Swingers Crazy Golf London Open

Swingers London hosting a new Crazy Golf Open tournament.

This summer London Crazy Golf course Swingers is hosting its first Crazy Golf Open championship - The Swingers Open.

The team at the Institute of Competitive Socialising is inviting corporate teams to compete in The Swingers Open, with the champions winning a luxury trip to Paris.

The Swingers Open will take place over 14 qualifying events starting on the 24th April, leading to the semi-final on the 4th September and culminating in the grand final a week later on Monday 11th September.

Businesses are asked to enter two teams of four players who will compete in a competition against other businesses from the same industry. The first event will see teams from the Tech industry tee-off.

Look at the size of that loop-di-loop!

Each of the winning teams from the qualifying rounds will receive a luxury Tanqueray No. TEN hamper.

The overall champions will win a trip to Paris including first class Eurostar travel, a night at Le Grand Pigalle, dinner and a Tanqueray experience. The championship winning team members will also get the chance to wear The Swingers Open green jackets, made exclusively by tailor Gresham Blake, and will receive The Swingers Open trophy!

Entry to the tournament costs £160 per team. Full details and entry forms are available on the Swingers London Crazy Golf website.

We haven't played the two new Swingers Crazy Golf courses yet, but in September 2014 we played a round on the Swingers Crazy Golf pop-up course in Shoreditch, East London. The course became the 581st miniature golf course visited and 347th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Playing at the original Swingers Crazy Golf course in 2014

Check out the Swingers Crazy Golf website for more information, opening times, prices and tournament entry details.

It's great to hear about a London miniature golf tournament taking place. Back in 2009 I competed in a tournament double-header at the London Open and Weymouth Open - I finished as runner-up in both events! I was also the runner-up in the 2011 London Invitational Tournament. I have some history of winning in London as well and hold the Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr Championship June Playoff title, as well as the overall Selfridges course championship which I won in 2012.

Winning

Link:
- Swingers Crazy Golf

Related blog posts:
- Crazy Golf in London
- Playing Swingers Crazy Golf in Shoreditch

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Junkyard Crazy Golf on the tube

Spotting an advert for London's Junkyard Crazy Golf on the London Underground.

Thanks to my mate and minigolf rival Gareth Holmes for sending me this snap of an advert for London's Junkyard Crazy Golf course he spotting on the tube earlier this week.

The Junkyard Crazy Golf advert on a Northern Line tube train

We haven't been to the four London Junkyard Crazy Golf courses at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane yet, but the Manchester courses are two of our most local minigolf layouts and were the 718th and 719th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

One of the holes at Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester

Check out the Junkyard Crazy Golf website for further details, opening times and prices.

It's always nice to see minigolf advertising. Last year we saw an advert for the Shanklin Seafront Crazy Golf course on an Island Line tube train.

Related blog posts:
- Crazy Golf in London
- Playing Junkyard Golf in Manchester

Link:
- Junkyard Crazy Golf

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Adswood Park Miniature Golf course

Finding out about the Adswood Park Miniature Golf course in Cheadle.

Since we moved to Cheadle Hulme last summer we've enjoyed exploring the area's parks and finding out about the borough's history. Through the Stockport Heritage Trust Group we've found out there used to be a Miniature Golf course in Adswood Park on Councillor Lane on the Cheadle / Cheadle Hulme border!

Adswood Park on Councillor Lane in Cheadle

During a discussion about Adswood Hall on the group's Facebook Page one of the Stockport Heritage Trust Group members posted a link to an old map of the area and Emily noticed the words 'Miniature Golf Course' in Adswood Park. Further investigation uncovered one photo on the Stockport Archives website showing a Putting Green with a flag in it.

Adswood Park opened in 1913 and it's our nearest greenspace. When we first arrived in Cheadle Hulme and had a wander round the park we thought we saw some raised edges / bunker type bumps in the park. They may very well be a remnant of the old grass minigolf course. One of the other Stockport Heritage Trust Group members recollects that the course had around 6-holes and may have been there until the early or mid-nineties.

The Miniature Golf course used to cover this part of Adswood Park

In our time up here we've also found a grass Putting course at Park Square offices just up the road in Cheadle Heath, a Pitch & Putt course at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle and we recently heard there was once a Crazy Golf course in Alexandra Park, Edgeley.

Links:
- Stockport Heritage Trust Group
- Stockport Archives
- Adswood Park

Related blog posts:
- Adswood Park
- Cheadle
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Miniature Golf course at the Park Square offices in Cheadle Hulme
- Pitch and Putt at Bruntwood Park, Cheadle
- Old Crazy Golf course at Alexandra Park in Edgeley, Stockport

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Crazy Golf in Dovercourt, Essex

Looking back at our minigolf visit to Dovercourt.

Back in 2009 we visited the seaside town of Dovercourt in Essex where we played the Swedish Felt B-Run Minigolf course at Low Road.

Emily playing hole 6 in Dovercourt

The 6-hole course was the 92nd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now played 423 and visited a total of 723 since we began our travels in 2006.

A view of the 6-hole minigolf course

We played three rounds of the 6-hole course while in Dovercourt and the overall result was a 49 to 54 victory to me.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Emily putting on hole 3

The Low Road venue is also home to a grass Putting course, Croquet and a Petanque piste. We didn't have time to play the other games on our visit.

Lots of games to play

The Putting Green

Crazy Golf and Croquet

The Petanque terrain, Crazy Golf course and Croquet lawn

Our visit to Dovercourt was part of a roadtrip which saw us also visit minigolf courses at Stonham Barns, Felixstowe, Clacton on Sea, Blake End near Braintree and Hemel Hempstead.

Since our visit to Dovercourt eight years ago we've also seen there's an Adventure Golf course at Dovercourt Caravan Park. The Jungle Rock Golf course is open to both caravan owners and the general public. It's another course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we next get back to Essex.

Related blog posts:
- Dovercourt Crazy Golf
- Minigolf courses in Essex
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Videos:
- Playing Dovercourt Crazy Golf 1
- Playing Dovercourt Crazy Golf 2

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Abingdon to host first-ever World Championship Egg and Spoon Race

First-ever World Championship Egg and Spoon Race to take place in Abingdon.

My home town of Abingdon-on-Thames is famous for its curious tradition of Bun Throwing, but this year a new World Title will be contested in the town's Abbey Gardens over the Easter weekend - the World Championship Egg & Spoon Race!

A world championship winning egg in 2012

A view of the Abbey Grounds on a frosty December day in 2014

I'm quite tempted to enter the event as I have a bit of a pedigree in egg and odd athletics based sports. In 2012 Jas Kukielka and I won the World Alternative Games Egg Throwing Championship in Wales and I also took part in the first-ever Ripping Yarns Hopathon in London. The World Championship Egg & Spoon Race title - and trophy presumably - would be a great addition to my sporting CV.

En route to an egg-based world title victory in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales

In a hopping race on Hampstead Heath

Abingdon's World Championship Egg & Spoon Race has been inspired by Paul Gustafson, the award winning local author of the children’s ‘Eggbert’s Adventure’ books.

Many thanks to my mate Adam Dewar for letting me know about the event which is taking place on Saturday 15th April. Further details are available on the Visit Abingdon website.

Link:
- Visit Abingdon website

Related blog posts:
- Abingdon
- Eggs

Crazy Golf course in Southwold, Suffolk

Photos and details of the Crazy Golf course in Southwold.

My sister-in-law Jo and niece Kate were in the seaside town of Southwold today and spotted a Crazy Golf course there! It's a course we didn't know about and one we'll have to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we're back in Suffolk.

You can find the Crazy Golf course at Southwold Boating Lake & Cafe, North Parade, Southwold, Suffolk IP18 6BN. I love the description of Crazy Golf as an 'ancient art' on the Tea Room's website.

Back in 2009 Emily and I visited Southwold, but found out we were two days early to play the grass Putting Green near the pier.

The Putting Green - 200 yards from the Boating Lake. It wasn't open on our visit in 2009. But the man was prepping the grass ready for the season ahead

Jo has also found Crazy Golf courses on her travels, notably in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote and in Bury St Edmunds.

Related blog posts:
- Southwold
- Jo Tubby
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
- Southwold Boating Lake & Cafe website
- Southwold Boating Lake & Cafe on Facebook
- Southwold Boating Lake & Cafe on Twitter

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Crazy Golf at Seawick Holiday Park in St Osyth

Details of the Crazy Golf course at Seawick Holiday Park in St Osyth, near Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.

My cousins were recently at Seawick Holiday Park St Osyth near Clacton-on-Sea in Essex and sent me some snaps of them playing the Crazy Golf course. It certainly looks like a unique layout!

A view of the Crazy Golf course at Seawick Holiday Park

I've never played a course laid out on sand before!

Adam tells me the sand was very we too. It can't have made for easy putting!

Visit the Seawick Holiday Park website for more details of the Park Holidays venue.

We've visited Clacton-on-Sea a few times on our travels, most recently in 2015, and always enjoy spending time in the seaside town.

Link:
- Seawick Holiday Park website

Related blog posts:
- Essex
- Clacton
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf in Essex

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Interesting benches at Vernon Park in Stockport

A visit to Stockport's Vernon Park.

Last weekend we were in the Offerton area of Stockport for the first time since moving to the Borough last summer and so headed along to have a wander around Vernon Park - the town's oldest public park. While there we spotted some park benches which may be of interest to the Park Bench Appreciation Society.

The centrepiece of the Sunken Rose Garden in Vernon Park

The Sunken Rose Garden is home to a number of wooden benches, with a special bench at the far end of what was once the 'Top Pond' in the park, prior to its drainage in the 1930s.

The path to the benches

The special bench at the end

Left bench

Right bench

  

The middle benches from outside the Sunken Rose Garden

One side of the special bench

The other side of the special bench

Having a nice sit down

Vernon Park Museum behind the bench

One of the other park benches. Home to a lost jacket. Also note the two dogs having a bit of a set-to in the photo

Vernon Park was opened in 1858 and was known variously as Pinch Belly Park or the People’s Park.

Related blog posts:
- Dull Men's Club
- Park Bench Appreciation Society
- Stockport
- Park

Links:
- Park Bench Appreciation Society
- Vernon Park, Stockport

Free Jaffa Cake... if you buy a tyre

What a sales promotion!

While in Altrincham I spotted this great bit of advertising for The Tyre Warehouse.

A free Jaffa Cake with every tyre at The Tyre Warehouse in Altrincham. Why yes, I'll take a dozen!

I wonder how many people take up the offer?

Related blog posts:
- Marketing
- Funny sign

Link:
- The Tyre Warehouse

Amaze Miniature Park and a model village of Abingdon

Abingdon in Miniature and a minigolf course.

My mum and dad read about a model village in Australia based on Abingdon in Wednesday's Oxford Mail. Amaze Miniature Park in Western Australia also has a minigolf course.

Among the town landmarks featured at Amaze Miniature Park are the County Hall Museum (from which buns are thrown on special occasions), St Nicholas Church and the Old Anchor Inn.

Abingdon's County Hall and Museum during the last Bun Throwing

I grew up in Abingdon (renamed Abingdon-on-Thames in February 2012) and always revisit the town to take part in the Bun Throwing spectacle.

Check out the story about Amaze Miniature Park (formerly Abingdon Miniature Village) near Mandurah in Western Australia on the Oxford Mail website.

It's funny that Amaze Miniature Park has a minigolf course too as the Crazy Golf course in Abingdon's Abbey Meadows closed at the end of last season following many many years of use.

A photo taken on my very last visit to the very first Crazy Golf course I ever played

Emily has played the Glow Golf indoor minigolf course in Melbourne, Australia. If we both visit the country in the future we'll have to visit Amaze Miniature Park.

Links:
- Amaze Miniature Park
- World of Bun Throwing

Related blog posts:
- Abingdon
- Australia
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Model Village
- Last visit to Abingdon's Crazy Golf course
- Photos of Abingdon's Crazy Golf course
- Crazy Golf in Abingdon, Oxfordshire

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Time Machine Minigolf in Warsaw, Poland

Visiting the indoor UV blacklight minigolf course at Blue City in Warsaw.

Emily recently made the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour's 27th minigolf course visit overseas when she swung by Time Machine Minigolf at Blue City in Warsaw, Poland. It looks superb.

Time Travel Minigolf in Warsaw

The 18-hole minigolf course takes players through a fantastic time travelling adventure - from the big bang, to the jurassic era, through mankind's achievements and a vision of the future!

The loop-di-loop obstacle is also a time machine!

We have now visited 723 miniature golf courses since September 2006. 696 of those were in the UK, with 27 overseas.

You get to play through the Wild West at Time Travel Minigolf

Check out the Time Machine Minigolf website for more information, opening times and prices.

What a BIG minigolf ball!

We've visited a number of indoor minigolf courses on our travels and they're becoming more and more popular around the world.

Some of the dinosaur theming at the course

2017 could very well be the year of Time Travel as charter member of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Christopher Gottfried visited the time travel themed GlowGolf minigolf course in Amsterdam in January.

The closest I've been to a minigolf time machine recently was hitting the Doomsday Device at Mr Mulligan's Lost World Adventure Golf in Stevenage last year. Although back in 2012 I did play a Time Machine hole at the Golf Apocalypse in London.

Links:
- Time Machine Minigolf website
- Time Machine Minigolf on Facebook

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

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.