After months of waiting, a first of its kind crazy golf experience in a Suffolk town has now finally opened its doors to the public.
Sneaky Links is an inventive, boozy nine-hole course for adults only, at the former Revel Outdoors bike shop, in Brentgovel Street, Bury St Edmunds.
Myself and my colleague Tamika, were given an early preview inside the venue and the chance to try out the various challenges, with the aim of getting as many hole in one’s as possible.
Naturally, this was easier said than done – mostly…
Inside, the place is vibrant, eye-catching and it was actually quite nice to be part of a different change of scenery.
At the fully licensed bar, there are a range of alcoholic beverages including beers, ciders, spirits and Prosecco, and they all cost £5.
Alcohol free beer is £4 and you can have either a Sprite or a Coke Zero for £2.
Drinks can be taken with you on the course and there is also a large space next to the holes where you can stand, chat, and potentially discuss an absolute disasterclass of a putting performance.
As someone who regularly competes against friends and is a big fan of crazy golf, I liked the course on the whole.
Each of the nine holes is wacky or weird in a different way and present a mixture of challenges. However, I would’ve liked it to be clearer in terms of how you had to take on each hole.
This may of course been the intention though, and it’s more a fun, unpredictable experience as a result.
For those of you that consider yourself competitive, you may become slightly irritated if you end up dropping the maximum number of strokes allowed (6) on a hole, when you struggle to understand what the required tactic is.
After an underwhelming start, I will reveal I knocked in a hole in one and I began to feel more positive about my Sneaky Links debut.
However, I wasn’t out of the woods yet – and I’m not talking about Tiger.
A couple of 6’s brought me back down to earth and although I was frustrated things didn’t go my way, I admire the way the course is designed, which means even if you have an awful start, you still have every chance of beating your companions.
Hole five was particularly impressive as it involved a pool table, where you could also use a pool cue. A subtle, but nice creative touch.
The music played throughout the evening was also good with bangers from a mix of genres, including pop, rock and even a song like Golden Brown by The Stranglers. A delightful tune.
Sneaky Links, which is the brainchild of Ben Cunningham, who also runs escape room The Evidence Room in Bury, was mainly designed by Ben, but he said it gradually became more of a team effort and he now loves the way the course has turned out.
He said: “I was the main designer, but it became a collaborative approach as we went along because everyone pitched in, including the guys who were building it and the electricians, and it became way better than the original idea.
“It’s now super vibey and there’s really innovative golf holes.
“Our way of doing things is to see things laterally, come at things from a different angle with the way things work – that’s our angle on it.
“But we’ve married that with street art, a graffiti vibe, and a lot of neon – so hopefully there are going to be some Instagram worthy pictures.”
Ben will continue to run The Evidence Room, which next year will move from its base for the last five years in Risbygate Street, to above the crazy golf experience that has taken over the ground floor and eventually also the basement.
“It’s so exciting, we’ve been building up to this for a long time,” he said.
“This has been a plan that we’ve had for years and we always thought Bury was crying out for it. Everybody we speak to says the same thing and everybody is buzzing for it.
“Finally the doors are open, the people are getting what they want, and we get to see people get involved in something we’ve been dreaming up for however long now.”
The crazy golf in Brentgovel Street will be open seven days a week, midday to 10pm, until Christmas, and in the New Year it will have slightly different opening hours and will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Walk-ins are welcome, but the venue also takes advance booking, with the opportunity of pre-ordering drinks for a discounted price.