Scorched Fairways

adjusts visor The Tar River Remembers Everything 🪷
Saturday, May 16. Thirteen raiders materialized inside Battle Park’s scorched fairways for Week 5 of 10. No wind, no excuses—just 83 degrees of wasteland silence and the river watching every 59-par swing like an ink-black auditor. Halfway point. Stakes sharpened.

The RAD Rollercoaster Drops Everyone Off

TJ McArthur closed with a birdie on 18 to finish even par and steal the RAD crown after a day of hot-potato leadership. Gerald Byrne birdied four of his first seven, front-nine flawless, then watched the wheels rattle off—three bogeys on the back let the lead slip through his fingers. Marcus Rich followed last week’s career-best -4 with a thud: three doubles in five holes ballooned him to +3 and second place. Travis Sherrod matched Marcus’s score for the last cash spot, meaning the division paid two runners-up while the actual winner walked away grinning.

RPA: One Warlord, Two Witnesses

Rick Effin Richmond posted the day’s lone sub-par round (-4, 978-rated) and laughed all the way to tag #1—again. Six-shot margin over Jared Johnson who, despite a personal-best even-par 940, never got closer than a polite distance. Christopher Rose rounded out the trio at +4, his 931 score drifting 25 points south of his 956 baseline. The Obsidian Thane watched from Rick’s hip and never flinched.

RAH: Two Warlords, One Score, Zero Agreement

Michael Kastning and Ricky Medina traded the lead seven separate times before signing identical +2 scorecards. Medina, rated 897, smashed his prior ceiling with a 921 performance; Kastning, at 945 baseline, still left happy after climbing 24 points. They halved first place, cashed the same, and left Battle Park arguing—amicably—over who actually won the argument.

RAE: 41 Points Above, Zero Complaints

Edward White torched his 880 rating by 41 points, carding a 921-rated +2 to lap the division. Seth Badders answered with the round’s most isolated bright spot—a birdie on the stingy par-3 16th—but still drifted home at +5. Loot the chains or go home empty-handed, indeed.

RAF & RAG: One Player, One Prize, Zero Suspense

Jesse Barefoot walked onto an RAF card of one, shot 893 (54 points above his 839), and birdied the last to make it official. Elizabeth Johnson duplicated the solo act in RAG: 808-rated, +3, a 73-point leap past her 735 baseline. No witnesses, no challengers—just pure over-performance echoing across the ashes.

$284 and Counting: The Hoard’s True Dragon 🐉

Super Ace Pot swelled to $284 after three raiders kicked in $6. No aces, so the dragon dozes—fatter, hungrier, still unbreached.

Rating Anomalies: The Hoard’s True Loot 💰

Elizabeth’s 73-point detonation led the wasteland, chased by Jesse (+54), Edward (+41), TJ (+22), and Michael (+24). On the flip side, Christopher Rose bottomed out 25 points below his norm. Only four birdies landed on tough holes all day: Gerald on 4, Marcus on 14, Seth on 16, Christopher on 2.

The Vault Keeper Holds. Again. Still. 🏰

Rick Effin Richmond’s 978 round kept the Obsidian Thane (#1) padlocked to his bag. AllIn reshuffle? Doesn’t matter when you win by 6.8 strokes. The tag—carved from cave-dark stone, dripping accumulated darkness—just nods and waits for next week.

Halfway through the apocalypse, folks. ⚡
Next Saturday the Tar River runs black with ink while more scorecards pile up.