After 'Hello Kitty' Afternoon Tea, we celebrated my birthday at Junkyard Golf, London. Junkyard Golf in London is located on Brick Lane and is a pop-up. The company Junkyard Golf have courses in Manchester, but this is their first in London. All items used in the course are manufactured from junk or finds from charity shops and boot/yard sales.
There are three courses in London: Pedro (Polluted paradise), Frank (Putt up or shut up), and Helga (In da house). Each course has nine holes. Cocktails and street food can be enjoyed between courses. During the day, the courses were not so busy, but this place is pretty busy in the evenings and after work.
Course: Frank:
This was the first course we played. The first hole was a shot with a mobility scooter. We then walked up a ramp and across a bridge for the second hole, which was potted around a creepy clown in a jacuzzi. The third hole was a little bit of a treat, and the first shot was putting the ball down a wooden slide, which when then had to slide down ourselves to finish the shot.
Hole four was entitled "who let the dogs out" and featured tacky plastic dogs and a dog house; the hole was up a ramp into the dog house and dropped out on the other side of the dog house. The fifth hole was also a bit different with the ball needing to go up a ramp and over a laid-out table and underneath a plastic crocodile where the hole was.
Hole six was very interesting. We came to a moving treadmill. Our shot was to get the ball over the moving treadmill to the opposite side where the hole was. It looked harder than it was, though. The seventh hole was a little bit of a gamble. The starting point was on top of a pool table, and depending on which pocket that the ball was put into, a different course through a series of pipes was made, with some pipes putting the ball at a better position to the hole than other ones.
Hole eight was a long strip with wigs and hair dryers on both ends. The ninth was like an old pin ball machine where the ball had to be shot up a very steep ramp. Depending on its course, it was pocketed into one of six holes with a different number on it. The directions told us to take three shots and take the lowest score from those three.
After completing Frank, we went to the bar "The Bunker" and had a cocktail before starting the next course. I had a cocktail named "Who's your Caddy". This was made of gin, strawberry, lemon and cranberry. It was very refreshing and fruity. The bloke had the "Golf Lundgren", which was rum, ginger beer, lime and apple.
Course: Helga:
This was the most adult-themed of the courses, and it may have been my favourite or a close second to Frank. The course started out very well with a hilarious motorboat occupied by three manequins dressed like street ladies. Oh, and the motorboat is being devoured by a Jaws-like shark. The course was played on/around the boat.
The second hole was a baleric wendy house, filled with plastic dolls in various poses (or states of unconsciousness) while a doorman keeps guard to ensure only invited ones can enter. This is a little like something out of a nightmare.
Keeping up with the theme of photographic designs for the holes, we moved to the third hole. It contained a large plastic cow with a sign "do not mount the cow". The hole had to be played underneath the cow and between its legs.
The fourth hole was accompanied by a video and had to be completed within 21 seconds or points would be deducted. (We just played the hole as normal, though.) The fifth was constructed with parts of a car, including the tyre that formed part of the course. The sixth hole also had the car theme and contained two working traffic lights.
After finishing those holes, we went into the final room, which was darker. The light shone onto flourescent paint of the last three holes. This little room isn't too large for three courses with larger teams.
After we completed the course, we decided to play the final one, which I did not book in advance. The course was located back at the front.
Course: Pedro
The first hole was the most challenging out of all of them. It went underneath a straw hut with masks and a plastic parrot on top. Luckily, the other holes were better. The second hole featured the back bumper and license plate of a car on a graffiti-wall, and the hole was played through a series of bricks. After this, the fourth hole was not too complex and featured a couple of Easter-Island-esque small statues.
The fourth hole brought us to disused washing machines, and the holes went on a ramp and up through one of the machines and out the other side to where the hole was.
The fifth featured limbs and limbo, and it encouraged players to limbo over a bamboo stick in order to play the hole up a ramp. The sixth hole, known as 'Steven Seagull', had an element of humour. The hole is played over the top of oil drums that are on top of seagulls via a long bridge. The ball must be played straight over the narrow bridge and through "Steve Seagull's" mouth.
The seventh hole was another standard course accommpanied with graffiti, and the eight featured one of those boards that you often see on the beach where you can poke your head through and get a photograph. This one featured "The Girl from Chipanema" and had a drawing of two larger women on it. The final hole was interesting in that it was a ramp leading up to a metal 'volcano' with the hole on one side. After we finished playing the hole, we both tried to get the ball to go into the volcano, but it was at the wrong angle. We determined it must be a fluke if the ball finds its way into the volcano instead of down one of the sides of the course.
Have you played at Junkyard Golf in London yet?
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