Winning the American Golf Adventure Golf Pairs Regional Qualifier in Wrexham

Minigolf pairs success for Stockport and Rhyl combination.

Minigolf champs of Wrexham

Peter Jones and I have qualified for the Grand Final of American Golf's 2017 Adventure Golf Pairs Championship.

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

Over the weekend we heard we'd won the Regional Qualifier played at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham and in doing so have booked our place in the final to be played at The Belfry in September.



We can't wait to take on the challenge on the 12-hole Ryder Legends Mini Golf course there!

Playing the par-5 fifth hole at Clays Golf Centre

Links:
- American Golf
- Clays Golf Centre
- The Belfry Hotel and Resort

Related blog posts:
- Mini Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham
- 2017 American Golf Adventure Golf Championship

Videos:
- Adventure Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham 1 of 4
- Adventure Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham 2 of 4
- Adventure Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham 3 of 4
- Adventure Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham 4 of 4

The Geoff Capes Driving School in Stockport

I reckon you'd have a strong chance of passing your test if you learn to drive with Geoff Capes!

Crazy Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

Playing the Crazy Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.

On Saturday 8th April we headed to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to compete in the first-ever Great Northern Minigolf Open competition played out on the two miniature golf courses in the park.

The course was open and proving popular

The second course we played was the old Crazy Golf course operated by the Friends of Haigh Country Park group.

The view from hole one

At £1 per game the course is the lowest price we've ever found for an 18-hole course on our travels. Amazing value for money.

My first hole in one of the day - scored on the 'windmill with no blades labyrinth' hole!

The course was incredibly popular and had a good throughput of players all day. It's an interesting layout as the course has been added to over the years so has quite a hotch potch of obstacles. Not that that is a bad thing, it was certainly unique.

The course is quite crazy

The Haigh Woodland Park Crazy Golf course was the 728th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 701st in the UK. It became the 428th played on our travels since September 2006. 

Some holes have newer fibreglass obstacles

Others have older obstacles

While others have a mixture of traditional and modern elements

 

A bowler hatted spider!

Humpty!!!

The tank obstacle was particularly odd and quite out of place on the course. It was an interesting and very tough hole

What a steep ramp

Emily playing the tank

The 17th

The 'green' of the 18th hole

In the second and final round of the Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament the scores were:
1st - Scott Lancley - 38
2nd - Richard Gottfried - 44
3rd - Emily Gottfried - 49
4th - John Moore - 50
5th - Russ Dent - 51
6th - Cat Patterson - 59

The competitors in the Great Northern Minigolf Open competition

Visit the Friends of Haigh Country Park website for further information and course opening times. Back in 2012 the course was partly derelict, but the Friends group have done a brilliant job of getting it spruced up and fully open again.

An interesting bench at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

On our recent visit to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan we spotted this interesting park bench as we were walking towards the Miniature Railway. One for the Park Bench Appreciation Society to make a note of.

I wonder which of the two benches proves more popular...

Adventure Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

Playing the new Adventure Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.

On Saturday 8th April we headed to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to contest the first-ever Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament on the two minigolf courses in the park. First up was the new Adventure Golf course.

The Haigh Woodland Park Adventure Golf course is in a wonderful setting

The 18-hole course is Wigan-themed and was great fun to play. There was a lot of variety and some very large obstacles. It was certainly tricky in places too.

The new course in Wigan was great fun to play and quite tricky in places

The course became the landmark 700th we've visited in the UK and our 727th overall since our crazy golfing adventures began in September 2006.

The course offers ball retrievers for any errant shots into the water hazards. I wonder if this pole extends...

One of the BIG minigolf holes

And its accompanying green!

Back in 2012 I visited Haigh Country Park and the Play Haigh Golf Complex there. Where the new Adventure Golf course now stands there was once a grass Putting Course called The Himalayan Putting Green.

The old Putting Green has made way for the 18-hole Adventure Golf course

The new Adventure Golf course was proving popular on our visit - as was the park in general. It was a good job we teed-off our event at 10.45ish as the park and course only got busier during the day. The weather was wonderful which certainly helped.

The course was nice, bright and colourful

In the first round of the Great Northern Minigolf Open competition the scores were:
1st - Russ Dent - 44
2nd (tie) - Richard Gottfried - 49
2nd (tie) - Scott Lancley - 49
4th - Emily Gottfried - 52
5th - John Moore - 54
6th (tie) - Cat Patterson - 65
6th (tie) - Ryan Lancley - 65
8th - Ethan Rottenbury - 67
9th - Zoe Lancley - 83

We're looking forward to visiting Haigh Woodland Park again

Check out the Haigh Adventure Golf website for further info, opening times and prices.

The course was designed and built by the team at HM Adventure Golf. Visit their website for more info on their work.

Miniature Railways at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

We recently visited Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to play the two minigolf courses there. We'd also seen there were two Miniature Railways in the park, so had to have a look.

Quite a big engine for a miniature railway

There's a 'Miniature Railway' and a 'Miniature Gauge Railway' at Haigh Woodland Park. The Miniature Railway (and larger of the two) was running on our visit.

Bargain

The engine in action approaching the halt at Haigh Woodland Park. We're looking forward to returning and exploring more of the large park in the future

Visit the Haigh Woodland Park website for more information about the two railways and opening times.

Check out our other Miniature Railway blog posts.

Mini Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham

Playing the Mini Golf course at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham.

On Friday 7th April we headed to Wrexham to meet up with our friend Peter Jones to compete in the Regional Qualifier for the 2017 American Golf Adventure Golf Championship at Clays Golf Centre.

Putting at Clays Golf Centre

The event took place on the 9-hole Miniature Golf course where each of the holes is based on famous holes from regular golf. The course has some very long and large layouts.

The course became the 725th visited and 425th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

A long second putt on the not so miniature Mini Golf course

While we were at Clays Golf Centre we also got to have a play on the indoor Putting Green and the grass Putting Green.

Clays Golf Centre gets the double thumbs-up from us

The 9-hole Putting course

In case of fire!

The Indoor Putting Studio

We had a great time at Clays Golf Centre and received a nice welcome from the team at the American Golf store and throughout the centre. We'll definitely revisit in the future.

Peter Jones on Pete's Practice Putting Area

Check out the Clays Golf Centre, American Golf Wrexham and American Golf websites for further info, opening times and prices.

Photos of the 9-hole Miniature Golf course at Clays Golf Centre.

Hole 1 

Hole 1

Hole 1

Hole 1

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 2

Hole 2

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 4

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 5

Hole 5

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 7

Hole 8 

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 9 

Hole 9

Hole 9

Hole 9

You can find Clays Golf Centre on Bryn Estyn Road in Wrexham, LL13 9UB.

Just follow the brown tourist signs and you'll find Clays Golf Centre

Videos:
- Adventure Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham - 1 of 4
- Adventure Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham - 2 of 4
- Adventure Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham - 3 of 4
- Adventure Golf at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham - 4 of 4
- Hole in One on the Putting Green at Clays Golf Centre in Wrexham

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf - English to Welsh translations
- Mini Golf courses in Wales
- Wales