The Swindlers on Tour
2022
Once again we struggled to get onto our chosen reciprocals with Tidworth Garrison unable to offer our preferred tee times and Marlborough under course maintenance. We therefore ended up playing Wrag Barn on the first and last days with a trip to Chippenham sandwiched in between. New boys Simon Lloyd and Andy Vittery joined the tour for the first time.
All three days were played in stifling >34°c heat requiring rehydrating with copious amounts of fluid during the round (and even more at the hotel)! The heat and drought meant that the fairways were mostly devoid of grass giving long drives and unusual bounces.
Paul Sims got off to a flyer winning the opening day with 38 points from Nigel Guillaume-Smith on 37 (on a count-back from Bryn Owen). The longest drive was won by Simon Lloyd with John Machin picking up the Nearest-the-Pin prize (yes, you are reading that correctly).
| Course: | Wrag Barn | Date: | 10-Aug-22 | |||
| NAME | Gross Score | Nett Score | Stableford Points | 2's Scored | Par 3 Points | Scratch Points |
| Paul Sims | 96 | 70 | 38 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Nigel Guillaume | 90 | 72 | 37 | 1 | 11 | 20 |
| Bryn Owen | 84 | 71 | 37 | 0 | 5 | 25 |
| Scott Browning | 92 | 72 | 36 | 0 | 9 | 16 |
| Trevor Vincent | 90 | 72 | 36 | 0 | 7 | 19 |
| Colin Price | 86 | 75 | 35 | 0 | 7 | 25 |
| Simon Hill | 98 | 75 | 33 | 0 | 9 | 15 |
| Simon Lloyd | 93 | 77 | 32 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Andy Vittery | 97 | 78 | 32 | 0 | 10 | 18 |
| Paul Knowles | 102 | 77 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 11 |
| Colin Reardon | 108 | 86 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 15 |
| Martin Thomas | 112 | 81 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| Tim Horan | 86 | 78 | 30 | 0 | 5 | 22 |
| Paul Budge | 98 | 79 | 29 | 0 | 9 | 14 |
| John Machin | 110 | 83 | 26 | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| Chris Daniel | 106 | 84 | 24 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
As usual, the first night at Stanton House saw copious amounts of alcohol consumed! Fortunately, we were seated in a private room this year so as not to disturb the other guests (which we probably still did!)
Colin Reardon won the Longest Drive (only because the big hitters missed the fairway!) and Paul Knowles won Nearest-the-Pin.
| Course: | Chippenham | Date: | 11-Aug-22 | |||
| NAME | Gross Score | Nett Score | Stableford Points | 2's Scored | Par 3 Points | Scratch Points |
| Paul Sims | 99 | 74 | 36 | 0 | 11 | 14 |
| Bryn Owen | 84 | 72 | 36 | 0 | 9 | 24 |
| Andy Vittery | 94 | 76 | 32 | 0 | 9 | 14 |
| Tim Horan | 87 | 79 | 31 | 0 | 9 | 23 |
| Nigel Guillaume | 94 | 77 | 31 | 0 | 9 | 14 |
| Chris Daniel | 103 | 81 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Simon Lloyd | 98 | 82 | 30 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| Colin Reardon | 109 | 88 | 29 | 0 | 4 | 13 |
| Martin Thomas | 111 | 81 | 28 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
| Scott Browning | 103 | 83 | 26 | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| Colin Price | 95 | 85 | 25 | 0 | 9 | 17 |
| Trevor Vincent | 103 | 86 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| Paul Knowles | 111 | 87 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| Simon Hill | 110 | 88 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| John Machin | 120 | 94 | 22 | 0 | 9 | 6 |
| Paul Budge | 111 | 93 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
Our usual early return to Stanton House gave us a chance to enjoy the evening weather and sit outside for a refreshing drink or two before dinner.
Most Swindlers wore Caribbean or Hawaiian shirts to dinner on Thursday.
Fun part of the evening was Tim H. forgetting he hadn't ordered Sirloin two nights running and tucking into Nigel's steak before realising.Tim's chosen Spaghetti Bolognese was then brought in - "Whose is this?" - asked the waiter - "Tim's"! I'll have it says Simon Lloyd. Then Simon's chicken is brought in concluding the round of musical meals so Nigel ends up tucking in to Simon's chicken! Half way through the evening Nigel asked his now infamous pick-up line to one of the male servers, "Are you alone tonight?" Once he realised the implications of what he'd said, Nigel lost it!
The final day saw us lose Chris Daniel due to family commitments and Scott Browning & Trevor Vincent (chauffeur) due to a medical emergency with Scott's mum-in-law.
As usual, the groups were formed of those with the most Swindle points after two days going out last. Simo was holding an 8-point lead over Bryn with Nigel G-S and Andy Vittery making up the final fourball.
Simo's stonking form continued, winning the final day with a staggering 44 points from Simon Hill on 40. Nigel Guillaume-Smith won the Longest Drive and Simon Hill the Nearest-the-Pin.
Simo won all three days (which is a first) to take the Swindle Tour Trophy with Bryn 17 points back in 2nd place. A brilliant performance Simo!
The most points on the par 3s was won by Andy Vittery with 27 points.
| Course: | Wrag Barn | Date: | 12-Aug-22 | |||
| NAME | Gross Score | Nett Score | Stableford Points | 2's Scored | Par 3 Points | Scratch Score |
| Paul Sims | 90 | 64 | 44 | 0 | 9 | 19 |
| Bryn Owen | 88 | 75 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 20 |
| Andy Vittery | 90 | 71 | 37 | 0 | 8 | 18 |
| Simon Lloyd | 90 | 73 | 35 | 0 | 6 | 20 |
| Simon Hill | 91 | 68 | 40 | 0 | 12 | 18 |
| Tim Horan | 84 | 75 | 33 | 0 | 6 | 24 |
| Colin Price | 85 | 74 | 34 | 0 | 5 | 23 |
| Colin Reardon | 96 | 74 | 34 | 0 | 5 | 19 |
| Nigel Guillaume | 103 | 85 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| Martin Thomas | 112 | 81 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| Paul Knowles | 106 | 81 | 28 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Paul Budge | 96 | 77 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| John Machin | 117 | 90 | 23 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
FINAL POSITIONS
| Total | Ave | Swindle | ||
| Rounds | S'ford | S'ford | Pts | |
| Paul Sims | 3 | 118 | 39.3 | 54 |
| Bryn Owen | 3 | 106 | 35.3 | 37 |
| Andy Vittery | 3 | 101 | 33.7 | 33 |
| Nigel Guillaume-Smith | 3 | 93 | 31.0 | 30 |
| Simon Lloyd | 3 | 97 | 32.3 | 29 |
| Simon Hill | 3 | 96 | 32.0 | 26 |
| Colin Price | 3 | 94 | 31.3 | 25 |
| Colin Reardon | 3 | 94 | 31.3 | 24 |
| Tim Horan | 3 | 94 | 31.3 | 23 |
| Scott Browning | 2 | 62 | 31.0 | 20 |
| Trevor Vincent | 2 | 61 | 30.5 | 17 |
| Martin Thomas | 3 | 87 | 29.0 | 17 |
| Paul Knowles | 3 | 84 | 28.0 | 14 |
| Chris Daniel | 2 | 55 | 27.5 | 12 |
| Paul Budge | 3 | 78 | 26.0 | 9 |
| John Machin | 3 | 71 | 23.7 | 5 |