Shoreditch Balls Crazy Golf in London

There's a Crazy Golf course in Shoreditch.

Many thanks to our fellow minigolf enthusiasts at A Couple of Putts for letting us know there's a new(ish) miniature golf course in London that we didn't know about already!

Shoreditch Balls opened on Old Street in late 2021 and is a new venue to add to our Crazy World of Minigolf 'To Visit' list.

Check out the Shoreditch Balls website for more information.

I used to work in the Shoreditch area of Hackney and commuted into Old Street everyday back in the mid-noughties. Those were the days when there were next to no minigolf courses in the capital. Fast forward to 2023 and you can't move for places to have a putt. At my last count there were 37 minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf locations in the city.

A Back to the Future DeLorean in Salford - in 2020

I saw a Back to the Future DeLorean time machine three years ago today.

A Back to the Future DeLorean in Salford

Time flies! Or does it...

A Back to the Future DeLorean in Salford

What a different time 2023 is!

Minigolf did you knows...?

Did you know these things about minigolf?

• The world's first miniature golf course was set-up at St Andrews, Scotland in 1867.

Playing The Himalayas at St Andrews in April 2012

• James Barber opened the first minigolf course in the USA in 1916. The 'Lilliputian' miniature golf course was called 'Thistle Dhu' and located in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

• A Miniature Golf contest was part of the Olympic Games at the 1904 St Louis Games in the USA.

• Crazy Golf is 97 years old in 2023. The first course opened on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England in 1926.

At The Original Crazy Golf in Skegness in May 2015

• 1926 also saw the first artificial miniature golf course open in the USA. Garnet Carter opened the 'Tom Thumb' miniature golf course near Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

• The first National Tom Thumb Golf Championship took place on the 23rd October 1930.

• The first Putt-Putt brand miniature golf course was set-up by Don Clayton in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA in 1954.

What are your favourite minigolf facts, stats and did you knows?

Crazy Golf at Dreamland Margate

The Dreamland Margate theme park is re-opening for the 2023 season on Saturday 1st April.

Brand new for 2023 is a Crazy Golf course.

Visit the Dreamland Margate website for more information.

Treetop Adventure Golf at the Metrocentre in Gateshead

A new Treetop Adventure Golf venue is opening at the Metrocentre in Gateshead.

The latest location from Treetop Adventure Golf will be home to two indoor 18-hole minigolf courses.

You can find other Treetop Adventure Golf courses in Cardiff, Manchester, Leicester and Birmingham.

Visit the Treetop Adventure Golf website for more information.

Mini Golf at Wroxham Barns

A look at the Mini Golf course at Wroxham Barns in Norfolk.

My brother and his family played the Mini Golf course at Wroxham Barns in Norfolk yesterday.

The course was the 70th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour way back in August 2008!

Visit the Golden Putter Mini Golf and Wroxham Barns websites for more information on the course.

Scrapyard Golf at Nottingham Bowl

There's a new Scrapyard Golf course at Nottingham Bowl.

Nottingham Bowl is now home to an indoor crazy golf course.

Scrapyard Golf at Nottingham Bowl is a 9-hole indoor minigolf course.

Visit the Nottingham Bowl website for more information.

Thanks go to our friend and minigolf rival Jam Trubridge for letting us know about the venue.

It'll be another new miniature golf course to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

I visited the Scrapyard Golf course at Worcester Bowl last year.

Treetop Adventure Golf in Birmingham

There's a Treetop Adventure Golf venue at the Bullring in Birmingham.

Treetop Adventure Golf venue at the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham is home to two indoor layouts - Ancient Explorer and Tropical Trail.

Visit the Treetop Adventure Golf website for more information.

Crazy Pool at Roxy Ball Room in Birmingham

There's Crazy Pool at the new Roxy Ball Room in Birmingham.

It's a cross-between crazy golf and pool!

Roxy Ball Room Victoria Square opens tomorrow (Friday 10th February).

Check out the Roxy Ball Room website for more information.

Golf Fang in Digbeth, Birmingham

Golf Fang, not Ghetto Golf.

Ghetto Golf changed its name to Golf Fang since the last time I was in Birmingham and there's a new sign up outside their original venue at The Custard Factory in Digbeth.

Visit the Golf Fang website for more information.

Dystopia-on-Sea - Minigolf and Art

A look at a crazy piece of art.

We love the British seaside. Back in 2006 we got our first car and began travelling around the coast. That's where we caught the minigolf bug. Since then we've visited, and revisited, a lot of the UK's towns and resorts. From the big ones of Blackpool and Great Yarmouth, to classic spots like Southend-on-Sea, Cleethorpes and Skegness, to some lesser know places like Sutton-on-Sea and Maryport.

One of the seasides we visited on a road-trip back in 2008 Filey, North Yorkshire, where we played the 9-hole Ocean Drive Crazy Golf course.

Minigolf meets art

That course (and its BIG minigolf lobster) has been captured in a new piece of art by Leeds-based artist Jack Hurley (aka Loud Ribs) in his tongue-in-cheek, affectionate and characterful Rubbish Seaside 'Dystopia-on-Sea' collection.

You may recognise a couple of the characters in the piece too.

Check out the Loud Ribs website to see more of Jack's work.

You can find me depicted on a coaster (among other things) at the Fabrication shop in Leeds

Here's the blog post from our visit to the Ocean Drive Crazy Golf course in Filey. It was the 56th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Ocean Drive Crazy Golf course in Filey (June 2008)

The Ocean Drive Crazy Golf course on the seafront in Filey has actually been removed and is being replaced by a new layout, so it's doubly nice that the old layout has been captured for posterity in Jack's art.

We've now been to 1,012 miniature golf courses. 967 of them have been in the British Isles.

Crazy Golf plans for Burton

There are plans for a crazy golf course to be created in Burton, Staffordshire.

A new indoor crazy golf course could be opened as part of a new indoor entertainment centre at the old Burton Museum & Art Gallery in Burton, Staffordshire.

The venue would also be home to axe throwing, darts and escape rooms.

Adventure Golf at Upton Country Park in Poole

A new Adventure Golf course is being created at Upton Country Park in Poole, Dorset.

The 9-hole minigolf course will be opening in April this year.

Visit the Upton Country Park website for more information.

It'll be another new course to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

New Globalls Crazy Golf course in Brighton

Brighton minigolf venue Globalls has opened a new indoor crazy golf layout.

The new course - Zootopia - joins the Jurassic and Aquatica courses at its location at Brighton Marina.

Visit the Globalls website for more information.

We're yet to reach Globalls on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and look forward to one day playing their UV glow-in-the-dark crazy golf courses.

Crazier Golf at Boom: Battle Bar, Leeds

There's a Crazier Golf course at Boom: Battle Bar in Leeds.

Boom: Battle Bar in Leeds

Emily spotted the distinctive sign and colour scheme from afar as we were having a wander round Leeds city centre before heading for lunch at our favourite restaurant, The Oxford Place. 

We played Crazier Golf at the Boom: Battle Bar in Norwich in-between the various pandemic lockdowns

A look at a discarded scorecard

We NEVER throw our minigolf scorecards away!

The Rules of Crazier Golf

Visit the Boom: Battle Bar website for more information.

Junkyard Golf in Camden, London

A new Junkyard Golf venue is opening in Camden, London this year.

The team at Junkyard Golf are opening a new London crazy golf venue, with their largest site being created in Camden.

Visit the Junkyard Golf website for more information.

2023 British Minigolf Association Tournament Calendar

Details of the 2023 BMGA Tour events.

The British Minigolf Association has published the tournament calendar for the 2023 season.

Visit the British Minigolf Association website to find out more, and details of how you can join the BMGA.

Please note: events are subject to change. Further events may be added to the BMGA Tour schedule.

Adventure Golf at Legoland Windsor

A new Adventure Golf venue is being created at Legoland in Windsor.

Legoland Windsor was previously home to an outdoor crazy golf course, but it's long gone.

The new Adventure Golf venue at Legoland Windsor will be an indoor attraction containing four individually themed courses.

They will be more new courses for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We're big fans of Lego and have long thought a Lego-themed layout - both in real-life and toy form - would be a winning idea.

We never got the chance to play the old Mole-in-One Mini Golf at Legoland Windsor before it closed in 2013. However, it didn't have much, if any, Lego theming to it.

Visit the Legoland Windsor website for more information.

Mini Golf 'Days' in 2023

There are two 'miniature golf days' each year.

National Miniature Golf Day is always on the second Saturday in May. In 2023 that will be Saturday 13th May.

The other minigolf day, Miniature Golf Day, is always on the 21st September. In 2023 that will fall on a Thursday.

And then every Monday is 'Minigolf Monday'. #MinigolfMonday

Happy New Year

All the very best for 2023.