18 years of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Celebrating 18 years of our minigolf adventures.

We played the Victory Trail course at Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea, Hampshire on this day in 2006 and at the end of our 9-hole round on Saturday 30th September I won a free game by firing the cannon on the lucky last hole!

My free game card from Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea - never used!

We've been putting on our crazy golfing adventures ever since.

Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea

When our travels began in 2006 there were around 600 courses in the UK. There are now more than 1,000, and there are lots of new places to play the game opening all the time. Several courses have closed over the years, while others have been refurbished, redeveloped or completely transformed into new layouts.

All the of the changes and updates means our minigolf quest to visit every course is becoming never-ending! When we originally set off to visit as many courses as possible the target list was 600 in the British Isles. We've still got around 50 of those original courses to visit.

We've now been to 1,065 courses overall in the last 18 years, with 1,007 of those locations in the British Isles.

Together with my brother Christopher - a charter member of the tour - and his family, we've visited a total of 1,112 courses.

Our travels have been recognised by the Guinness World Records, and I'm a record holder for "Most miniature golf courses visited" (902 at the time of going to press). Check out the Guinness World Records 2024 book to see a lot more minigolf records too!

You can see all of the courses we've visited on this Crazy World of Minigolf Tour list.

Free Blockbuster Las Vegas at Sohn vintage shop in Las Vegas

A visit to the 'Free Blockbuster' in Las Vegas.

Emily made a visit to the Free Blockbuster 'pop up' video and DVD exchange/library/dispenser at Sohn vintage shop on her recent trip to Las Vegas.

The first Free Blockbuster was created in 2019 and since then more have been created in the USA, Canada, and one in the UK.

It's been fun following the Free Blockbuster movement's journey, and it'll be interesting to see where they appear next.

Emily took some DVDs from our collection and swapped them out for three wrestling VHS tapes! She managed to get a Free Blockbuster sticker and one for Sohn too.

Wrestling goodness from the USA and Japan!

A happy customer of Free Blockbuster Las Vegas and Sohn

Hopefully I'll get to visit Las Vegas again in the future. It'd be superb to see the Free Blockbuster stall in person - and see what's new there to swap. The people at the store also showed Emily the vintage wrestling t-shirts they had in stock.

Check out the Sohn and Free Blockbuster websites for more information. And check out Free Blockbuster Las Vegas on Instagram.

As well as being a wrestling fan I'm a fan of ALF and Emily bought a vintage ALF keyring and badge for my collection at Sohn!

An ALF keyring, badge, and a Sohn sticker

Sohn seen from across the street in the Las Vegas heat!

Check out the blog posts about our travels to former Blockbuster video shops.

Crazy Golf at Higher Bebington Park

The Crazy Golf course at Higher Bebington Park in Birkenhead on the Wirral peninsula is being renovated.

Crazy Golf at Higher Bebington Park

The team at Love Bebington have started the refurbishment of the abandoned Crazy Golf course at Higher Bebington Park in Birkenhead.

We visited the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in July 2017.

Hole 3

The 15-hole course is a unique layout and we thought it looked like it'd be very interesting to play.

Hole 4 is a long one

Half way up hole 4

The green of hole 4

The course became the 747th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Hole 5 - a dogleg

Good luck to the Love Bebington team with their efforts on the Crazy Golf course at Higher Bebington Park.

It'll be nice to revisit the course and actually have a game there in the future.

Check out the Love Bebington pages on Facebook and Instagram to follow the progress of the course refurb.

Videos of the course in 2017:
- Crazy Golf at Higher Bebington Recreation Ground 1
- Crazy Golf at Higher Bebington Recreation Ground 2
- Crazy Golf at Higher Bebington Recreation Ground 3
- Crazy Golf at Higher Bebington Recreation Ground 4

A wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man at Tom's Watch Bar in Las Vegas, Nevada

Spotting a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Emily saw this wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man at Tom's Watch Bar on her recent trip to Las Vegas.

Back in May Tom's Watch Bar had a different wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man promoting the venue.

A wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man at Sinwave in Las Vegas, Nevada

Spotting a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Emily saw this wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man outside Sinwave on her recent trip to Las Vegas.

It's the first skeleton airdancer we've seen.

Neon Crazy Golf at Game On in Sittingbourne, Kent

A new indoor Neon Crazy Golf course has opened in Sittingbourne town centre.

The 18-hole Crazy Golf course is now open at Game On in Sittingbourne.

In a twist on 'normal' crazy golf, half of the course is played with a putter on the ground, while the other half is crazy pool and played with a cue.

Check out the Game On Facebook page for more information.

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

KISS Mini Golf Indoor Miniature Golf in Las Vegas, Nevada

A visit to the KISS Mini Golf course at The Rio in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Emily has ticked off another course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour with a visit to KISS World featuring KISS Mini Golf and KISS World Museum at The Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

KISS Mini Golf at The Rio became the 1,065th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

Emily previously played the KISS by Monster Mini Golf course in 2014 in its previous incarnation at Paradise Road in Las Vegas. That course was the 580th visited on our travels.

You can find the KISS Mini Golf course at KISS World at The Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Visit the KISS Mini Golf website for more information.

Adventure Island Golf in Mundesley, Norfolk

A look back at our visit to the Adventure Island Golf course in Mundesley, Norfolk.

Back in May 2014 Charter Member of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Christopher Gottfried let us know about the Adventure Golf course in Mundesley, Norfolk.

Adventure Island Golf in Mundesley

We finally got to visit and play the course in July 2016.

Playing another brilliant course on our travels

The layout became the 406th played and 692nd visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

It's a lovely setting for a game

Adventure Island Golf is a great 12-hole course, with plenty of tricky obstacles and some very nice theming. And for a 12-hole course there were certainly a lot of themes going on! With Pirates, Cannibals, Dinosaurs, Jungles and more.

The 11th and 12th were tricky indeed

 

The island that gave the Adventure Golf course its name

Emily playing another great tee shot

In our match-up Emily won with a 34 to my 37 - getting off to a flying start with a great hole-in-one on the first.

Putting past some dino eggs

A round of minigolf at the course costs £3.50 for adults and it's worth a play.

On the last hole

Check out Adventure Island Golf Mundesley on Facebook for more information.

Crazy Golf at the Caban in Pendine Sands

The seaside town of Pendine Sands has a new Crazy Golf course.

There's a new Crazy Golf course located at the Caban in Pendine Sands, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

Find out more on the Caban website.

It's another new course for us to check out on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

New minigolf course in Bideford

There's a new minigolf course in Bideford, Devon.

The course is a 9-hole outdoor layout.

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

High Lodge Adventure Golf in Brandon, Suffolk

A look back at our visit to the Adventure Golf course at High Lodge in Brandon, Suffolk.

We visited the Adventure Golf course at High Lodge in Brandon, Thetford Forest, Suffolk back in December 2022.

The 18-hole woodland-themed outdoor adventure golf course at the forest centre was the 1,010th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the Forestry England website for more information on the High Lodge site.

The outdoor Adventure Golf course is from the team behind Dinton Adventure Golf in Wokingham, Wardown Adventure Golf in Luton, Lightwater Country Park in Surrey and Victoria Park Adventure Golf in Newbury.

Mr Mulligans in Newcastle

Looking back at our visit to play at Mr Mulligans Space Golf course in Newcastle upon Tyne.

On Miniature Golf Day 2018 we swung by the Mr Mulligans Space Golf course in Newcastle upon Tyne to play the three courses at the indoor minigolf venue.

There are three 9-hole courses on the adventure through Mr Mulligans Space Golf, starting at the 'Inventors Hangar', then moving through the 'Cosmic Storm' onto the 'Lunar Crash'.

The theming at the course is really well done, with my favourite section being the Moon.

We've played several Mr Mulligans Adventure Golf courses on our travels, with the three layouts in Newcastle becoming the 841st, 842nd and 843rd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. They were the 496th, 497th and 498th courses played.

The latest two Mulligans Adventure Golf course we played were in Milton Keynes last October where we enjoyed rounds on the 'Enchanted Forest' and 'Underwater Kingdom' 12-hole indoor courses at the Theatre District venue.

You can find Mulligans minigolf courses in Basildon, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cheltenham, Hemel Hempstead, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Norwich, Sidcup, Stevenage, Tonbridge and Worcester.

Visit the Mulligans website for more information on the brand's courses.

Coeliac UK - What advice would you give to someone newly diagnosed with Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac UK, the charity for people with Coeliac Disease, recently asked the question "What advice would you give to someone newly diagnosed with Coeliac Disease?" on their social media accounts.

It's been interesting seeing the responses to the question and I hope it's helpful to newly diagnosed people.

Having been diagnosed in 2008 and living a 100% gluten free life since, I gave the following reply to the question:

If you have a local group then I recommend joining it to find out more and speak to other Coeliacs.

When I was first diagnosed in 2008 I joined my local group - Beds and Mid Herts - and it was brilliant to meet other Coeliacs with a wide range of experience and knowledge. Some had been diagnosed for many years, while others were newbies like me. It was great to be able to go out for meals and find out things to avoid and top tips.

It's important you form your own approach to the 100% gluten free diet as everyone is different. There are some things other Coeliacs would eat or drink that I wouldn't go anywhere near.

And always celebrate the little things (I found a lot of reduced price gluten free cakes at The Co-Op today, so will be scoffing them for the next few days 😋).

Check out the Coeliac UK website and follow them across social media to find out more.

Holey Molies Mini Golf in Skelton-in-Cleveland, near Saltburn-by-the-Sea

A look back at our visit to play the Holey Molies Crazy Golf course in Skelton-in-Cleveland.

In September 2018 we reached another BIG minigolf milestone as we played at our 500th miniature golf course since our travels began in September 2006.

The 18-hole indoor Mini Golf course at Holey Molies Leisure Complex in Skelton-in-Cleveland, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire was the 845th visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 807th in the British Isles.

It was brilliant to finally play the Holey Molies minigolf course as we'd heard so much about it since it opened.

One of the main things we'd heard was that the Mini Golf course at Holey Molies Leisure Complex boasted the 'World's Longest Mini Golf Hole' - measuring in at 264 feet!

Hole 1 - the 'longest minigolf hole in the world'. You had to start off upstairs, teeing-off up a ramp and then the ball is carried along the long viaduct before being deposited on the green

Emily holing out on the first  

 

We'll need to revisit the course one day as it's undergone several updates and changes over the years. They also create a festive-theme for Christmas, that'd be fun to play.

The winner of our match got a very nice Holey Molies Mini Golf medal

Check out the Holey Molies Leisure Complex website for more information on how the course looks now, details of upcoming events, opening times and prices.

Holey Molies even had its own beer!