Behind the Wall, More Wall 🧱
Nine players teed off at Cedar Hills for Week 7, with temperatures climbing from 58.1°F to 75.2°F and the wind topping out at 9.2 mph, the warmest of the last three Wednesdays. Last week's flooded Ford has given way to the Hidden Door: old stonework in the cleared deadfall became the Mason's Gift on the sixth, and the company chose to share it rather than hoard it, which earned a toast to the observant at Second Breakfast.
One Hole of Fellowship, Then Business
RAE Red turned on hole 7. Andrew Fisher pulled even with Chase Fernandez through hole 6, bogeyed 7, and Fernandez took the lead back for good. He finished at -1 on a 915, 32 points above his 883 rating, seven strokes clear of Fisher and Brandon Mayes, who tied for second at +6. Fisher never stopped swinging. He carded the field's only birdie on the 369-foot par-3 11th, then answered a double on 16 with a birdie on 17. Mayes trimmed a stroke off last week's +7. The fellowship lasted exactly one hole, because even epics have tee times.
The Last Hole Knocked, Nobody Answered
The 309-foot par-3 18th gave up one birdie all day, to Collin Zander, and it still left him a stroke short. Chris Bower held at -1 against Zander's even par in RAD White, built on a lead taken through hole 4, a clean front nine and an eight-hole par train from 5 through 12. That's a 915, 20 points above his 895 rating and a sharp correction from last week's +2. Zander's round turned earlier. He found OB on 6 and took a double, then played 7 through 9 at 3 under. Pars are boring right up until they win a division.
Walked In, Walked Off Winning 🚪
Six strokes separated the top of RAF Green. Ben Goldston finished at +4 on an 860, and his front nine came in four strokes better than his back, so the woods clawed some of it back late. Joe Puckett finished at +10 on a 794, ten points above his 784 rating. He kept the card honest from start to finish, and the fellowship runs on exactly that kind of persistence.
Ink on the Map, Seats Still Open
In RPA Gold, Bradley Bushman posted a personal-best -10 on a 1014, the event's round of the day and 27 points above his 987 rating, and it included the field's only birdie on the 496-foot par-4 6th, which played +0.8 for everyone else (the Mason's Gift hole, if you're keeping the lore ledger). John Shearin carded an 816 in RAH Blue, 115 below his 931 rating, and both RAH Blue and RPA Gold have open chairs for anyone who wants a card to share.
Masons Wanted, Fund Still Building
The league's $4.50 registration contribution was this event's total for the Cedar Hills Course Fund. That brings the fund to $230.65, 23% of the $1,000 goal, with $769.35 still to raise. Every wall goes up one brick at a time, and these woods have earned some masons.
One Stroke Is a Grudge Now
Zander's birdie on 18 left him one behind Bower, and in this company one stroke is how a grudge gets started. Week 8, "Old Grudges," lands Wednesday, November 11 at Cedar Hills on the Blue layout (Skip 8, Play 13B), so hole 8 gets the night off and 13B steps in. The storyline puts long-separated rivals on the same card, has old scores resurfacing first as jokes and then in earnest, and expects the Mason's Gift to be played six different ways. Rivalry has sharpened, not splintered. checks clipboard The precioussss... I mean, the current standings are tight enough to argue about.
Grown adults are about to hold a blood feud over one stroke, a pile of plastic and a retaining wall, and I'm the one taking minutes.