Guest Blog post by Richard Gottfried of The Ham and Egger Files.
You may be looking ahead to getting out and about a bit more and if you want to make up for lost time on the minigolf course. Here are our top tips for finding courses near you and making the most of a crazy golfing road-trip. These come courtesy of minigolf supremo and tireless crazy golf course finder Richard Gottfried. See the link at the bottom of this post to visit his amazing minigolf blog chronicling nearly a THOUSAND crazy golf course visits!
Start at home
Before your trip it’s a wise manoeuvre to map out all of the courses at your final destination. There are a number of ways to find out the best places to play.
Google is your friend
Get online and search your target location for courses to play. Remember though that not all courses will have a website or online presence so we will often search on Google Maps and Street View to find hidden places to play.
Are you keen to play all flavours of miniature golf, are you only looking to play newer adventure golf layouts, or do you prefer traditional seaside crazy golf? You’ll want to input the right keywords to get the best results. Sometimes ‘minigolf’ is used to mean Pitch & Putt courses or Putting Greens. If they’re not your cup of tea then you’ll need to be more specific if you’re looking for pirates, dinosaurs or jungle-themes.
You can also check out our blog and social media to keep up-to-date with new course openings and tips on where to play.
A classic way to plan
As mentioned, not all courses have an online presence, or if they do, it might not always appear high-up in the pages of online search results so don’t forget a classic way to plan your UK getaway is to request a brochure from a resort or town’s local tourist information centre. A lot of the courses we’ve found are those listed on maps of seasides.
The journey
Getting there is half the fun right?
Your end point may be one of those minigolfing hot-spots such as Skegness, Hastings, Great Yarmouth, Cleethorpes, Scarborough or Blackpool but there is a very good chance that you’ll be passing by any number of the new breed of inland courses en route. Why not plan a couple of stops on the way…?
Staying the course
Some hotels are home to crazy golf and putting courses and if you’re keen to maximise your playing time then this might be an option for you.
Most holiday camps and caravan parks – and some camp sites – are also home to a minigolf course. These are sometimes only open to people staying at the site, but we have found some excellent courses that are open to day guests and the public.
Pay-to-enter
You may also find that there are minigolf courses in pay-to-enter attractions in the area you are staying on holiday. Farm parks, model villages, zoos, maize mazes and other places can often be the location of a course.
Late night games
The days of courses closing when the sun goes down are gone and a number of courses now have floodlights installed to allow play to go on long into the night.
There are also a lot more indoor options now compared to when our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour began in 2006. Back then there were just two indoor courses in the whole of the UK. There are now more than 100 indoor venues to play. A real bonus if the British summer weather doesn’t quite deliver.
If you play any fun or quirky courses be sure to let us know about them!
