The Swindlers on Tour
2019
Sixteen Swindlers and ex-Swindlers returned to Wiltshire for the fourth Swindle tour. We drove through driving rain to arrive at the first course on the tour, Wrag Barn. The rain had eased but the society due to tee off before us decided not to brave the conditions and left, allowing us to tee off about 20 minutes early.
Considering the amount of rain that had fallen during the morning the course dried out incredibly well! Some very interesting holes impressed the Swindlers, none more so than the 198-yard Par 3 5th over a pond. Many went for it but some laid up and chipped over the water for a sensible 4! After the round everyone commented on how much they enjoyed the course and it should definitely be on next year’s tour.
Some good scores were posted and new boy Iain Maxwell took the plaudits with an impressive 41 points from Dan Haw on 39. John FitzGerald took the prize for the longest drive and Paul Knowles won the Nearest the Pin. New boy Peter Brown had a nightmare day scoring just 16 points!
Wrag Barn 5th Hole - Par 3
With Stanton House Hotel just a few minutes down the road we were soon ensconced in the bar for drinks and, as usual, on the first night it got messy! Bryn Owen claiming he could get to the Wrag Barn par 5’s with 3 9-irons!
| Course: | Wrag Barn | Date: | 14-Aug-19 | |||
| NAME | Gross Score | Nett Score | Stableford Points | 2's Scored | Par 3's | Scratch Score |
| Iain Maxwell | 92 | 69 | 41 | 0 | 11 | 19 |
| Dan Haw | 82 | 69 | 39 | 1 | 9 | 26 |
| Trevor Vincent | 97 | 73 | 38 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| Tony Malyon | 94 | 77 | 35 | 1 | 9 | 20 |
| Nigel Guillaume | 94 | 77 | 33 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
| Bryn Owen | 88 | 77 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 20 |
| Colin Reardon | 98 | 78 | 30 | 0 | 7 | 12 |
| Paul Sims | 106 | 86 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Scott Browning | 103 | 83 | 29 | 0 | 5 | 12 |
| Paul Knowles | 107 | 84 | 28 | 0 | 9 | 10 |
| Chris Daniel | 97 | 81 | 28 | 0 | 8 | 13 |
| John Machin | 109 | 82 | 28 | 0 | 7 | 4 |
| John FitzGerald | 97 | 89 | 27 | 0 | 5 | 20 |
| Martin Thomas | 114 | 87 | 27 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Graham Ottaway | 113 | 90 | 23 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
| Peter Brown | 125 | 105 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
Day 2 was at Marlborough Golf Club with Michael Schurch taking John Machin’s place for the day as John headed off to Lords for the test match.
The weather improved but unfortunately the course was under maintenance with the greens in a really poor state with deep hollow tines and slitting. Putts from under 18” were being missed. On the back-9 a local rule was in place allowing players to move from bare patches onto fairway. Although we were given two reciprocals and a reduced County card rate everyone said they’d rather have paid more and avoided a course under maintenance.
With the greens in such a poor condition the scores were low with most in the 20’s. However, Peter Brown overcame his first-day nightmare by posting a winning score of 35 points whereas Iain Maxwell went the other way dropping from 41 points on day 1 to 23 at Marlborough – what a crazy sport golf is!? Trevor Vincent came second with 32 points (following his 38 at Wrag Barn). Iain Maxwell did however win the Longest Drive prize (with a 9 iron!) and Colin Reardon got the Nearest-the-Pin.
| Course: | Marlborough | Date: | 15-Aug-19 | |||
| NAME | Gross Score | Nett Score | Stableford Points | 2's Scored | Par 3's | Scratch Score |
| Peter Brown | 95 | 73 | 35 | 0 | 11 | 17 |
| Trevor Vincent | 106 | 82 | 32 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Dan Haw | 89 | 77 | 32 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Paul Knowles | 102 | 79 | 30 | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| Colin Reardon | 98 | 78 | 30 | 0 | 10 | 14 |
| Nigel Guillaume | 95 | 78 | 30 | 0 | 9 | 13 |
| Martin Thomas | 107 | 80 | 29 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Paul Sims | 104 | 84 | 28 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| Scott Browning | 104 | 84 | 28 | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| John FitzGerald | 95 | 87 | 27 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| Bryn Owen | 93 | 82 | 27 | 0 | 6 | 17 |
| Tony Malyon | 108 | 91 | 25 | 0 | 10 | 12 |
| Chris Daniel | 108 | 92 | 24 | 0 | 8 | 11 |
| Iain Maxwell | 120 | 99 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Graham Ottaway | 117 | 93 | 22 | 0 | 9 | 5 |
| Michael Schurch | 125 | 97 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
Another "All-you-can-eat" Japanese buffet went down well at Stanton House, but – as usual – alcohol intake was down from the first night! However, this didn't stop Bryn from turning up for breakfast on Friday morning with his Swindle day-glo shirt inside out!
The final round was at Tidworth Garrison which was in its usual excellent condition. As in previous years the groups were selected with those most likely to win the tour going out in the final group which consisted of Iain Maxwell, Dan Haw, Trevor Vincent and Nigel Guillaume-Smith. However, the weather turned nasty again and everyone ended up absolutely drenched! Tony Malyon, Scott Browing , Paul Knowles and Colin Reardon decided to call it a day after 14 holes and retired to the bar (after a hot shower!) Iain Maxwell’s good form returned, winning the day with 37 points from Nigel Guillaume-Smith on 35.
Iain Maxwell again won the Longest Drive competition and Nigel got the Nearest-the-Pin prize.
| Course: | Tidworth Garrison | Date: | 16-Aug-19 | |||
| NAME | Gross Score | Nett Score | Stableford Points | 2's Scored | Par 3's | Scratch Score |
| Iain Maxwell | 90 | 73 | 37 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| Nigel Guillaume | 92 | 82 | 35 | 0 | 9 | 20 |
| Bryn Owen | 85 | 77 | 32 | 0 | 7 | 11 |
| Trevor Vincent | 98 | 79 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 21 |
| Paul Sims | 95 | 78 | 31 | 0 | 9 | 12 |
| Scott Browning | 104 | 78 | 30 | 0 | 9 | 14 |
| Graham Ottaway | 107 | 80 | 28 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Dan Haw | 92 | 84 | 28 | 0 | 5 | 18 |
| Martin Thomas | 118 | 84 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Peter Brown | 107 | 87 | 25 | 0 | 9 | 13 |
| Tony Malyon | 108 | 82 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Chris Daniel | 111 | 91 | 23 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| John Machin | 122 | 92 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Paul Knowles | 120 | 99 | 20 | 0 | 9 | 6 |
| Colin Reardon | 124 | 93 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| John FitzGerald | 115 | 97 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
Iain’s second round mishap at Marlborough cost him the overall tour prize with “Mr Consistent” over the three days Trevor Vincent edging it with a total of 43 Swindle points – 2 ahead of second place Iain Maxwell with Dan Haw coming in third! Congratulations Trevor - who probably would have won the first Wiltshire Tour but didn't play the final day.
FINAL POSITIONS
| Total | Ave | Swindle | ||
| Rounds | S'ford | S'ford | Pts | |
| Trevor Vincent | 3 | 102 | 34.0 | 43 |
| Iain Maxwell | 3 | 101 | 33.7 | 41 |
| Dan Haw | 3 | 99 | 33.0 | 39 |
| Nigel Guillaume-Smith | 3 | 98 | 32.7 | 39 |
| Bryn Owen | 3 | 90 | 30.0 | 31 |
| Paul Sims | 3 | 88 | 29.3 | 30 |
| Scott Browning | 3 | 87 | 29.0 | 27 |
| Peter Brown | 3 | 76 | 25.3 | 27 |
| Tony Malyon | 3 | 85 | 28.3 | 24 |
| Colin Reardon | 3 | 79 | 26.3 | 24 |
| Paul Knowles | 3 | 78 | 26.0 | 23 |
| Martin Thomas | 3 | 83 | 27.7 | 21 |
| Chris Daniel | 3 | 75 | 25.0 | 15 |
| Graham Ottaway | 3 | 73 | 24.3 | 14 |
| John FitzGerald | 3 | 72 | 24.0 | 12 |
| John Machin | 3 | 67 | 22.3 | 10 |
