The Swindlers on Tour
2017
With ex-Swindler Chris Daniel replacing Tanzania-bound Colin Price, the rest of the previous year's Swindlers rejoined battle once again in Wiltshire from 16-18 August.
The excellent Tidworth Garrison was the opening course played
The cards were drawn for the fourballs and off we went. The weather was much kinder than 2016 with temperatures in the low 20's. As we played off the yellow tees this year the scores were a little better with Tony Malyon again showing his liking of Tidworth to post a winning score of 39 points from Paul Sims on 37 (on a count-back from Scott Browning).
John Machin's huge drive up the 15th won him the Longest Drive prize and Richard Taunton took the prize for nearest-the-pin.
TIDWORTH GARRISON SCORES
| Course: | Tidworth Garrison | Date: | 16-Aug-17 | |||
| NAME | Gross Score | Nett Score | Stableford Points | 2's Scored | Par 3's | Scratch Score |
| Tony Malyon | 88 | 70 | 39 | 1 | 8 | 22 |
| Paul Sims | 92 | 71 | 37 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| Bryn Owen | 81 | 69 | 37 | 0 | 8 | 25 |
| Graham Ottaway | 99 | 76 | 32 | 0 | 9 | 15 |
| Scott Browning | 97 | 76 | 32 | 0 | 8 | 13 |
| John Machin | 110 | 84 | 29 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| Trevor Vincent | 100 | 81 | 28 | 0 | 8 | 12 |
| Martin Thomas | 112 | 86 | 27 | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| Richard Taunton | 103 | 85 | 26 | 0 | 9 | 11 |
| Colin Reardon | 104 | 83 | 26 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| Chris Daniel | 104 | 89 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| Michael Schurch | 123 | 95 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
After the golf we all headed off again to the wonderful Stanton House Hotel.
A far more mellow drinking evening than 2016 had everyone raring to go on Day 2.
Day 2 was at Marlborough Golf Club and on arrival Colin Reardon realised he'd left his golf holdall at Tidworth Garrison (Yes, I know, leaving a holdall in an ex-army facility is not a great idea!) However, it was still where it was left and a rush back to Marlborough behind a Combine Harvester doing 10 miles per hour left it a bit tight!
Scott Browning's 34 points won the day from Colin Reardon on 32.
Bryn won the nearest-the-pin prize (for the 2nd year running) and Tony won the longest drive!
MARLBOROUGH SCORES
| Course: | Marlborough | Date: | 17-Aug-17 | |||
| NAME | Gross Score | Nett Score | Stableford Points | 2's Scored | Par 3's | Scratch Points |
| Scott Browning | 101 | 80 | 34 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| Colin Reardon | 97 | 76 | 32 | 0 | 10 | 11 |
| Tony Malyon | 100 | 84 | 31 | 0 | 11 | 17 |
| Trevor Vincent | 100 | 81 | 30 | 0 | 11 | 13 |
| Martin Thomas | 112 | 86 | 27 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| Bryn Owen | 104 | 92 | 27 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
| Graham Ottaway | 110 | 87 | 27 | 0 | 11 | 11 |
| John Machin | 116 | 90 | 26 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| Richard Taunton | 103 | 85 | 26 | 0 | 10 | 12 |
| Paul Sims | 112 | 92 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Chris Daniel | 114 | 98 | 22 | 0 | 9 | 11 |
| Michael Schurch | 126 | 96 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 5 |
The all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet was thoroughly enjoyed by all again! The Karate Kid's Mr Mihaji look-alike took Richard Taunton's interest!
Day 3 at Ogbourne Downs and the weather started rather cold and drizzly, but nowhere near as bad as 2016's torrential downpours!. The four-balls were selected based upon Swindle points with the lowest scorers going out as the first group and the four with the highest points (and most likely to win the tour) went out in the final group.
The day was won by Trevor Vincent with 35 points on a count-back from John Machin. Richard Taunton won the nearest-the pin prize (on the 17th hole - above) and Tony Malyon the longest drive! Graham Ottaway picked up the prize for the most points scored on the par 3's over the three days with 31 and Tony Malyon in second place with 28.
OGBOURNE DOWNS SCORES
| Course: | Ogbourne Downs | Date: | 18-Aug-17 | |||
| NAME | Gross Score | Nett Score | Stableford Points | 2's Scored | Par 3's | Scratch Points |
| Trevor Vincent | 93 | 74 | 35 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| John Machin | 98 | 72 | 35 | 0 | 8 | 11 |
| Martin Thomas | 99 | 73 | 34 | 0 | 8 | 12 |
| Colin Reardon | 95 | 75 | 32 | 0 | 9 | 13 |
| Paul Sims | 97 | 76 | 32 | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| Bryn Owen | 96 | 84 | 28 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Tony Malyon | 102 | 86 | 27 | 0 | 9 | 13 |
| Scott Browning | 104 | 85 | 26 | 0 | 7 | 11 |
| Richard Taunton | 113 | 95 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| Graham Ottaway | 119 | 96 | 22 | 0 | 11 | 8 |
| Michael Schurch | 136 | 104 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Chris Daniel | 121 | 104 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
FINAL STANDINGS
| Total | Ave | Swindle | ||
| Rounds | S'ford | S'ford | Pts | |
| Tony Malyon | 3 | 97 | 32.3 | 31 |
| Trevor Vincent | 3 | 93 | 31.0 | 30 |
| Scott Browning | 3 | 92 | 30.7 | 28 |
| Bryn Owen | 3 | 92 | 30.7 | 24 |
| Colin Reardon | 3 | 90 | 30.0 | 24 |
| John Machin | 3 | 90 | 30.0 | 24 |
| Paul Sims | 3 | 91 | 30.3 | 23 |
| Martin Thomas | 3 | 88 | 29.3 | 23 |
| Graham Ottaway | 3 | 81 | 27.0 | 18 |
| Richard Taunton | 3 | 75 | 25.0 | 12 |
| Chris Daniel | 3 | 62 | 20.7 | 5 |
| Michael Schurch | 3 | 55 | 18.3 | 4 |
CONGRATULATIONS TO TONY MALYON - WINNER OF THE 2017 WILTSHIRE TOUR
