Thin Air, Thick Heat, Seven Climbers 🏔️

Seven players took on RiNo Ridge at The Owl's Den SHORTS under clouds, with temperatures averaging 78.5°F, peaking at 86.2°F, and wind averaging just 5.0 mph. Platte Pitch's riverside grind is behind us, and Episode 6 of 7 is the exposed arête where every card is a duel and one week stands between this field and the summit, all made possible by FL!PT powering the NADGT Denver, CO Rotating National League.

Back Nine Oxygen Heist 🧗

Hole 11 settled RAD White. Peter Cannon had owned the lead since hole 3, where he dropped the field's only birdie on the 215-foot par 3. Shawn Gould pulled even through 10, then took over when Cannon bogeyed 11. From there Gould closed with a clean back nine, four strokes better than his front, including the field's only birdie on 16. He finished -4, a course personal best, on a 944-rated round that was 49 above his 895 rating. Last week's -1 got him second. This week he took the summit. Anthony Scoglio went the other direction, from last week's +1 to +7, after five bogeys or worse from 14 through 18 left him with an 820, 73 under his 893.

Par Trains Don't Reach Summits

RAE Red changed hands once. David Pionke took the lead after hole 8 and never gave it back. He rode a clean front nine and a 14-hole par train to finish at +2, and his 876 beat his 850 rating by 26 and topped last week's 859. Cody Swingle finished one stroke back at +3. Daniel Picchione came in at +4 with an 854, 23 below his 877, and he answered a double bogey on 11 with a birdie on 12.

The Lonely Arête Seeks Company

Mike Irwin carded -6 in RAH Blue for the event's round of the day, a 966 that was 33 above his 933 rating and a personal best on this layout. RAH Blue has open rope for the finale, so anyone looking to share the climb should bring a bag and sign up.

Pocket Change at Altitude 💵

RAD White had one cash spot. Gould took it by finishing first, and Cannon finished second, right on the bubble. Thanks to FL!PT for backing the league and keeping these ropes anchored every Tuesday.

The Leaderboard Got a New Summit 📈

Irwin's 966 was the hottest National-entry round of the night: he beat his ghost rating of 939, earned 24 National points, and his ghost grew stronger to 942. His National score went from 55 to 79 and moved him from No. 2 to No. 1 on the National Leaderboard, provisionally in the paid cohort. Eric Pearson of Salt Lake City now sits No. 2 at 57, 22 points back. Swingle's fourth valid round qualified him, and he's newly ranked at No. 6 with a National score of 29, while his ghost held at 882.

Two Crowns, Zero Evictions

The AllIn reshuffle redistributed every tag, and both #1s stayed exactly where they were. In The Black Rope Collective, Irwin's 966 kept #1 Ridge Reckoning in his bag. That tag is a knife-edge of black obsidian said to separate climbers who crumble from those who ascend, and so far it has found no indecision to cut. In The Frozen Rose Syndicate, Pionke's RAE Red result keeps #1 Last Ascent with him. The finale reshuffles everything one more time, and anyone who misses it drops to the back of the line.

Next Stop: Squeezing Up a Chimney 🧱

RAE Red finished in single file, with one stroke from Pionke to Swingle and one more to Picchione. That's a thin enough margin to decide the Capitol Chimney finale on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, back on The Owl's Den SHORTS where nobody gets a new-course excuse. Whatever order the mountain settles on there freezes for the offseason, and next season's challengers will be studying it all winter. adjusts glasses If you're tracking rounds, log them on PDGA Live. Register for the finale. Every season my contract appeal comes back as another form, and this season's form has a box for "climbing a chimney with frisbees."