It didn't rain!

Happy days, with just a gentle breeze, a few clouds and the odd bit of sunshine adding up to a lovely day for a round of golf. Course conditions were still testing at times for the wayward though, with some of the rough having thickened up. What is it with the 5th hole? The fairway slopes to the right and they've gone and left a 6 foot strip of deep grass between the fairway and the light rough. I just don't get it. My ball did though!

There were 3 scores in the 40's this week, with Charles Angus leading the way on 42 for £23 and a 3-shot cut. Should have been more I hear you say! Peter Miller was 2nd with 41 points - not even his best score of the season! £13 and a cut of 1 shot for his next 4 rounds. Don was 3rd with 40 points for a £7 prize and in joint 4th with 36 points for a handsome £2.50 bonanza each were Jeff and Kelvin.

The front 9 was shared on 20 points by Ali and Peter Evans, who couldn't be split even on countback. The Boss had an inexplicable burst of generosity and awarded them £3.50 each in recognition. The more traditional £5 pot for the back nine went to Chris Manners with 18 points.

Leaderboards

No change at the top of Red, though Ali is starting to creep up the table and is now into 3rd. In Blue the big mover was Peter Miller, up into 2nd place after yesterday's fine round. He's not too far back on long time leader Mike Vallance. Watch out Mike!

Hall Trophy

There were 3 matches yesterday. According to Trevor Hones, Iain Pritchard was rolling the putts in from all over the shop and duly prevailed in their match. According to Gary Fowler, he was missing his own putts from as little as 2 feet, and duly lost to Chris Hunt. In the day's other match, Pete Ibbetson took out Dave Smith. You can keep up to date with the draw by clicking on the 2026 link on the left hand side of this page.

Team game next week - check out the rules in the normal way.

Swindling in the Rain

It wasn't just raining cats and dogs, but otters, dolphins and multiple other water-dwelling mammals. As I sat in my car in the club car park with my bag still in the boot, 15 minutes before my scheduled tee-time watching hailstones bouncing off the windscreen and the car park turn into a river, I could be forgiven for thinking a round of golf probably wasn't going to happen. Players streamed off the course, thunder sounded above and the forecast was for lots more of the same so I headed home.

And yet... swindlers are made of stern stuff. 20 players made it round 18 holes. I wasn't there so I don't know for sure how wet they got, but the weather cleared a little, and there was even some watery sunshine. Until about 4pm, when the heavens opened again and it looks like a couple of players decided discretion was the better part of valour after the 15th hole.

So hats off (or on, if they're waterproof) to all the players who completed the course. Top of the pile was Chris Hunt with 39 points for £22 and a 3-shot cut. Tony Coomber (who was due out at the same time as me - madman!) shot 37 to finish in 2nd for £11.

The front-nine fiver went to David Cheek on 19 (David then baled - sensible chap!) and the back nine to Trevor Pyne with 21. 

Hall Trophy Results

Two matches were completed. Malcolm bowed out 2 down to Martin Davies, and last year's champion Ali surrendered his title, losing to Andy Wray in a nailbiter that went all the way to an extra hole. That must have been an interesting contest since Ali outscored Andy by 4 points on stapleford. That's matchplay for you!

Finally a reminder that next week is cards-in week so make sure you register, and if you're not playing next week, please do a card the next time you play.

Team Swindle May 27th

It was like deja vu all over again... no fewer than 7 scores in the 40's, an average of over 35.5 and 33 points only good enough for 5th last as most swindlers took advantage of the benign conditions. 

In the team competition Peter, Sameer, Ali and Al Jones were clear winners, led home by Peter with 43 points and Sameer (what dodgy back?) with 40 points. The other team scores were as follows:-

Team C - 128 points
Team F - 124 points
Team A - 122 points
Team B - 121 points
Team G - 118 ponts
Team E - 112 points
Team D - 111 points

Malcolm took the fiver with his stapleford score of 42, and Andy was nearest the pin in 2 on the 9th for the remaining fiver. Well done all.

On the leaderboards the week's major move came from Steve Mummery, whose stellar scoring catapulted him up to second in BLUE. Jeff maintained his lead in RED.

Nothing to report on the Hall Trophy but if I've missed any results, just drop me a line and I'll update the results board.

Wednesday Swindle Results 20 May

A beautiful day of bright sunshine, gentle breezes and fast greens made for an excellent day's golf. The scoring average was a very decent 32.5. Top of the tree this week was the Bionic Man himself, shooting an excellent 41 points to win by 2 from Steve Mummery. Apparently Kelvin's putter was red hot - anything within 10 feet hitting the back of the cup. £23 to Kelvin and a 3-shot cut, perfectly timed for the next round of the Hall Trophy! Steve trousered £17 and a 1-shot cut. 3rd place and £9 went to Chris Manners on 38 points, with Jimbo continuing his fine form a shot further back for a fiver.

Front-nine honours and the fiver went to Sameer with 20 points. However he couldn't replicate this level on the back nine, and bowed out of the Hall Trophy at the hands of Eugene.

The back-nine fiver went to Chris Butler with an excellent 21 points.

In the Hall Trophy Kelvin overcame Charles Angus, Graham Waller saw off Tony Coomber and Malcolm Proudley beat Jeff Titman. Jeff still leads the way in the league, but his dreams of a double are over for another year!

No major change on the leaderboards this week, though Graham Waller has snuck into 2nd place in the red league.

Team game next week - if your birthday was so long ago you can't remember, make a note of it because you'll need it!

Wednesday Swindle Results - May 13th

A clear winner this week, by an impressive 3 shots, was our man Thomas. Mr Walters was in imperious form, shooting a gross 87 for a whopping 42 points. £20 and a 3-shot cut to a handicap of 18 was his reward.

Trailing in a distant 3 shots back but still with a creditable 39 points each were Jimbo and Malcolm. Jim has clearly taken a liking to the recently improved playing conditions, following up nicely on his 38 point haul last time out. £5.50 each seems scant reward!

After a multiple count back the front nine fiver went to David Cheek, thanks in no small part to his birdie on the 9th. No such drama for the back nine, the fiver going to Charles Angus with 20 points. 

Leaderboards

The normal rule to feature on the leaderboards is a minimum of 5 rounds per quarter for the first 3 quarters and at least 4 rounds in the 4th quarter. This is to even out the playing conditions over the year. See the rules tab above for full details. In light of the number of course closures and various other disruptions including burst water mains, T'Committee has decreed that 4 rounds was good enough in Q1. This sees Tom Walters appear in 2nd place on the red leaderboard, though still with work to do to catch Jeff. No real change on the blue leaderboard, with Michael Vallance still showing a clean pair of heels.

Hall Trophy

This season's edition is well under way. You can now see the state of play by clicking on the 2026 link on the left. Recent results include a narrow win for Chris Hunt, 2-up over the Sommelier, and an extra-hole victory for Andy Wyatt over Peter Evans. In other results Donald Arthur Dobbs got past John Barrett and Mike Crofts prevailed over Alan Wright. There are some tasty-looking ties to watch out for - the Boss against Steve Mummery and Andy against Pablo look like crackers to me!

Swindle Results 6th May

Hall Trophy Results

Well done to Kelvin, Gary, Tom and Iain for their wins today. K&I progress into the 1st round while G&T safely through to round 2.

Swindle

The last group in today included both Iain and Bryn who strolled in with a matched 42pts haul each. Their £15.50 winnings were gratefully received, less so their 3 & 4 shot cuts respectively. 

The early leaders today had to be content with front and back 9 fivers that found their way into the hands of Kelvin (20pts) and Jim Morrison (21pts).

How things can change over 2 rounds of golf!

Bryn 24 to 42pts

Jim 23 to 38pts

It was good to see Sameer complete his first 18 hole round of the year, a respectable 31pts - but those legs!!

Numbers were lower than normal today but there has been a sighting of swindlers abroad enjoying their bottles of red wine - agradavel. 

 Swindle Results 29th April

No news from Gus in the Baltic so assume his Cohones are bearing up!

A brisk easterly wind made life tricky for the 9 teams on show - 3 of which tied for first place on a score of 89. 12 players all received winnings of £5, nearly enough to buy a pint! I'll leave you to decode the winners : EH, TW, KS, CH, TC, PM, SI, DC1, PM, IP, DC2, MP. 

The winning stableford score was Andy Wyatt on 36pts (£4) maintaining his recent good form after taking advice from our new resident coach Stuart Insall. It's all about the 9 iron. Special mention however to David Coutts who scored 44pts, 25 on the front 9 but team winning honours prevailed.

Graham Waller brought his own nearest the pin marked with his name pre-printed on it and sure enough picked up £3 on the 18th hole. 

Good news is that pick & place on the fairways is now extended until the 17th May.

We will be entering a team in the Swindle Challenge on Sat 6th June - please let the Boss know if you would like to be included. No green fee charges now for this weekend outing.

Don has done a great job gathering all the names for this years Alex Hall trophy comp. There are 36 entries so 4 prelim round matches before 16 matches in the first round proper. £2 entry. 

Can Kim retain his crown?

   

Swindling in the Sun

A beautiful sunny day, albeit windy, and Andy Wyatt took full advantage with 39 points for the win and a £22 purse. In hot pursuit were Don-Don (38 points, £13) and a trio of 37-pointers who each took home the princely sum of £4. Don't knock it, it's a profit. That was Iain Pritchard, Martin Davies and the Boss.

Andy gets a 3-stroke cut and will play the rest of the season on a maximum handicap of 20. Don gets a temporary cut to 23. PBI wasn't playing this week, leaving the field clear for Rory to hoover up the 2 shots back.

The £5 prizes went to Jeff - again - with 20 on the front nine, and Pablo for 18 on the back nine in his first outing this year. That's Jeff's 7th prize so far in 2026 in 11 matches. No wonder he's still at the top of the red leaderboard!

Next week is a team competition - check the website for details of the scoring system.

Finally, a shout out to Don who has taken on the mantle of organising this year's Hall Trophy. He will shortly make the draw, so if you want to enter and haven't got your name in yet, just speak to Don.

I'll be away for the next 2 week's freezing my cohones off on a boat in Estonia and Finland, so watch out for updates from the Boss.