5th Robert Andlaw Trophy - Sommelier's Report

The slightly cooler weather saw a field of around 34 Swindlers participating in this year’s Robert Andlaw Trophy event.

Music from West Side Story played over the club PA System as the Jets and the Sharks assembled for the morning Greensomes.  Fancy dress was in evidence although a minor miscommunication between the organisers resulted in some confusion over team colours. It was The Jets who finished the morning ahead by 4.5 to 2.5.

All the players took advantage of the break to enjoy some lunch and a fair bit of liquid refreshment, something that may have contributed to a somewhat sluggish singles competition in the afternoon.

As the afternoon results came in, it looked like The Jets were running away with it. However, The sharks came back to level the singles competition 8.0 to 8.0, a decent effort but not enough to overturn the morning rout.

Kelvin accepted the trophy on behalf of The Jets as their Vice-Captain.

 

Most importantly, Swindlers managed to smash last year’s charity tally, raising an impressive £853 for the chosen charities, Pancreatic Cancer uk and Rennie Grove Hospice.

The prize giving saw Stuart ”Chino” Insall take the top prize for fancy dress, two jars of honey from Richard Tavener’s hives! Bryn, Kelvin, PBI and Richard picked up a sleeve of balls each for their efforts.

Nearest the pin wine prizes were awarded to Tony Coomber (3rd) Mike Crofts (7th) Don Dobbs (14th) and Bryn Jones (17th). Congratulations!

A massive thank you to everyone who took part on the day, everyone who donated including those who were unable to participate, and those who put up the prizes. To quote from emails received in the wake of announcing the sum we raised…..

“Wow! Many thanks to all The Wednesday Swindlers, they are a great bunch of guys” Glen Rootman, Seniors Captain

“That’s a fantastic amount raised by The Wednesday Swindlers. With very many thanks to you” Mark Quigley, Club Captain

Report by David Reynolds

 Swindle results 12th Aug

Another day of unrelenting sunshine didn't deter the now hardened swindlers who again scored well. A first win of the year saw Stuart pocket £23 for his 43pts, the 3 shot cut takes him back to his start year handicap of 18. Closely followed in 2nd place on 41pts (£13) and a 1 shot cut was Richard Tavener who now heads the scoring averages on 36.67 after 6 rounds. The Sharks captain was less than pleased to see 2 of his players now off lower handicaps next week. 

PBI continue his good form just avoiding another cut on 40pts (£8) coming in 3rd spot.

Cleverly picking up fivers for front & back 9's comes as no surprise to Jeff & Jim the top money earners in the winners circle again. 2027 not that far away now - the handicap committee are calling an EGM!!

Everything is set up for the Robert Andlaw Trophy next Wednesday. the pairings for the afternoon singles match play ties are on the blog spreadsheet. A big thanks to David R for doing a great job in getting everything organised. Next year we are looking for a new organizer to step up.

 Robert Andlaw Trophy -19 August 2026

The draw for the morning Greensomes, tee times and rules was shown on the previous Blog. Check your entries and notify David Reynolds of any errors, omissions or anomalies, by email, to david@novatum.co.uk

Generally, the team colours will be JETS-BLUE and SHARKS- RED. Prizes will be awarded for interesting fancy dress.

For charity donations payment by bank transfer is encouraged. David has set up an account dedicated to the charitable donations, details as follows

Mr D N Reynolds

40-47-70

42561565

Reference – Your Surname

The alternative is to donate cash on the day.

Do not feel obliged to donate any more than that with which you feel comfortable. However, as requested, guidelines are as follows, Morning Greensomes £5, Afternoon Singles £10, Nearest the Pin £4 (£1 per hole), for which there will be more prizes.

Please try to arrive in good time for your tee-off times and sign in with the organisers on arrival so we know you are present.

The bar will be accepting advanced orders for food if you would like your lunch to be ready once you have finished the morning greensomes.

 Swindle Results 5th Aug

A cooler day was a pleasant change with 50% of the field playing to their handicaps or better. 41 points or less was only good enough for front & back 9's so some consolation at least for DomJ's 23pts F9 and Chris Butlers' 22pts B9 both picking up £5.

Jeff Titman cashed in yet again accompanied by Trevor Hones (maiden takings for 2026) with £6.50 for joint 3rd place on 42pts.

Peter Miller shot his best round to date (43pts) for 2nd place (£16) leaving the major prize to PBI with a mighty 44pts (gross 87). £22 prize money vs a 3 shot cut was a fair cop.

Well done to Steve Mummery who won comfortably 3&2 vs The Boss in the final 1st round match of the Hall Trophy and now plays DonD in the 2nd round.

The Ryder Cup details for Wed 19th Aug have now all been finalised by David Reynolds. 

The draw for the morning greensomes is:

                Jets                            Sharks

10.44    GaryF & KeithM vs PaulM & ChrisM

10.52    DaveS & MikeC vs AlanW & TomW

11.00    A.Wray & AlanJ vs D.Cheek & GusM

11.08    TonyC & ColinS vs KimN & StuartI

11.16    KelvinS & MichaelV vs PBI & DonD

11.24    PeterM & DomJ vs CharlesA & ChrisH

11.32    ChrisB & D.Robson vs RichardT & JimM

Rules:

All players tee off and each pair decides which ball to play next - HOWEVER the number of drives used by each player is limited to 5. The 2nd shot is taken by the player who's drive is not selected. Shots are then taken alternately. Gimmies / concessions strictly at the discretion of your opponents.

The pair with the lowest total win a point on each hole or if the scores are equal then each team gets half a point. Pair with most points over the 9 holes wins.

The winning pair records 1 point for the Jets or Sharks - if level pegging after 9 holes then half a point to each team. 

Details for the afternoon 18 hole matchplay matches will be issued in a separate blog to follow in the coming days.  

Team Event Results, July 29th

The Boss's latest machiavellian plot divided opinion. Some people enjoyed the lack of pressure, knowing that their score on a given hole was irrelevant to the team score. I confess I was one! Others missed the sense of jeopardy. Masochists, I call them!

Results were as follows:-

    Team D, Team E - 70 points
    Team G - 65 points
    Team H - 63 points
    Team B, Team C - 61 points
    Team A - 60 points
    Team F - 56 points

The winning team members all bagged £6 being Jimbo, Daves Reynolds and Smith and PBI in Team D, and David Coutts, Steve Mummery, Pablo and Chris Butler in his capacity as a ghost player for Team E.

No fewer than 5 players scored 9 points across their 3 nominated holes, which seems pretty spectacular to me! The 3 players that weren't already on winning teams and therefore trousered a whole £2 each were Martin Davies, the Brynmeister and Al Wright.

The day's best stapleford score, a splendid 42 points, was scored by Richard Taverner who took home £6 for his trouble. And remember, no cuts on team competition days so any winnings carry only upside!

The ding-dong battles at the top of both leaderboards continue, with Jeff inching past Pablo back into 1st place on red, and Jimbo almost overhauling Mike in blue.

Hall Trophy

Iain Pritchard had to retire hurt after 9 holes and ceded the game to Andy Wray, but was gracious enough to acknowledge that Andy was playing a blinder and was going to win anyway. Andy goes through to play Kelvin in a tasty-looking quarter final.

Robert Andlaw Trophy - Message from The Sommelier

We are supporting two great charities this year, Pancreatic Cancer UK and the Club’s Charity, Rennie Grove Hospice, with proceeds being split equally. I have been asked to clarify what would constitute an acceptable donation.

Let me be clear, I want everyone to enjoy the event and not to feel under any pressure to donate more than that with which they feel comfortable. However, for guidance purposes:-

    9 hole Greensomes,  £5
    28 hole Matchplay,  £10
    Nearest pin on Par 3’s (for prizes) £1 a hole

Obviously, it is also my wish to generate a tidy sum for the charities so please be generous with your contributions. £20 would take care of the whole day with entry into all the NP’s. That said, anything you feel comfortable with would be acceptable. 

I have also been asked how payment can be made with many expressing preference for electronic payment. To that end, I have set up a special account exclusively for charitable payments, details as follows

    D N Reynolds
    First Direct
    40-47-70
    42561565

Please do not forget to include you name as a reference if you choose this method of payment. 

The alternative is to pay in cash.

We have a new leader!

Having been re-instated on the leaderboard, Pablo took full advantage of Jeff's absence to post 41 points and take over the lead at the top of the red leaderboard. With both of them averaging over 35 points, we now have a battle royale on our hands. And Pablo even managed to avoid a cut! That's because scoring was stellar this week, in-form Jimbo scoring an amazing 45 points to take the win and £23. And a 4-shot cut for the rest of the season.

2nd place wasn't too shabby either, Rory returning 44 points, a mere 15 shots better than his last outing. Must have been something to do with the free balls that nice man from Titleist gave him for having his swing tested in the nets. Rory picked up £17 and a 1-shot cut for 4 weeks. I don't think his handicap will feel the strain too much!

3rd place was shared by Chris Butler and Dave Robson with 43 points, for £8 each. Honourable mentions to Pablo (see above) and Andy Wray, for each breaking 40 points and winning diddly squat.

Both nines were won on countback in 22 points, the front to Stuart Insall and the back to Peter Miller, whose cause was greatly helped by birdieing the 16th.

As well as a new leader on the red leaderboard, Jimbo continues his surge in blue and is now up to 2nd place, hot on the heels of long-time leader Mike Vallance.

In the Hall Trophy, PBI triumphed over Martin Davies and is the first through to the semi-finals, where he will play Chris Hunt or Graham Waller. Whoever wins from that pairing will have their work cut out - Pete has form in this tournament, and is hard to beat when he's within sniffing distance of a final.

Finally, please have a look at the rules for next week's team competition. The Boss has surpassed himself this week and given everyone something to think about!

Wednesday Swindle July 15th

We may still be in the middle of the longest heatwave for yonks, but it was a curious day. The first half was cloudy and relatively(!) cool, but there was a stiff breeze which made play quite tricky at times. Some of the greens had been watered as well, which seemed to make some of them a bit slower whilst others were really quick. Then in the afternoon the sun came out again and it was warm work.

Our winner on the day was Dave Robson with an excellent 40 points - his second win of the campaign. Last time he got cut 5 strokes - this time it's only a 4-shot cut. Consider yourself lucky Dave! And £22 quid winnings to boot.

Behind Dave with yet another superb score, this time 39 points for a £14 prize, was Jimbo who has now climbed on to the Blue Leaderboard after averaging over 38 points in his last 8 rounds. Making hay while the sun shines was never so apt!

Joint 3rd for £6 each with 38 points were Gary Fowler and new boy Mark Thompson. Gary also had 2 birdies - one of them on the 18th, to applause from the gallery. Eugene also had 2 birdies. The "birdie king" title will be hotly contested this year.

Front nine honours and the fiver went to another new boy Geoff Curran with 20 points, while the back nine went to Pablo also with 20 points.

Leaderboards

Jeff has a new challenger in Red after Pablo's medical exemption for Q1 was considered and approved by t'committee. Watch out Jeff! In Blue, Steve Mummery is in fine form and a string of good scores has seen him cruise in to 2nd place, threatening Mike Vallance's lead.

Andlaw Trophy

Another reminder that the Andlaw Trophy will take place on Wednesday August 19th. Even if you've entered your name to play that day on the normal entry sheet, please go to this form and say whether you want to play 18 or 27, and whether you're a Jet or a Shark.

Happy Birthday Bryn!

First things first, it was a pleasure and a privilege to help Bryn celebrate his milestone birthday with a glass of fizz and a slice (or four) of cake. Congratulations Bryn, we salute you!

As far as the day's golf went, it was a scorching day so it was a case of parasols up, plenty of hydration and no rushing around the course. This formula seemed to work for some, as there were some stellar scores. Joint winners with a magnificent 43 points were Martin Davies (winning for the second consecutive week) and the Sommelier, Dave Reynolds. Both will be playing off a maximum of 22 for the rest of the season - with £17 in pocket to cushion the blow.

In joint 3rd was a clutch of 3 golfers. Tom, Jimbo and Gary all scored 41 points and win £4 each. Not a princely sum, but not at all bad considering none of them got cut!

The front 9 was won in a frankly ridiculous 23 points by the Hickmeister. Eugene hit 3 birdies on the opening nie holes for a gross score of, by my reckoning, 35 strokes. Unbelievable golf! Shame the back nine wasn't quite as good... the heat clearly got to him! Back nine honours together with the fiver went to Andy Wray with 21 points. Andy also triumphed over Peter Miller in the Hall Trophy, in a 9-hole shoot-out following their tie last week. Andy goes on to play Iain Pritchard. Also victorious in the Hall Trophy was Tom Walters, who beat erstwhile champion Kim Nguyen.

Andlaw Trophy 19th August

Dave Reynolds is again organising this year's charity event, named in honour of our late friend Robert. The format will be the same as last year, with this year's theme being West Side Story. So please let Dave know if you will be playing, either 9 holes plus 18 holes or just the 18 hole matchplay. Please also let him know if you consider yourself a jet or a shark. Please enter your details here.

 Swindle results 1st July

The fine weather saw 36 players applying their skills - good scoring resulted and a bit of a birdie-fest to boot. 10 made of which 5 were on the 12th hole. The winners circle today was a domain for the 40 pointers.

44pts clinched it - well done to Martin Davies, not surprisingly his best round of the year, gross 89. The 3 shot cut was worth it for £24 winnings. 

Another best round of the season by David Cheek, gross 86 and 41pts for £17 in second place. 

3rd place was shared by PBI (also best 2026 round) and Jeff Titman (again!) on 40pts, - £8 each

The front 9 was won by Jim Morrison on 23 points after finally owning up to his 80th birthday in 2025! Winners circle beckoning off his new handicap! Chris Manners won the back 9 in Par with 22pts off HC 8. The usual £5 winnings were gratefully received.

Hall Trophy

Good wins by Graham Waller (over Eugene) and PBI (over Mike Crofts) saw them both advance into the quarter finals. The match between Peter Miller and Andy Wray was all square after 18 holes and the final outcome will be decided over 9 holes at a later date. 

As we move into the second half of 2026 a pat on the back to:

Gary Fowler heading the birdie table on 12

Eugene & Chris Manners - joint lowest gross score 77

Jeff Titman - top of the winnings table.

Stuart, Mike Crofts, David Cheek and Eugene - highest Swindle outings on 20. 

 

 Swindle results 24th June 

With the thermometer ticking past 34 degrees the sensible came up with an array of excuses to justify their withdrawal. The remaining 23 on 'ealf & safety considerations played out the team event over 9 holes although 4 Toughies braved 18 holes. 

The winning team Trevor Pyne (21pts), Kim, Bryn and Richard Tavener (£5 each) scored 27 points just pipping Ali, Peter Miller, David Cheek and score helper Stuart by 1pt.

The front 9 (20pts) was shared by PBI & Tony who at least made a profit of £1 on the day. The Hickey Meister won £1 for nearest the pin in 2 on the 7th hole on count-back, alas -£1 on the day.

Kelvin scored an impressive 38pts and won £5 for his back 9 of 19pts. It was noted he was in a buggy! The other three 18 hole Toughies merit a mention so well done Eugene, Gary (co Buggy) and Mike Crofts. They all looked somewhat cooked on their return. 

That completes 6 months Swindling - 4 days lost to bad weather, 22 days played. The Committee has reviewed player performances and the Mid Year Review is upon us.

Shots Back from 1st July are:

1 shot back to D Coutts, R Scales, A Wright, C Stickland, M Davies, T Hones & P Matthews.

2 shots back to P Ibbetson, D Smith, A Merelie and yes the Boss (thoroughly merited!).

Bryn heads off to Portugal to celebrate his 90th Birthday on the 28th June with all his family. Enjoy.  

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.

Normal Service Resumed

After last week's low-scoring shenanigans it was back to business this week, with the average score of 31.6 being a full 5 points higher than last week and no fewer than 16 players scoring 30 points or more. That's more like it! Out in front on 40 points was Dave Robson, 2 clear of Tony Coomber and Andy Wray in joint second with 38 points. Dave pocketed £21 and a 5-shot cut while the other 2 scallies got away with a 1-shot cut and £9 each. 

Hot on the heels of last week's cut, Steve Mummery continued his happy knack of hoovering up some cash whilst avoiding a cut by coming joint third with Michael Vallance on 36 points. OK, to be fair they only won £1.50 each and thereby made a loss of the day, but that's beside the point!

The Brynmeister made it 2 prizes in 3 outings so far this year with 21 points on the front nine for a fiver, while the back nine prize went to Peter Evans with 20 points.

No real changes at the top of the leaderboards this week, though Jeff's lead in the red league has been trimmed somewhat by Tony who is on a good run of form, averaging over 36 points on his last 3 outings. Must be that magic chipper of his!

Thanks to everyone who put a card in this week - if you forgot, please do one next week. Remember if you're doing a card, then no gimmies.

A final reminder that we're now following club rules regarding preferred lies, which is pick-and-place on fairways and close-mown areas only, until the end of April.

Tales of the Unexpected

With the Clutch Tour in town, the Wednesday Swindlers decamped to Redbourn for the day. A slightly later than usual start meant the sun was up and the day was set fair for a lovely day of golf. Not only that, there was little or no wind, the fairways were in good nick (who needs pick and place!) and the greens were holding nicely.

All set for some great scoring, right?

How wrong can you be.

The result? Only 4 players scored 30 points or more. The average score was 26.13 points, which as far as I can tell is an all-time record low. I hate to think how many balls were left behind on the course. There was one bright spot - the winner, Steve Mummery, scored 35 points and scooped the £22 prize by a handsome 3 shots. That left Gus and Kelvin trailing behind in second place with 32 points each for £5.50. Has there ever been a shot cut for a lower score? Answers on a postcard please!

Dave Smith bagged the fiver for 18 points on the front nine, and Colin Stickland the same for his 19 points on the back nine. At least those were respectable tallies!

Next week we're back at Aldwickbury, and it's a card-in day so don't forget to register in advance. Especially since the Howdy Doody app is playing silly buggers at the moment, so don't rely on being able to be a last-minute Charlie on the first tee.

Looking forward to the next Swindle, I was feeling inspired by Rory's heroics in the first two rounds at Augusta but at the time of writing he has thrown away his 6-shot lead and now has a host of stellar players snapping at his heels. But I still have faith - c'mon Rory!