Chantaco

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.

Wrag Barn Club House

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.

Wrag Barn Monsoon

Monsoon rain breaks the heatwave!

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


Wrag Barn 17th

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:

Bryn as Carl


Bryn and Carl from "Up" - but which is which!?

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.

Masked up

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!

Shirts reversed

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.

Wrag Barn Group

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

Nigel Tour Trophy


Trevor Vincent presenting Nigel Guillaume-Smith with the Tour Trophy