#5 Arnold Palmer's Putting Course, Great Yarmouth

Type: Crazy
Price: £3.50 each
Duration: 30 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5

CLOSED - REPLACED BY CASTAWAY ISLAND

Review:
I'm not exactly what the link to Arnold Palmer is; Great Yarmouth isn't exactly an international golf hot spot after all... However, this is a very neat little crazy golf course. It's not really the most crazy of crazy golf courses you're likely to come across, but it is called a putting course and it's excellent for practise.




All the holes featured classic crazy golf obstacles such as ramps, posts and a water mill! The odd thing about the obstacles though was that most of them weren't very obstacley.

As you can see on the photo to the left, the 17th and 18th holes have posts and rocks, but they're not actually blocking anything and you simply have to putt straight through. It was the same on most holes which meant the course as a whole didn't have much variation.

 We still enjoyed it as it was a beautiful day and the course was tidy, well maintained with a good surface.




Result:
Neither of us had a great round, with Debs incredibly narrowly missing at least 3 holes in one. On a par 36 course (All the holes were Par 2, boo) Debs scored 51 and I hit 45.

Another obstacle that just needs a straight putt

One ball got stuck on a ramp, poor design!

My single hole in one!

#4 Smuggler's Cove, Barry Island

Type: Adventure
Price: £3 each
Duration: 35 minutes
Rating: 4/5

Review:
This course is a favourite of ours, though it has to be said it's because it's closest to us! On this occasion we were joined by our friend Rick, who is also a keen mini-golfer. This is a classic pirate-themed adventure golf course, though quite why there are pirate themed mini golf courses in the first place, we're just not sure.

This is a fun 12 hole course, but not particularly challenging. The theming is very good, and it includes treasure chests, waterfalls and even the front of a ship! It was very well maintained, with a nice clean surface and no bunkers or stone borders which can easily spoil the course if it's not kept tidy.

However, the main problem with the course was the lack of variety. In general the holes are well designed but there aren't that many obstacles to negotiate, and all the walls are solid so you can bounce the ball around quite easily. It's still a good fun course above the promenade overlooking a big beach. The ice-cream's good too!






Result:
A disappointing round for Debs, ending with a 'Gentleman's Draw' for Rick and Stu on -5.

#3 Sandbanks Crazy Golf

Type: Crazy
Price: approx £4
Duration: 35-40 minutes
Rating: 4.5/5

Review:

It was a slightly miserable blustery day on one of the most expensive places to buy a house in the world, Sandbanks. We found a very well designed course over many levels with 18 holes. This was a crazy golf course, with classic pipes, ramps and bumps to negotiate.


 We found this very enjoyable, and the poor weather meant we were almost alone on the course and could go at our own pace. There was a good variation in the holes and obstacles and our scorecards show a mixture of straightforward and tricky holes.

It was at the upper end of courses in terms of pricing at £4, but for a very well maintained 18 holes we decided it was worth it.

The only reason this course doesn't get 5/5 is holes 16 and 17 which we both maxed out and couldn't complete. We felt they were a bit unrealistic and spoiled the flow of the game.







Result:
Two holes-in-one from Stu couldn't stop a stonking victory for Debs! She won by a huge 7 shots.