Miniature Railway in Thorne Memorial Park

A visit to the miniature railway in Thorne Memorial Park.

While en route to Cleethorpes last May we drove through the town of Thorne near Doncaster, South Yorkshire and out of the corner of our eyes we spotted what looked like a miniature railway as we passed over a bridge near the canal. We had to stop off for a look at it.

Sadly there were no trains running on the day we were there.

The Miniature Railway in Thorne Memorial Park is operated by the Doncaster & District Model Engineers Society.

  

Related blog posts:
- Miniature Railways
- Doncaster

Visiting Bangolf Vasaparken in Vasastan, Stockholm

A visit to the Swedish Felt minigolf course at the Vasaparken in Vasastan, Stockholm.

In February last year we made a short trip to Stockholm, Sweden and managed to visit nine miniature golf courses in 42 hours.

At the fifth of nine minigolf courses we visited in Sweden

Bangolf Vasaparken in Vasastan, Stockholm became the 802nd course visited overall on our tour, and the 33rd overseas. It's a nice looking Swedish Felt minigolf course.

However, as it was out of season and very snowy we couldn't play it.

 

The course has a bit of a dubious claim to fame and I hadn't put two and two together until our friend Hans told us, but the course was the location of this infamous minigolf viral video!

During our trip to Sweden we made the BIG 800th course visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. That was at Swing by Golfbaren in Vasastan.

Related blog posts:
- From Stockport to Stockholm on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Stockholm
- Sweden

A Crazy Golf postcard from Boscombe

A look at an old Crazy Golf postcard from Boscombe.

I recently bought 50 more postcards for my collection and among them was this card of the Crazy Golf course near Boscombe Pier.

A Boscombe Crazy Golf postcard. JH 40 Plastichrome by Colourpicture. Pub. by J. Hammersley, Boscombe, Bournemouth. Posted in 1967

The course on the postcard is long gone, but Boscombe Pier itself does now have it's own Crazy Golf course.

We haven't played the Boscombe Pier course yet, however we have played the course at Boscombe Chine Gardens a number of times over the years.

Related blog posts:

- Boscombe

- Postcards

A Crazy Golf postcard from Skegness

A look at a minigolf postcard from Skegness sent in 1946.

I recently bought 50 more postcards for my collection of minigolf cards and among them was this nice old postcard showing the waterways and pier in Skegness. Also clearly in view is a Crazy Golf course.

The Waterways and Pier, Skegness. The Graphic Series postcard. Postally used on 14 August 1946

The course in the card was on North Parade. On our last visit to Skegness in 2015 we found an abandoned Indoor Jungle 3D Mini Golf course at the Lost World Adventure Park. A world away from the course in the postcard that was on more or less the same spot 70 years before!

The first Crazy Golf course in the country opened on South Parade in Skegness in 1926.

There are a number of miniature golf courses in Skegness with 102-holes spread across nine seafront courses

Related blog posts:
- Skegness
- Postcards
- Craz-e-Golf at Skegness

New Mini Golf course at York Stadium Leisure Complex

New indoor mini golf venue opening at the York Stadium Leisure Complex.

York Stadium Leisure Complex will soon be home to three 9-hole Mini Golf courses as part of a new tenpin bowling and minigolf attraction at the new site.

The bowling and minigolf venue from the Hollywood Bowl Group will also include a bar, diner and amusement arcade.

The York Stadium Leisure Complex will be opening in Summer 2019.

New Adventure Golf course heading to Bournemouth

New Smuggler's Cove Adventure Golf opening in Bournemouth.

Bournemouth will soon be home to another miniature golf course as Bournemouth Council are building a new 18-hole Smuggler's Cove Adventure Golf at Pier Approach.

Bournemouth is a minigolf hotbed as there are four other minigolf venues in the town - in the Lower Gardens, at Oasis Fun, at Playgolf Bournemouth and at Mr Mulligans. There are also a lot of courses in the surrounding area and in the seaside town of Boscombe next door.

We'll need to do a return visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour to add the new courses to our list as many of them opened since we last visited the town in 2013.

New Junkyard Golf course opening at Liverpool ONE

New indoor Crazy Golf course opening at Liverpool ONE.

Junkyard Golf Liverpool is opening in March this year

The team at Junkyard Golf will soon be opening their fifth indoor Crazy Golf venue, with three courses being built at the Liverpool ONE shopping, leisure and entertainment complex.

With courses in Manchester, London, Oxford and Leeds, the Liverpool venue will see more of the unique Junkyard Golf course style injected into the city centre location.

We've played the Manchester and London courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Check out the Junkyard Golf website for more information.

Related blog posts:
- Junkyard Golf
- Liverpool

Mini Golf at Lane7 in Newcastle

A visit to Lane7 in Newcastle.

On the 21st September last year (Miniature Golf Day) we called into Lane7 in Newcastle to play the indoor minigolf venue there.

The 9-hole course is located in the basement and sits alongside a tenpin bowling lane and bar area.

It's a nice little course and was good fun to play.

Make sure you read the rules first

The Lane7 Mini Golf course was the 495th played and 840th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.
 

In addition to the Mini Golf course you can play tenpin bowling ping pong, beer pong and American Pool at Lane7. There's also karaoke and a cool retro games arcade.

Visit the Lane7 website for opening times and prices.

Link:
- Lane7

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

Minigolf to feature in the CSIT World Sports Games 2019

Speed minigolf to feature in the CSIT World Sports Games 2019 in Tortosa, Spain.

A new version of minigolf will feature in the CSIT World Sports Games 2019 in Tortosa, Spain this July.

The CSIT World Sports Games are organised by the International Workers & Amateurs in Sports Confederation, and are recognised by the International Olympic Committee.

The WMF International Minigolf Speed Championships 2019 will take place over three competition days, with medals awarded each day in six age categories in three different speed disciplines on a version of a miniaturegolf (eternit) course.

In action on an Eternit Miniature Golf course at the Nations Cup in Tampere, Finland

The event will be played with one official championship ball to keep the conditions equal for everybody. The draft course layout can be viewed on the WMF website. The 12 hole course has been developed with a miniaturegolf (eternit) style, but the lanes will be slightly smaller than normal to allow easier hole-in-ones reflective of the fast-paced nature of the event.

You can find out more about the WMF International Minigolf Speed Championships 2019 and the event format on the World Minigolf Sport Federation website.

The CSIT World Sports Games is an international event with thousands of participants that takes place every two years in a different city. It is based on the idea of the International Workers’ Olympiad of the 1920s/30s and celebrated in an environment of tolerance, respect and sustainability.

One of the main aims of CSIT is the idea of Sport for All and the organising of Games for amateurs & workers, competitive & non-competitive, for young & old, men & women from all over the world.

The CSIT World Sports Games 2019 will feature 19 CSIT Championships including events in Athletics, Football, Judo, Tennis, Table-Tennis, Para-Sport, Petanque, Wrestling and more.

In addition to these events there will be 15 CSIT Partner Championships including Cheerleading, Powerlifting, American Football, the intriguing Fireball(!) and more.

As well as Minigolf the CSIT World Sports Games will also feature Pitch & Putt and Golf tournaments.

The CSIT and the WMF are both members of GAISF, the Global Association of International Sports Federations.

The World Minigolf Sport Federation is the umbrella organisation of 63 Minigolf sports associations worldwide with continental associations in Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. There are more than 38,000 competitive minigolf players registered with the WMF via the 63 member nations, with 900-plus clubs between them. Over 1,000 courses are approved for official competitions and over 1,500 minigolf tournaments are held each year.

Emily and I have competed in a number of international WMF events, including the Nations Cup in Finland and Sweden and the World Adventure Golf Masters in England.

Emily holds the British women's record score on the miniaturegolf (eternit) format of the game after scoring a round of 24 (-12) on an 18-hole course at the 2011 WMF Nations Cup in Sweden.

Emily playing hole 1 on her way to a British women's record round on the Eternit format of the sport at the WMF Nations Cup 2011 in Stockholm, Sweden

We were both in the sport's international rankings from 2008 to 2016 following our debut for the Great Britain team at the 2008 Nations Cup championships in Tampere, Finland.

Links:
- CSIT World Sports Games 2019
- World Minigolf Sport Federation
- International Workers & Amateurs in Sports Confederation
- Global Association of International Sports Federations

Related blog posts:
- WMF
- Spain
- Eternit
- World Minigolf Sport Federation

Amazing Strokes minigolf book by Gretchen Smith

Checking out the new Amazing Strokes miniature golf book by Gretchen Smith.

Last year minigolf super-fan Gretchen Smith published a new book all about minigolf.

Amazing Strokes is a mammoth tome all about minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf and Putt Putt. It's packed full of information, stats, facts, reviews and interviews with players, course owners, tournament organisers and other fans of the game.

Amazing Strokes is a massive minigolf book. It's almost as thick as a golf ball!

It was really nice to be able to contribute to the book with details from our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the Crazy Golf Museum.

The BIG minigolf book weighs in at a whopping 606-pages and it'll certainly take a while to read through.

Check out the Amazing Strokes website for more information and details on how to purchase the book. You can also buy the book on Amazon.

Visit Minigolfnews.com for an interview with Gretchen.