Crazy golf at times does get an unfair reputation for being an activity for the children in an uninspiring resort town. However, a visit to Swingers is very likely to change your opinion of this extremely sociable sport. Firstly, Swingers is an over 18 venue and situated in the financial district in the City of London in close proximity to the Gherkin.
As you walk into the space, you get an immediate sense, that this is an upscale, refined experience. The venue has been designed to resemble a 1920’s golf-club set in the pastoral English countryside. There is a 2 storey clubhouse with a gin terrace and 5 other cocktail-focused bars strategically situated around the venue like on the 10th hole. Cocktails mostly have golf-themed names like Fairway to Heaven or they have worked with leading brands like nude espresso for their espresso martini or Freixenet for icy sparkling cocktails.
Everything comes across as well-thought out at Swingers. Food is ordered at the bars, where you are given a numbered ticket and then you head to the communal dining area to await your food to be prepared. The dining area is informal and casual, yet you still feel like you are at an upscale establishment. They have a decent, varied options in terms of hip food stalls they work with: Pizza Pilgrims, Patty & Bun and Bubbledogs.
I tried the appropriately named Happy Gilmore from Bubbledogs which had their famous steamed milk bun with beef sausage with baby gem lettuce, bourbon carmelised onions, horseradish ketchup and cheddar cheese. The meat was firm and of premium quality, whilst the spongy bun was light and fluffy and the divine cheddar cheese was the perfect glue to combine the whole dish together.
They have 2 bespoke 9-hole golf courses, the lighthouse and the windmill. The lighthouse course which I tried had deceptively simple holes with a combination of 2-hole or 3-hole par courses. It does start off relatively gently at the beginning before ending with holes that involve incurring a penalty if your ball lands in the sand.
This is by far one of the best team-bonding experiences in London. I quite readily found myself high-fiving my fellow golfers when I managed to achieve that elusive hole-in-one. Bring your friends, bring your work colleagues, you are guaranteed to end up being even close to them by the time you leave Swingers.
baldwin@townfish.com