The Swindlers on Tour

2020
The Coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the organisation for this year’s tour! It was even at risk of being cancelled altogether as hotels and golf courses were closed to reduce the spread of the virus. Of the sixteen original members signed up for the tour there were seven who withdrew (not just for coronavirus reasons) and one of the replacements pulled out a day before the tour started! So just fifteen Swindlers, ex-Swindlers and a guest joined the tour. Due to the impact of the coronavirus we couldn’t get on to our tour favourite course, Tidworth Garrison, and decided to play Wrag Barn on all three days.

The weather forecast indicated that the debilitating 35˚ heat would be broken by a severe storm but we may – just – get a rain-free round. However, the sky started to darken and the first raindrops were felt as the third group were heading to the 17th green. The last group caught the full brunt of some of the heaviest monsoon-like rain experienced in the UK as they played the 18th and got absolutely soaked! Due to the extreme heat Michael Schurch only played 9 holes and Dave Vaughan took a buggy for the back 9.

Watch a Youtube video of the storm that broke the heatwave: Click here

Day 1: On their first Swindle tour both Simon Cook and Dave Vaughan posted 39 points with Simon taking the money on a count-back. Six players scored to their handicap or better. The Longest Drive was won by Paul Budge with Nigel Guillaume-Smith taking the Nearest-the-Pin prize.

Course:	Wrag Barn			Date:	12-Aug-20
NAME	Gross Score	Nett Score	Stableford Points	2's Scored	Par 3 Points	Scratch Score
Simon Cook	85	69	39	0	7	23
Dave Vaughan	94	70	39	0	8	17
Paul Sims	92	70	38	0	8	16
Nigel Guillaume-Smith	90	71	37	0	9	18
Phil Hames	81	71	37	0	8	27
Trevor Vincent	95	74	36	0	10	16
Scott Browning	99	80	33	0	7	17
John Machin	112	85	30	0	3	9
Colin Reardon	103	84	28	0	8	12
Paul Reardon	97	88	28	0	7	19
Colin Price	97	85	25	0	7	14
Paul Knowles	105	83	25	0	5	11
Bryn Owen	96	85	23	0	8	15
Paul Budge	115	101	19	0	4	9
Michael Schurch	143	111	9	0	3	0

Off to the Stanton House Hotel for a few drinks and socially distant dinner!

It was noted over dinner that Bryn looked like the character Carl from the animated film, "Up" ... and so to prove it:

Day 2 was a much cooler day with the occasional spot of drizzle. Phil Hames shot four under his handicap to post a stonking 40 points to win the day from Nigel Guillaume-Smith on 38 points (on a count-back from Trevor Vincent and Paul Sims). Longest Drive again went to Paul Budge with Phil Hames taking the Nearest-the-Pin prize.

Course:	Wrag Barn			Date:	13-Aug-20
NAME	Gross Score	Nett Score	Stableford Points	2's Scored	Par 3 Points	Scratch Score
Phil Hames	78	68	40	1	10	30
Nigel Guillaume-Smith	89	70	38	0	10	20
Trevor Vincent	91	70	38	0	10	17
Paul Sims	94	72	38	0	10	18
Paul Budge	86	71	37	0	4	22
Bryn Owen	83	72	36	0	8	25
Colin Price	87	75	35	0	8	24
Paul Reardon	84	75	33	0	7	24
Colin Reardon	97	78	32	0	10	15
Simon Cook	91	77	31	0	5	17
Paul Knowles	101	79	30	0	10	14
Dave Vaughan	102	79	29	0	10	9
John Machin	112	85	28	0	7	10
Scott Browning	109	90	23	0	9	8
Michael Schurch	129	95	20	0	7	3

No "All-you-can-eat" Japanese buffet at Stanton House this year due the coronavirus , but they did provide a Japanese menu which went down well.

As a little joke referencing last year’s tour everyone – except Bryn (who performed the feat last year) - turned up for breakfast on Friday morning with their Swindle day-glo shirt inside-out!

Back to Wrag Barn for the final day with each group going out in reverse order of Swindle points, so Phil Hames, Nigel Guillaume-Smith, Simon Cook and Paul Sims were in the final group chasing the tour trophy.

Nigel & Phil went head-to-head to end up coming first and third on the day with Nigel winning the Tour Trophy by just three Swindle points from Phil. Nigel’s 1st, 2nd and 4th positions edging Phil’s 1st, 3rd and 5th!

Congratulations Nigel – a very consistent few days golf! And commiserations to Phil who played some spectacular shots. Winner of the Longest Drive on the final day was Nigel and Nearest the Pin was Phil. Best score for points scored on the par 3’s went to Trevor with a total of 31. Phil Hames won the 3-round Eclectic with a net 61.9 from Nigel on net 63.6.   

Course:	Wrag Barn			Date:	14-Aug-20
NAME	Gross Score	Nett Score	Stableford Points	2's Scored	Par 3 Points	Scratch Score
Nigel Guillaume-Smith	89	71	37	0	11	21
Colin Price	90	78	35	0	4	24
Phil Hames	81	73	35	0	8	27
Bryn Owen	85	74	34	0	7	24
Paul Reardon	85	76	34	0	7	26
Paul Budge	90	75	33	0	6	19
Simon Cook	89	75	33	0	7	19
Paul Knowles	99	77	32	0	6	12
Paul Sims	98	76	32	0	8	12
Trevor Vincent	100	79	31	0	11	13
Scott Browning	97	77	31	0	9	12
Colin Reardon	98	79	31	0	10	14
Michael Schurch	119	83	25	0	9	4
Dave Vaughan	116	93	23	0	3	5
John Machin	120	93	21	0	8	3

All the Longest Drive and NTP winnings went to just three players – Paul Budge, Nigel and Phil!

FINAL POSITIONS

		Total	Ave	Swindle
	Rounds	S'ford	S'ford	Pts
Nigel Guillaume-Smith	3	112	37.3	45
Phil Hames	3	112	37.3	42
Simon Cook	3	103	34.3	33
Paul Sims	3	108	36.0	32
Trevor Vincent	3	105	35.0	29
Colin Price	3	95	31.7	29
Paul Reardon	3	95	31.7	25
Bryn Owen	3	93	31.0	25
Paul Budge	3	89	29.7	23
Dave Vaughan	3	91	30.3	21
Colin Reardon	3	91	30.3	18
Paul Knowles	3	87	29.0	17
Scott Browning	3	87	29.0	16
John Machin	3	79	26.3	12
Michael Schurch	3	54	18.0	5