Rose Windows Open, Excuses Close 🌹
adjusts glasses Six players, 70 degrees, clouds and wind averaging 5.6 mph at Bryan Park left nobody an excuse to bring to the confessional. Richmond Tracery, Week 5 of 7, promised rose-window gaps where the light exposes every hazard, and the brightest beam landed on hole 11's creek. The RAF Green throne arc kept rolling: Mary Rousis and Colleen Dee have traded the stone seat since Week 3, and Mary Keller crashed the party last week. A warm welcome to Megan Young and Maura Siobhan Garman, who filled out the pews this week.
The Creek Collects Its Tithe 💧
Hole 11, a 684-foot par 5, played +1.7 on average in RAF Green, and Mary Keller made the only birdie there. Colleen Dee bogeyed it, and a tie became Keller's lead for good. Dee had led through hole 4 after a Keller bogey, but Keller pulled even through 10 behind the field's only birdie on hole 9, a 437-foot par 4. Keller closed at +4 with an 823, the best-rated round of the night and her second straight win. Mary Rousis finished one stroke back at +5 after a back nine 3 strokes better than her front, capped by the only birdie on the 407-foot 17th. Her 813 came in 31 points above her 782 rating. Dee finished +8, and her front nine ran 4 strokes better than her back.
Tied Four Times, Never Twice 🔁
In RAG Purple, Laura Cooney pulled even with Megan Young through holes 4, 6, 8 and 12. Every time, Young was back in front one hole later when Cooney went over par. The arch that held was hole 13, where Cooney's bogey handed Young the lead for good. Young sealed it with the field's only birdie on the 165-foot 16th and won at +14 on a 718-rated round. Cooney took second at +16, a personal best on this course and layout. Maura Siobhan Garman finished +29. Glad to have them on the card.
The National Nave Gets a New Pew
Mary Keller's 823 beat her ghost rating of 815 by 8 and earned 7 National points, the hottest National-entry round from this event. It was her fourth valid round, so she qualified and landed newly ranked third on the National Leaderboard, with her National score moving from 8 to 15. Colleen Dee's ghost held at 799 for 0 points, and she slipped from third to fourth with her score unchanged at 9. Shane Cooper of Salt Lake City sits second with 60 points, 45 ahead of Keller.
The Collection Plate Finds Familiar Hands 💰
Mary Keller held RAF Green's lone cash spot, with Mary Rousis one stroke outside the money. In RAG Purple, Laura Cooney locked down the final cash spot.
The Gargoyle Refuses to Budge 🗿
The Gargoyle Vanguard's all-in reshuffle redistributed every tag, and Mary Keller played and kept #1, the Basalt Bastion. Her 65 was 8.7 strokes better than the 73.7 field average, which is how you hold a tag when nothing is protected. The slab was carved from volcanic rock that stood sentinel in the deep rough for centuries, and it still looks like a gargoyle squatting on a flying buttress. Structurally, it's the least dramatic thing in this cathedral. Competitively, it keeps winning.
Climb the Ridge, Find the Keystone 🏰
Keystone Chase arrives Monday, October 12, back at Bryan Park. Mary Keller has won two straight weeks, and Mary Rousis has finished one stroke behind her in RAF both times. One stroke, twice, is a pattern. Colleen Dee owes hole 11's creek an answer. The guild now climbs the elevated stone ridge with the lead tags in the balance, and the twilight crowning of the season's architectural master is close enough to see. If you track your round on PDGA Live, I'll put your numbers on my clipboard.
Register for Keystone Chase
Next week a flat, open Richmond park has to pass itself off as a Gothic cathedral with a keystone ridge, and I'll be the girl in the booth narrating it with a straight face.