The firm behind a popular Crazy Golf venue has announced the shock closure of their Edinburgh venue.
Fore Play Crazy Golf, who mix the feel of a fun bar with a crazy golf experience, broke the shock news on their Facebook page that they would be closing their Picardy Place venue, after struggling to find a permanent home.
Posting on their official page, they wrote: “It’s no secret that we were unsuccessful in our bid to move to our new permanent home in the Grassmarket, which should have been completed by the end of this year.
“We were deeply disappointed that our proposal and subsequent appeal was rejected, and now unfortunately the time has come where we must leave our current venue."
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Speaking about the closure, co-Founder Craig Neilson explained that the site was only ever supposed to be a pop-up venue that was supposed to last a few months.
He added: “It’s fair to say we stayed a bit longer than that, due to the issues we had in securing the approval for our Grassmarket move. But we always knew that we had to be out at the beginning of 2023”.
The 9-hole pop-up course at Picardy Place (across from the new St James Quarter) has welcomed more than 65,000 putters since doors opened in October 2020, serving up exciting cocktails and local street food.
But the business needs to vacate the premises in early 2023 to make way for a new hotel development - leaving Fore Play Crazy Golf without somewhere in the city to call home.
The company was started by Craig and Kasia Neilson in 2018 and employs 16 permanent team members in Edinburgh, who they pay a living wage to.
The team has promised to make their final few months at Picardy Place memorable, inviting customers to tee off one last time with the launch of their special festive offering, which includes live music, board games, retro movie screenings and seasonal cocktails, with packages available online.
Craig remains tight-lipped about what’s next for the brand, but Fore Play fans to “watch this space”.
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