The Swindlers on Tour

2026
Two new course were added to the tour this year - Upavon and West Berks - as we couldn't get on to either Tidworth Garrison or Marlborough.

Twenty Swindlers braved the heatwave conditions with temperatures exceeding 30c each day and all three courses having fairways completely bone dry!

Lunch of Ham, Egg, Chips & peas preceded the round in stifling heat! The group teed off in handicap order on the opening short par 4. After the first hole the course got very quirky and in places virtually unplayable with the sloping fairways sending the ball into ridiculous places. On the 9th hole boards had been placed along the left-hand side of the fairway to prevent tee shots falling into an abyss! A local rule was in place to allow a free drop for any balls ending up against the boards!

Simon Lloyd tamed the heat and the course to post an impressive 40 points with Roger Keen in second place with 35 points.

Phil Hames picked up the longest drive prize and Les Bygrave got nearest the pin.

The pterodactyl motif originates from the historic Upavon Aerodrome station insignia, symbolizing early flight.
Any ball short of the bunker rolled way back down the hill!

The group got back to Stanton House just as a partial eclipse was at its best!

Course:	Upavon			Date:	12-Aug
NAME	Gross Score	Nett Score	Stableford Points	2's Scored	Par 3 Points
Simon Lloyd	83	68	40	0	12
Roger Keen	95	72	35	0	10
John Machin	110	75	34	0	10
Simon Cook	92	75	34	0	9
Phil Hames	82	76	34	0	9
Tim Horan	85	76	33	0	9
Paul Reardon	85	74	33	0	9
Les Bygrave	80	75	32	0	9
Kevin Poore	95	78	32	0	9
Scott Browning	101	78	31	0	8
Martin Thomas	118	82	30	0	8
Nigel Guillaume-Smith	100	81	29	1	8
Brad Bygrave	91	79	29	1	8
Adam Witherington	101	88	28	0	8
Colin Price	98	86	27	0	8
Andy Vittery	107	89	25	0	7
Paul Budge	101	87	25	0	7
Paul Sims	106	84	24	0	7
Colin Reardon	110	91	23	0	6
Simon Hill	106	88	23	0	6

Back to Stanton House for pre-dinner drinks, dinner and post-dinner drinks!

As usual on day 2 we returned to Wrag Barn. More fun and games on the par 3 5th as those with a golfing ego went to clear the pond.... and many failed (guilty as charged!)

Paul Sims posted an impressive 38 points to win the day from Colin Reardon on 36 (on a count-back from Paul Reardon and Tim Horan).

The Nearest the Pin competition on the 3rd hole was won by Nigel Guillaume-Smith and Brad Bygrave won the Longest Drive on the 15th.

Course:	Upavon			Date:	12-Aug
NAME	Gross Score	Nett Score	Stableford Points	2's Scored	Par 3 Points
Paul Sims	92	70	38	0	10
Colin Reardon	97	76	36	0	7
Paul Reardon	83	72	36	1	7
Tim Horan	84	74	36	0	6
Simon Cook	96	79	34	0	6
Phil Hames	85	79	33	0	5
Colin Price	96	83	32	0	5
Kevin Poore	94	77	31	0	7
Les Bygrave	85	80	30	1	9
Scott Browning	106	83	29	0	6
Nigel Guillaume-Smith	102	83	29	1	10
Brad Bygrave	96	84	28	0	3
Roger Keen	109	87	27	0	8
Simon Hill	112	92	26	0	5
Andy Vittery	107	88	26	0	8
Adam Witherington	96	83	25	0	7
Paul Budge	105	91	21	0	5
Simon Lloyd	100	87	21	0	4
John Machin	128	93	19	0	7
Martin Thomas	127	90	19	0	5

A short trip back to Stanton House for drinks and dinner - wearing now traditional loud Hawaiian shirts!

Off to West Berks GC for the first time on the final day. A very interesting course and although dry, a far better test than Upavon. General opinion was positive to return in the future.

As usual, the groups were formed of those with the most Swindle points after two days going out last. Simon Cook was leading the pack with Phil Hames, Paul Reardon and Tim Horan making up the final four.

Paul Reardon continued his form from the previous two days while the other three in the final group tailed off (perhaps Phil Hames celebrated his birthday the previous night a little too well!) Paul's 37 points (level-par front 9!) won the day with Colin Reardon in second place on 34.

The nearest-the-pin marker wasn't put out on the chosen hole (11th) and ended up on the long and difficult par-3 17th. Colin Reardon got close to the green (just off) so signed the marker but Simon Cook managed to get 3" closer (but still off the green!) - no other Swindler managed to get on the dance floor so Simon took the NTP prize! Tim Horan won the Longest Drive.

Course:	West Berks			Date:	14-Aug
NAME	Gross Score	Nett Score	Stableford Points	2's Scored	Par 3 Points
Paul Reardon	82	72	37		23
Colin Reardon	95	77	34		20
Scott Browning	97	76	33		18
Roger Keen	100	79	33		17
Simon Hill	96	80	32		16
Martin Thomas	113	78	32		15
Colin Price	93	79	31		14
Kevin Poore	113	79	30		13
John Machin	92	81	30		12
Tim Horan	88	81	30		11
Nigel Guillaume-Smith	98	81	30		10
Simon Lloyd	93	81	28		9
Adam Witherington	98	87	27		8
Les Bygrave	94	91	27		7
Andy Vittery	102	85	26		6
Paul Sims	104	86	25		5
Simon Cook	105	90	22		4
Paul Budge	108	95	21		3
Phil Hames	101	95	19		2
Brad Bygrave	128	118	14		1

Paul Reardon’s consistency over the three days saw him win the Tour Trophy with 55 Swindle points with Roger Keen taking second place on 45 points. Tim Horan was third on 43 points.

A screw-up with the scoring spreadsheet meant that Paul Reardon was awarded the prize for the most points on the par 3s (23 points) but it should have been Nigel Guillaume-Smith who posted 25 points. Spreadsheet now fixed!

FINAL POSITIONS

		Total	Ave	Swindle	Par 3
	Rounds	S'ford	S'ford	Pts	Pts
Paul Reardon	3	106	35.3	55	23
Roger Keen	3	95	31.7	45	22
Tim Horan	3	99	33.0	43	21
Colin Reardon	3	93	31.0	42	20
Scott Browning	3	93	31.0	40	20
Kevin Poore	3	93	31.0	39	22
Simon Cook	3	90	30.0	37	23
Simon Lloyd	3	89	29.7	35	22
Phil Hames	3	86	28.7	33	18
John Machin	3	83	27.7	33	19
Les Bygrave	3	89	29.7	32	25
Colin Price	3	89	29.7	32	21
Paul Sims	3	87	29.0	31	19
Nigel Guillaume-Smith	3	88	29.3	29	20
Martin Thomas	3	81	27.0	26	19
Simon Hill	3	81	27.0	24	23
Adam Witherington	3	80	26.7	20	22
Brad Bygrave	3	71	23.7	18	16
Andy Vittery	3	77	25.7	17	20
Paul Budge	3	67	22.3	11	14