What a difference a year makes

A look back at our minigolfing visits to Leicester in 2019.

We competed in the Caddyshackers Open minigolf tournament at Caddyshackers Crazy Golf in Leicester last year.

We were joined in the team event by our friends and often minigolf rivals Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd and Jam 'Jamdre the Giant' Trubridge.

The Before Times!

Having qualified for the grand final we returned a week later.

Natural social distancing before social distancing was a thing

The Caddyshackers Crazy Golf course was the 903rd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A view of the Caddyshackers Crazy Golf course

While in the city we also swung by the new Treetop Adventure Golf venue at the Highcross Shopping Centre.

Emily and I also returned to Leicester as a stop-off en route to East Anglia in September.

A Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man in Leicester

It looks highly unlikely that we'll be travelling anywhere this year.

2020 has pretty much gone down the pan

It'll be nice to revisit Leicester again in the future when it's safe to do so.

We've also been to minigolf courses at Blaby Golf Centre and Charnwood Golf Complex in Leicestershire.

Congo River Adventure Golf at Blaby Golf Centre in March 2014 

Minigolf at Charnwood Golf Complex in Loughborough in August 2015

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Mini Golf Toilets

A look at the ablutions obstacles we've seen on our Crazy Golf travels.

Putting into the porcelain at Caddyshackers in Leicester last June

We've seen and played a few toilet obstacles on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A pirate lavvy on a pop-up course at the Centre:MK in Milton Keynes

The putting suite at Caddyshackers

A closer look at the hole

An outhouse on the Pirate's Landing Adventure Golf course at Trent Lock Golf Centre in Long Eaton

The dirtiest looking minigolf hole I've seen! It's at Ghetto Golf in Newcastle

 

Into the cubicle

I don't fancy fishing my ball out of that hole!

A pirate outhouse on the Adventure Golf course at Center Parcs Elveden Forest, Norfolk. Photo by Christopher Gottfried March 2020

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

Picture Postcard Magic - Back in Brighton

Here's my latest post for the Reflections of a Bygone Age blog.

Social distancing at Tee-Rex Adventure Golf at Cardiff Golf Centre

The Tee-Rex Adventure Golf course at Cardiff Golf Centre in Wales has reopened with social distancing measures in place.

Many thanks to my friend, minigolf rival and local Martyn Williams of the Welsh Minigolf Club for sending me these snaps from the course.

A sign of the times 

The new rules 

The area next to the course

Walk this way

A look at the course

Signs on the hut

Playing the course

We played the 18-hole dinosaur-themed Tee-Rex Adventure Golf course last August. How times change.

It was the 916th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On that visit we enjoyed a round with Martyn and our old friends and minigolf rivals Cindy and Jas Kukielka.

The Before Times

More information

Check out the blog post from our visit last summer to see more photos of the course and the results of our mini-tournament there.

Visit the Tee-Rex Adventure Golf website for more information, opening times and prices.

Take a look on the Welsh Mini-Golf Club website for details on joining the club for future events.

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20 minigolf newsletters in 2020

While we haven't been out visiting and playing minigolf courses since mid-March we have been writing a lot about the game.

We've just sent out our 20th newsletter of the year.

At the Wythenshawe Park Crazy Golf course in Manchester

Pandemic stops putting

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic we were closing in on visiting the final 40 courses of the original 600 we set out to play in 2006. We're also very close to hitting 1,000 course visits overall.

Before the lockdown hit and our out-of-home putting was paused we'd visited 948 courses since September 2006.

20 courses in 20 days in 2020

We had a strong start to the year and visited 20 courses in the first 20 days of 2020.

Our travels took us to miniature golf venues in Oxford, Birmingham, Manchester, Northwich, Doncaster and Castleford.

A revisit

We went to Wythenshawe Park just over the border in Manchester for our daily outdoor exercise last Sunday and revisited the Crazy Golf we first played in 2009. While there we also visited the currently closed Pitch & Putt Miniature Golf course. That became course visit 949 and the first new course we've been to since the pandemic hit.

Check out our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour enewsletter archive and sign-up to receive future editions.

Social distancing at a railway station in Finland

Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival John Mittler for sending me this social distancing sign from Tikkurila railway station in Vantaa, Helsinki metropolitan area. He noticed it while making an essential journey into Tampere.

As John put it "Please socially distance yourself from the train, for your own safety."

He knows me well.

I enjoy seeing different and funny signs around the world, I'm a train nerd and I'm also documenting as many social distancing / Covid-19 signs & posters during the time of the coronavirus pandemic.

New Adventure Golf course in Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton Adventure Golf opening at Perton Golf Club.

A brand new 18-hole dinosaur-themed adventure golf course is opening at Perton Park Golf Club in Wolverhampton.

It's the first brand new miniature golf course in the UK to open its doors for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic.

Wolverhampton Adventure Golf opens at Perton Park Golf Club this Saturday, 27th June 2020.

It's another new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

Visit the Wolverhampton Adventure Golf and Perton Park Golf Club websites for more information, opening times, prices and how to book in for a game.

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Scarborough Adventure Golf. June 2019

We revisited the Adventure Golf course on the North Bay Promenade on our return trip to Scarborough, North Yorkshire last summer.

The Adventure Golf course on the North Bay Promenade in Scarborough

Back in June 2008 the course became the 55th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Unfortunately time and the weather were not on our side so we didn't get a chance to play the course for a second time.

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Merry Christmas in June

Happy Christmas in June.

It's only 6 months until Christmas Day.

Playing Christmas Crazy Golf at Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry last Easter

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Moby Adventure Golf in Romford

A look at Moby Adventure Golf in Romford, Essex.

We played Moby Adventure Golf at Golf Kingdom in Romford back in June 2014. Time flies!

Visit the Golf Kingdom website for more information on the course.

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Wythenshawe Park Crazy Golf in Manchester

A look at the 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester.

We revisited the Crazy Golf course at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester while out on our daily exercise on Sunday.

The 9-hole layout was the 114th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour way back in July 2009.

Here's a look at each of the holes.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9

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Pitch & Putt at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester

A look at the Pitch & Putt course at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester.

We visited Wythenshawe Park in Manchester for our daily outdoor exercise on Sunday and as well as revisiting the abandoned Crazy Golf course there we saw the Pitch & Putt layout on our walk round the park and gardens.

The Pitch & Putt course at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester was the 949th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Related blog posts:
- Pitch & Putt
- Wythenshawe
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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Crazy Golf in Wales

A look at names for the game of minigolf in Wales.

We love visiting Wales and have visited most of the minigolf courses in the country. We were supposed to have a holiday there back in March and one of the towns we planned to visit was Porthmadog.

On our minigolf road-trip around Wales in 2009 we arrived in Porthmadog just as the three miniature golf courses there were closing so were looking forward to finally playing them this year.

Golff Giamocs

Last week I posted this question on our Facebook Page - where did we see this sign and what does Golff Giamocs mean?

Giamocs means a number of things, but doesn't necessarily translate directly as 'crazy'

Some of the responses were very interesting as they gave us even more meanings when translated into English as 'Giamocs' can mean tricks, gimmick, prank, stunt and a joke.

All quite apt ways to describe Crazy Golf.

Ways to say minigolf in Welsh

We've seen a number of names for the game on signs and scorecards at courses.

Adventure Golf = Golff Anturus

Crazy Golf = Golff Gwyllt

Crazy Golf = Golff Giamocs

Crazy Golf = Golff Gwallgof

Crazy Golf = Golff Gwirion

Minigolf = Minigolff

Mini Golf = Golff Bach

Mini Golf = Golff Mini

Miniature Golf = Maes Golff

Miniature Golf Course = Cwrs Golff Bach

Pitch and Putt = Golff Byr

Putting Green = Llain Bytio

Golf = Golff

Course = Cwrs

Bach = Small

Maes = Field

Giamocs = Tricks / Gimmick / Prank / Stunt / a joke

Gwallgof = Crazy

Gwirion = Stupid

Gwyllt = Wild

Types of minigolf courses

Since our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour began in September 2006 we have visited and played minigolf in a number of forms, names and guises.

Definitions of minigolf

There are a number of different names for the game of minigolf. While there are some design standards for courses, most would be regarded as 'fantasy' courses where the end result is limited only by imagination, budgets and building regulations.

You can see the common names for the game of putting in this Definitions of minigolf blog post.

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Crazy World of Minigolf Tour update - June 2020

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic we were closing in on visiting the final 40 courses of the original 600 we set out to play in 2006. We're also very close to hitting 1,000 course visits overall.

Before the lockdown hit and our out-of-home putting was paused we'd visited 948 courses since September 2006.

We'd had a strong start to the year and visited 20 courses in the first 20 days of 2020.

We went to Wythenshawe Park just over the border in Manchester for our daily outdoor exercise on Sunday 21st June and revisited the Crazy Golf we first played in 2009. While there we also visited the currently closed Pitch & Putt Miniature Golf course. That became course visit 949 and the first new course since the pandemic hit.

During the lockdown I've been taking a look at minigolf and competitive socialising in the time of coronavirus and social distancing. You can read more in my post at 'The Coronavirus (Ham & Egger) Files'.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour before and during the lockdown

Last new course played before the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown - CLUB GOLF pop-up minigolf in King's Cross, London. 25th February 2020.

Last course played before the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown - Junkyard Golf at First Street in Manchester. 9th March 2020.

Last course visited before the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown - The Lost Valley Adventure Golf at Amazonia in the Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton. 14th March 2020.

First course we visited on a daily walk that we saw with social distancing measures - Bruntwood Pitch & Putt in Cheadle Hulme. 23rd May 2020.

First previously played course visited during the Coronavirus pandemic - Crazy Golf at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester. 21st June 2020.

First new course visited during the Coronavirus pandemic - Pitch & Putt at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester. 21st June 2020.

Social distancing minigolf

We're interested in seeing examples of Covid-19 social distancing at minigolf courses around the world - from signage to scorecards we'd like to see them and share them.

If you're a course owner, minigolf club or player please do get in touch with your examples.

New courses opening

It's been good to hear that new miniature golf courses are still being planned, designed and built ready for the future.

We've found out about the following developments during lockdown.

• Construction is underway on Adventure Golf courses at Fairhaven Lake in Lytham St Annes.
• Work is nearing completion on the Woodland Adventure Golf course at China Fleet Country Club in Saltash, Cornwall.
• The Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club has been created in Bristol, with online Putt at Home activities taking place ahead of the building of a new Crazy Golf course.
• A new Ghetto Golf course could be heading to Sheffield.
• A new indoor Mini Golf venue is opening Birmingham.
• A new Mini Golf course has been installed at Sea Acres Holiday Park at Kennack Sands in Cornwall.
• A new Roxy Ball Room is being created at Withy Grove in Manchester, it'll be home to a minigolf course.
• And a new Adventure Golf course could be built in Andover, Hampshire.

If you know of any other new minigolf courses opening or are planning to create one please do let us know.

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