Playing Crazy Golf at Sutton Weaver Village near Runcorn, Cheshire.
Over the years we've played some strange crazy golf courses in weird locations and on Saturday 22nd July we were able to add another oddity to our list as we played a round on the miniature golf course at Sutton Farm Cheshire. The farm is at Sutton Weaver Village near Runcorn, Cheshire.
What made the fun experience strange was that the course itself is located at what was once a Golf Driving Range but is now part of the farm and is being used as a dog training centre! Another first for us on our travels.
The course was the 439th we've played
When we arrived we thought the visit was going to be another to add to the 'unplayable' files, or worse the course may have been completely removed. We spotted three of the holes and then, through an archway in the tall hedge spotted other holes. As the course layout looked unlike anything we'd seen before we had to have a game on it. We spoke to the man there, Mike, who told us about the site and that we were welcome to have a game. After grabbing our sticks we jumped on the course for a very fun round of crazy golf.
Being careful not to step on the lane
Over a bump
A dogleg
Through the gap
Through a zig-zag
The course itself is a miniature version of the 'eternit' format of the game. It's obviously seen better days, but was still quite playable.
I love hearing about news and events from around the world of minigolf and as such receive the excellent enewsletter from the team at minigolfe.pt in Portugal.
Unsurprisingly I own a minigolf ball with a wasp on it (unless it's a hornet)
It used to be a bit of a running joke that the only way a British minigolfer WOULDN'T finish last in an international minigolf tournament was if an opponent got 'stang' off of a bee, wasp or hornet. It's not actually a made up story, as a poor Finnish player did have to retire from an event after getting stung, which meant a Brit was bumped up one place above the DNF on the leader-board.
Check out minigolfe.pt for more info, updates and to sign-up to the newsletter.
One of our favourite minigolf courses has set-up a Hall of Fame for the 2017 summer season and it's causing a stir with holidaymakers. Mick from the Lyme Regis Mini Golf course at Lister Gardens kindly sent over the photo of the leader-board as it stood yesterday - with the course record of 30 held by Ross Hendey. The next closest score recorded was a 32 by Jake and Mick H.
The Lyme Regis Mini Golf Hall of Fame is getting checked by holidaymakers throughout their stay in the seaside town
In our first game on the course Emily won 36 to 40, dropping only one shot and scoring one hole-in-one for an almost 'perfect par'. As I'd lost I was determined to get a win and so we returned for another round the next day. Luckily I won the round, shooting 38 to Emily's 40.
Visit the Lyme Regis Town Council website for more information, opening times and prices. We received great service from the staff on duty on both of our visits and Emily was very pleased to hear that her score of 36 was good enough to get her name on the Wall of Fame in the kiosk!
There's a new Adventure Golf course being built at Riverside Golf Centre in Nottingham.
My mate and minigolf rival Jam 'Jamdre the Giant' Trubridge has sent me more proof of the East Midlands miniglf revolution as ANOTHER course is opening in Nottinghamshire!
Jam's friend Nick Donovan was recently at Riverside Golf Centre in Nottingham and posted a photo showing work underway to build a new miniature golf course at the venue.
The building work by Mini Golf Poland is underway at Riverside Golf Centre in Nottingham. Photo by Nick Donovan
Emily and I are looking forward to another inland road-trip to visit all the courses in Nottinghamshire. It's crazy how many new minigolf centres are opening up in the area. Jam is in his element living on the doorstep of all these new arrivals!
We've also played at minigolf courses in the surrounding area at Coalville, Loughborough and Leicester. As well as in Sheffield and Skellingthorpe on either side of Nottinghamshire. Other courses on our 'to play' list include Paradise Island Adventure Golf in Derby and the Golden Putter Mini Golf course in Rotherham. There are a couple of Crazy Golf courses in parks in Doncaster that we need to check out too.
If you see or hear of any other new minigolf courses in Nottingham, the wider East Midlands region, or indeed anywhere else in the UK do drop us a line or leave a comment on the blog.
A look at the Adventure Golf course at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest.
Emily's friend, colleague and minigolf rival Darren Howe was recently on a family holiday at Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest and having caught the Crazy Golf bug from Emily had to have a game on the holiday village's Adventure Golf course.
Darren getting ready to loose a shot on one of the archery themed holes
Darren also managed to nab some of the nice scorecards for inclusion in The Crazy Golf Museum. A fine addition to the archives.
There are two 9-hole courses at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest - the Sherwood Trail and Archer's Way
A visit to an abandoned miniature golf course on the Wirral.
On Saturday 22nd July we headed along to the Higher Bebington Recreation Ground near Birkenhead on the Wirral peninsula to track down a Crazy Golf course in the park. We did indeed locate the layout - and found it was a unique 15-hole Crazy Golf course!
