf Museum

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Mark Swain Minigolfing in the USA Part 1

Miniature Golf at Pirate's Cove Original Adventure Golf & Family Fun Center in Wisconsin Dells.

Photo of the Miniature Golf course at Pirate's Cove Original Adventure Golf & Family Fun Center in Wisconsin Dells
One of the Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf courses in Wisconsin Dells

My friend and minigolf rival Mark 'The Horse Whisperer' Swain visited the USA earlier this year and was kind enough to bring me back some scorecards from the miniature golf courses he visited out there.

Miniature Golf at Pirate's Cove Original Adventure Golf & Family Fun Center in Wisconsin Dells

His first stop was at Pirate's Cove in Wisconsin Dells where there are five, yes FIVE, minigolf courses!

Miniature Golf at Pirate's Cove Original Adventure Golf & Family Fun Center in Wisconsin Dells

Miniature Golf at Pirate's Cove Original Adventure Golf & Family Fun Center in Wisconsin Dells

At the Pirate's Cove Original Adventure Golf & Family Fun Center you can choose to play Black Beard's 18, Captain Kidd's 18, Pirate's Lookout 18, Pirate's Challenge 18 or Captain Hook's 19 - or if you've got plenty of time play all five!

Scorecard from the Miniature Golf courses at Pirate's Cove Original Adventure Golf & Family Fun Center in Wisconsin Dells
The big minigolf scorecard from Pirate's Cove

Scorecard from the Miniature Golf courses at Pirate's Cove Original Adventure Golf & Family Fun Center in Wisconsin Dells
There are three more courses on the other side

Hopefully we'll get to visit and play at Pirate's Cove on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour one day...

Related blog posts:
- Mark Swain
- USA
- Mark Swain Minigolfing in the USA Part 2

Links:
Mark Swain on Twitter
- Pirates Cove Original Adventure Golf & Family Fun Center
- The Putting Penguin, Minigolf course review-site in the USA
- The Crazy Golf Museum

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Mini Golf courses in Wales

A look back at our big minigolf roadtrip to Wales.

Crazy Golfing on the classic Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Prestatyn
Crazy Golfing on the classic Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Prestatyn

Back in 2009 we headed off on a tour of Wales and ended up visiting 93% of all the public minigolf courses in the country!

The Minigolf course at Gowerton Golf Range
The Minigolf course at Gowerton Golf Range

Between the 9th and 21st August we drove 983 miles, played 28 courses and visited 15 more that were unplayable. Unbelievable that it was six years ago already!

Crazy Golfing at Tywyn Leisure Park
Crazy Golfing at Tywyn Leisure Park

Crazy Golf at Knightly's Amusements and Fun Park in Towyn
Crazy Golf at Knightly's Amusements and Fun Park in Towyn

Crazy Golfing in Aberystwyth
Crazy Golfing in Aberystwyth

Playing the Crazy Golf course in Swansea during round two of the 2009 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg (Welsh Minigolf Tournament)

Playing the highest minigolf course in the UK - the Rocky Pines Adventure Golf course atop The Great Orme in Llandudno

Here's the list of courses we were able to play on the trip:
129 Pendine Bay - Crazy Golf
130 Saundersfoot - Crazy Golf
131 Heatherton Park, near Tenby - Adventure Golf
137 Aberdovey/Aberdyfi - Putting
138 Tywyn (Leisure Park) - Crazy Golf
143 Llandudno (Great Orme/Y Gogarth) - Rocky Pines Adventure Golf - The highest minigolf course in the British Isles
147 Prestatyn (Bastion Road, Central Beach) - Arnold Palmer Putting Course/Crazy Golf. Revisited in September 2014. Host venue for The Butler Cup and Holiday on the Buses Pro Tournament won by Emily. RICHARD WINS A FREE GAME ON THE TOP HOLE
148 Llangollen (Riverside Park) - Minigolf

Visiting the last remnants of the abandoned Crazy Golf course in Llanfairfechan

The courses we were unable to play were:
21 Barry Island/Ynys y Barri - Crazy Golf - Played in the late 1980's/early 1990's - Demolished for new Smuggler's Cove Adventure Golf
34 Abergwyngregyn (Aber Falls Tavern) - course unplayable, Tavern under redevelopment
35 Llanfairfechan - Crazy Golf - only holes 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17 remain - no kiosk

We're looking forward to more trips to Wales in the future. We're regularly visitors and next time we'll hoping to give the new Treetop Adventure Golf course in Cardiff.

Check out our blog post of English to Welsh translations for Minigolf!

Crazy Golf in Wales
There are a fair few ways to say 'minigolf' in Welsh!

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf Tour of Wales - Stats & Facts
- Minigolf etc. - English to Welsh translations
- Wales
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Sparkle City Mini Putt in Spartanburg, South Carolina

I recently received a nice surprise in the post - some great merchandise and ephemera from my fellow minigolf bloggers at A Couple of Putts!

Photo of the Sparkle City Mini Putt t-shirt, minigolf balls and scorecards
What a fine array of minigolf merch

This year Robin Schwartzman, one half of the A Couple of Putts team, has been the Hub-Bub Artist-in-Residence and created a brilliant looking and free to play miniature golf course called Sparkle City Mini Putt in downtown Spartanburg in South Carolina, USA.

Scorecard from Sparkle City Mini Putt in Spartanburg
The scorecard from Sparkle City Mini Putt looks great

Sparkle City Mini Putt sounds like a marvelous idea. Hopefully one day we'll get to play the layout on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the A Couple of Putts blog to follow the travels of Tom Loftus (aka Mr. Tee) and Robin Schwartzman (aka The Pink Putter) on their minigolf travels.

Check out the links below for more details on the 9-hole minigolf course. To play the course you can take along your own putter and ball, or call in at one of five local business where you can borrow some equipment for free.

Links:
- A Couple of Putts blog
- Sparkle City Mini Putt website
- Sparkle City Mini Putt on Facebook
- Sparkle City Mini Putt / Hub-Bub on Twitter
- Sparkle City Mini Putt – Spartanburg, SC blog post on A Couple of Putts

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Thursday, August 13, 2015

Canoe Lake Mini Golf in Southsea

Finally finding the Mini Golf course at Canoe Lake in Southsea, Hampshire.

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea

Over the years I've visited Southsea a fair bit, and indeed it's where the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour began back in 2006. During the last nine years we've visited all of the miniature golf courses in the town, except one.

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
The long first hole at Canoe Lake

On a number of occasions we tried to find the Crazy / Mini Golf course at Canoe Lake but to no avail. That was until last weekend.

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
Finally at the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course - just 668 course visits and nine years after the first stop down the road near the pier!

As I was in town for my brother Christopher's Stag Do I made a point of having a good search online in advance and was given some directions by Susan Hayles (@SusansSolenton Twitter too.

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
A view of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course

As I arrived at Canoe Lake from the the seafront I headed in the general direction of where I now thought the course would be and lo and behold there it was!

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
Teeing-off on the first

I had a great round on the 12-hole grass Mini Golf layout and scored a 29. My round was made even more pleasing by scoring an ace on the third.

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
The scene of my ace

It was the sort of course I could've happily spent a day putting around. There were some tricky holes, it was well maintained and had a unique look and feel.

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
The dogleg seventh hole in the corner is really tricky

Speaking with the course owner Richard after my round I discovered that the main reason we never found the course on our previous visits to Southsea was that the course had closed down in 2007, and stayed closed for another three years before Richard took it over. The site used to be home to a concrete Crazy Golf course, now consigned to history. The new 12-hole course is good fun and I was told that the layout changes each year. He's done a great job in resurrecting the putting facility and it's well worth a visit.

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
I really liked the 12th hole - there's a tree right in the middle of the hole!

Before I left I had another round, this time scoring a 30. The course record is an impressive 23 and I'll be back to have a crack at that score.

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea

The Canoe Lake Mini Golf course was the 387th played and 669th visited on the tour.

Scorecard from the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
I do like a nice scorecard and the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course certainly got a  good one

Scorecard from the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
The scoring side

We've actually been really close to the course before, and in 2011 we went on a Swan Boat on the lake as well.

Canoe Lake in Southsea
This angle is from the other side of the lake - the Mini Golf course would've been behind the blue huts. See below too

A round on the 12-hole course is just £2.50 and there are cold drinks available from the hut. The Canoe Lake Mini Golf course hasn't got a website, but check out the links below for details of the café and other facilities in the area.

Photo of the Canoe Lake Mini Golf course in Southsea
The course is great value and good fun

Links:
- Canoe Lake Leisure and Greens Café at Canoe Lake - next to the Mini Golf
- The Belle Isle - scorecard sponsor

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Southsea
- Grass Putting

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Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Ribenary Crazy Golf

Crazy Golf in Ribena's new marketing campaign.

Ribenary Crazy Golf

I was excited to hear about the new marketing campaign from Ribena as it includes Crazy Golf!

Ribenary Crazy Golf
Hole 1 is called Blackcurrant Forest. That looks like a tricky loop-di-loop (and a sneak 'Pro' shot being played around the obstacle)

The three-hole Crazy Golf course is showcasing the Ribena Flavour range - with a hole for Strawberry, Blackcurrant and Mango. As well as offering a game of Crazy Golf the Ribenary campaign team are also giving out samples of the drinks. I've heard that the course has also used scent technology to give players a whiff of the different flavours as they play.

Ribenary Crazy Golf
Make sure to grab a drink after your round of Ribenary Crazy Golf

The Ribenary Crazy Golf course looks really good and it's a nice touch that they've got scorecards for players to use and keep.

Ribenary Crazy Golf
Over the rainbow bridge on the Strawberry flavoured hole 2. Hole 3 features a 'Mango Maze'!

The campaign has been running since the end of July and will continue into September. So far the Ribena-themed Crazy Golf course has popped up in Cardiff, Bristol, Reading and Swindon.

This week the Ribenary Golf course is in Liverpool and Manchester. With the course rolling into Glasgow, Newcastle, Southampton, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Brighton, Sheffield and Leeds in the coming weeks.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour we've played minigolf in most of the towns on the list. Cardiff, Reading, Southampton, Sheffield and Leeds are all on our 'to visit' list.

Check out the #RibenaryGolf hashtag on Twitter and the Ribena website for more information.

Ribenary Crazy Golf
You can't get more Ribenary than a BIG strawberry on a Ribena-themed minigolf course!

I'm feeling thirsty now!

Links:
- Ribena website
- Ribena on Twitter
- Ribena on Facebook
- Ribena on YouTube
- Ribena on Google+

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Marketing
- Advertising

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on ITV News

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour has hit the headlines with ITV's regional news programmes!

Photo from the Filming the Crazy Golf news feature filming at Tea Green Golf in Luton

Emily and I had a great time filming the feature with reporter Lauren Hall last week. We played the 9-hole Mini Golf course at Tea Green Golf in Wandon End, Luton and were interviewed about our travels and the crazy challenge. Check out the video on the ITV Meridian News website at "Crazy golf fan is playing every course in Britain."

Photo of a Crazy Golf Gnome at Tea Green Golf in Luton
There's a new obstacle on hole 6 at the Tea Green Mini Golf course

Since the feature was filmed we've reached #669 courses visited.

Links:
- Crazy golf fan is playing every course in Britain on ITV Meridian News
- Tea Green Golf

Related Blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Mini Golf at Tea Green Golf at Wandon End, Luton
- Tea Green

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.