Emergency Protocols, Now With Tee Times 🚨

Thirteen players took on Fort Steilacoom N.W. for the Lakewood Crisis, Week 5 of 7, under cloudy skies averaging 66.6°F and a wind that never cracked 6 mph. Last week's surprise bag-tag audit has given way to the Conclave's emergency protocols, where a ley-line node belongs to whoever is physically standing on the tee pad, which, in fairness, is also how league attendance works.

One Misfire, One Counterspell, One Stroke

RAD White was decided on hole 9. Matt Van Dusen had pulled even through hole 8, where Danilo Lucero took a double bogey, and Lucero answered with a birdie on 9 to retake the lead for good. They had first grabbed it from Rob Cyr through hole 5, where Cyr's bogey ended his share of the top. Lucero finished at even par on a 961, the round of the day, a hard swing from last week's +6, 894-rated third. Van Dusen lost by one stroke and still walked off with a personal best: +1, a bogey-free front nine and a 12-hole par train to open, rated 952, 52 above his 900. Kyle Couture, last week's winner, slid to T3 at +8 on an 884, 35 below his 919.

Ceilings Are For Lesser Sorcerers 🔮

Hole 6 is where RAE Red turned. Casey Patnode rode a five-hole par train to pull even with Aaron Patnode through hole 5, then a bogey on 6 handed Aaron a lead he never gave back. Aaron won at +2, a course personal best rated 942 (73 above his 869), anchored by the field's only birdie on hole 8, which averaged +1.2 for everyone else. Grant Toschi, last week's winner, took second at +5. Daniel Aboy posted his own personal best at +8, including the only birdie on hole 6, and took the final cash spot by one stroke over Matt Mullinax.

Mana Reserves Ran Dry Coming Home

Fourteen strokes separated the two cards in RAG Purple. Erin Sweeney led wire to wire and won at +17 on a 797, 24 above her 773, despite closing with three straight holes at bogey or worse on 16 through 18. She and Zach Blue both played their front nines seven strokes better than their backs, which makes this the rare mana drought that's literally on the scorecard. Blue's +31 is a starting line, and on this scoreboard the only way to go is the good direction.

Solo Spellcasting Seeks Rivals 📜

Devon Zueger was the only entry in RAH Blue and posted +8 on an 884, 44 below his 928. The tower is open for a siege, and RAH-level challengers are cordially invited to show up next week with ambitions.

Paperwork Filed Directly With The Chains

Danilo Lucero won CTP on hole 9 at 247 feet for $14.00. That's the same hole they birdied to retake the RAD White lead, and it was their third CTP win, good for the CTP Champion title. Thanks to the two contributors who added $4.00 to the Super Ace split pot, which now sits at $350.00 and is waiting for someone to find chains from the tee.

Local Spells, National Ripples

Danilo Lucero's 961 was the hottest National-entry round here: it beat their ghost rating of 950 for 10 National points and qualified them on the National Leaderboard at #5, 20 points behind Anthony Scoglio of Brighton, CO at #4. Erin Sweeney's 797 beat her ghost of 779 for 17 points, and her ghost grew stronger to 782. That fourth valid round qualified her, and she enters the board at #1 with 52 points, provisionally in the paid cohort. Matt Van Dusen's 952 beat his ghost of 900 for 50 points, his ghost grew stronger to 904, and his score jumps from 0 to 50 with three of four required rounds logged, while Kyle Couture's ghost held at 930, keeping his #3 rank and 61 points as he moves provisionally into the paid cohort.

Every Throne Comes With An Eviction Notice

Danilo Lucero climbed from #3 to #1 in the Steilacoom Codex and now carries the Veiled Meridian. It's the silver-violet boundary carved into the mana plane at the First Conclave to arbitrate overlapping territorial claims, and it pulses brighter when disputes ignite, so expect a glow. In the Flux Fraternity, Aaron Patnode holds the top tag, the Sovereign Glyph. This is AllIn: every tag reshuffles off the standings each week, so both thrones come with an eviction notice dated next Friday. I'd file an appeal on their behalf, but mine keep coming back as forms.

Gambits Pending, Triple Bogeys Pre-Approved

One stroke separated Danilo Lucero and Matt Van Dusen in RAD White, and the rematch comes at the Steilacoom Gambit on Friday, October 9, on the same Fort Steilacoom N.W. Normal NW layout. Lucero now carries the Meridian. Van Dusen is one valid round from landing on the National Leaderboard. Aggressive lines will narrow the field to whoever can control the central nexus before the final audit. Track your round on PDGA Live so the booth can see every gambit. Register for the Steilacoom Gambit Next week the wizards get to choose between eagles and triple bogeys, as if anyone at Fort Steilacoom has ever chosen the triple on purpose.