Rim Stinger VII, 2010 - Breadsall Priory, Derbyshire

The seventh Rim Stinger saw the group head back to the Midlands for the first time since the famously wet Rim Stinger of 2007. It wasn’t quite so wet this time, but probably deserves the accolade“tainted”. The late withdrawal of Thomas “Bruno”Wagenhofer meant that everyone thought they might have a better chance this year. After the controversial Rim Stinger of 2009 when the CHC and the OCC walked off with the main prizes, this year’s handicaps (especially for those two) were tighter than ever with little movement once they were initially settled. One player who did manage to achieve an increase after constant bleating at the Friday EHC was Richard Aylmer, pre-tournament favourite in years gone by (although not this one), perennial runner-up, soup-spiller and husband and father to be. The following day he recorded a narrow win.

Some would say that was good negotiating, others would say it was borderline conduct unbecoming a Rim Stinger. Although we couldn’t find any in the former camp. In the end though, it was a popular win for a Rim Stinger founder and one of only five players to have attended all Rim Stinger events since 2004. He has now shed the tag of being the best player never to have won the Rim Stinger, and his reputation for choking and mental instability has also abated a touch, if only because his shoes have been stepped into byVince Holmes who has now finished second in his first two Rim Stingers, both times after starting well…

Stepping into someone else’s shoes is not something that Vince is really ever likely to do though – his choice of clothing for the weekend was, what’s the word… “individual”… down to his personalised golf shoes and some pretty special trousers that were delivered on Rim Stinger day with police escort. This is not a fabricated story. Chris Ellerker, making his third Rim Stinger appearance, struggled hard to compete with such a dedicated fashion statement as this, but still cut a colourful and striking image wherever he went on the golf course. At least the wasps thought so, as did a crow which made off with Chris’s mid-round snack, something he never recovered from. Playing with them was Rob Lee-Davey who looked like he was off to the beach, which, given some quite wild shots at times, was exactly where he was heading a lot of the time.

Miguel Soto was rejoining the Rim Stinger after a year’s absence in 2009 and it was to everyone’s disappointment that he had not brought his cherished frying pan driver with him – he still managed to make a strong statement on the first tee though, sending his tee shot 300 yards. 300 yards straight up that is. Miguel has a bit of form in starting with a bang – in 2008 he hit the first ball of Rim Stinger V two feet. Dead straight though.

Jose Lourtie, another founder, went home with the money from the Rim Stinger Challenge after one of the steadiest and most consistent rounds seen in recent years (albeit that is a limited field). Jose had a very successful weekend in fact, also winning the pairs with pairs specialist Stuart Ervine who recorded his third pairs win in four attempts. Next year we will pair him up with the OCC and that should put an end to this run. Although at one stage it did look like the OCC was going to repeat his trick from last year of underperforming on days 1 & 2 only to surge ahead on day 3, take the money and suffer bitter recriminations for the next 12 months. His challenge faded however, culminating in a true Rim Stinger on the last when the ball lipped out, taking the OCC from a half share of third to a third share of fourth representing a loss of £50. Never has the value of a Rim Stinger been so starkly illustrated. Although it seemed to please the crowd.

The third day was notable also for the newly crowned champion producing a literally shit drive when he drove his ball next to a campsite where a camper had clearly found the campsite lavatories fully occupied and had hopped over the wall to drop the kids off – Aylmer wasn’t going to pick them up though, but the charming resulting photograph will feature prominently on the bag of shite holder’s golf shirt from 2011 onwards.

Speaking of shite, we were lucky to have Richie Jones with us again this year. Although he was the first bag of shite holder to brave a return to the Rim Stinger, his return was punished by the retention of his trophy. Talk of a new swing, lessons and new clubs alas came to nought, or to 14 anyway. He seemed genuinely distraught with this capricious turn of events.

A write up of the Rim Stinger weekend is never complete without a mention of the Rim Stinger tennis results (it’s why we’re there, let’s be honest) – for the sixth straight year Richard Aylmer and James Stewart won this tough event, overcoming Richie Jones and the ghost of Bruiser, aka Matt Noonan. For the first time the premium titles of Rim Stinger tennis and golf have been united. If Rich had gone on to win either the poker or the Rim Stinger Challenge as well he might have been looking long and hard for his next invitation…