Stoke's abandoned crazy golf course reborn as Ace Padel's fifth club

A crazy golf course that had not been played on for a decade has a new lease of life. Ace Padel has opened its fifth club at Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke-on-Trent, putting padel courts on the old mini-golf site.

Opening day

Co-founder Jamie Reynolds and the Deputy Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Councillor Chris Robinson, officially opened the club on Saturday 17 October. Stoke-on-Trent City Council won planning permission for the scheme in May. It combines covered and open-air courts (two of each, according to the Stoke Sentinel's report on the planning approval) with a clubhouse in a converted shipping container.

Growing fast

Fenton takes the company to 20 courts across five sites. It joins Ace Padel's clubs in Cobridge and Milton in Stoke, plus sites in Lytham St Annes and Culcheth. The new club is creating 13 part-time jobs, taking the workforce past 70 people.

The expansion is backed by a £500,000 loan from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, managed by Frontier Development Capital. Next up are clubs in Coventry, Sefton and Morpeth, due to open early next year, and the company is aiming for 50 courts by the end of 2027.

Cheaper off-peak for locals

There is a deal for Active Stoke members too: off-peak sessions at Fenton Manor between 7am and 3pm cost £24 an hour rather than the usual £28.

Padel with purpose

Ace Padel calls its approach "padel with purpose". According to Frontier Development Capital, the company works with councils, community groups and charities, caters for wheelchair users and disabled players, and offers free or low-cost access to children from low-income families.

Turning a neglected corner of a council sports site into something people will actually use is a model plenty of other towns could copy. We'd rather see an old mini-golf course full of padel players than see it sit empty for another ten years.