Unusual course review: Junkyard Golf Club in London

It's pretty dark in the underground venue, but follow the light and you'll find the hole

On most golf courses, finding an old car bumper or some discarded cereal packets would be cause for concern, but at Junkyard Golf Club in Shoreditch, London, it’s all part of the charm.

The three nine-hole courses put the ‘crazy’ in crazy golf, with slides, jacuzzis, pool tables, doghouses and treadmills to navigate.

The emphasis is on fun, with four on-site bars serving beer, wine, spirits and cocktails, and each hole provides suitable places to leave your drink while you play your shots.

The Junkyard Golf Club is designed to cater for golfers and non-golfers alike, so we took a group of guys with experience ranging from regular golfers to never having set foot on a proper course to see what they made of it…

Jack Everitt

I thought it was cool. There’s a lot of different stuff going on and every hole is different. It can get pretty busy, but as there’s three courses you can always jump on the one that isn’t as packed. I liked the hole that two of you can play at once – golf would be a lot better if you could kick your opponent’s ball out of the way whenever it comes near you.

Andy Flower

I’m terrible at golf, but I surprised myself by being absolutely brilliant at this. I mean, seriously excellent. I might quit my job and turn pro at crazy golf. I imagine there’s big bucks to be made in that.

The courses are great, and each one is different to the rest. I particularly enjoyed the hole where you go down a slide. 

Kevin McHale

I had a really good time. It would be the perfect place to bring a date or a big group of friends. You can play in a group of six, and it’s good fun to rib your friends when they’re still struggling to get it past the palm tree after the seventh attempt. 

Ian Towey

All the courses are great, but I’d like it if there were a few more moving parts. The treadmill obstacle was cool, but on some of the holes all the ‘features’ are actually off to the side, with no influence on how you play the hole. The one where you have to hit up a ramp and get the ball to land in a volcano was great, but pretty tricky.

Adam Beager

I had a great time, and I’d definitely go again. It was a bit worrying when balls would come flying past our heads from other holes, which happened a few times, but that little element of danger makes things more exciting.

Some of the holes are really hard, so it’s good that there’s an eight-shot limit to keep things moving. If people had to keep going until they managed to complete the hole, you’d be waiting a very long time.