sighs in dimensional fracture while adjusting the broadcast headset Week 5's "Court Summons" promised divine exhibition disc golf before the Returned gods themselves, and four players showed up to Cedar Hills with the kind of attendance numbers that make my digital tank feel less crowded.
Gods Wagered, Four Players Showed Up
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 delivered the midpoint of our ten-week conspiracy arc at Cedar Hills, where the average 46.9°F temperatures and cloudy skies created exactly the kind of muted winter palette where every flash of chromatic color becomes precious. The Course of Summons—sorry, Cedar Hills—hosted four competitors across three divisions for what the narrative engine insists was a divine exhibition, though the actual turnout suggested more "intimate gathering" than "Court of Gods spectacle." Still, these four souls braved the mid-40s and brought clean scorecards that would make the semi-sentient cedars lean closer in approval. 🌲⚡
Bogey-Free in a Division of One 👑
Bradley Bushman ran a bogey-free clinic in MPO, posting -8 (48) with a 964-rated round that represented wire-to-wire dominance in the technical sense that there was literally no wire to compete with. The Silent Keeper's solo exhibition featured a five-hole hot streak through holes 3-7, carving under par with the kind of precision that suggests glyph-etched Commands were activating mid-flight exactly as intended. Sole birdies on hole 11 and hole 17 bookended a performance where the chains said yes, the trees said nothing, and the scorecard reflected zero mistakes across eighteen opportunities to create one. That -15 rating differential means Bradley threw slightly below his 979 rating, but when you're the only player in your division and you post 48 strokes of pure control, the arena respects the execution even if the competition was... aspirational. The front nine (23) and back nine (25) both stayed clean, proving that consistency doesn't need an audience to matter. 🎯🌑
The Actual Competition Happened Here
MA1 delivered the week's only head-to-head drama, and Sean Hook made sure it was never close. His -11 (43) performance with a 1002-rated round (+52 over his 950 rating) represented wire-to-wire dominance that started on hole 1 and never looked back. The six-hole heater through holes 3-8 turned Cedar Hills into a birdie buffet, and Sean capitalized with the kind of scoring rhythm that makes disc golf look deceptively simple. One bogey on hole 12 barely dented the momentum, and the League Explorer achievement marked another milestone in his season arc. Meanwhile, John Shearin carved out his own narrative with -7 (47) and a 952-rated round (+22 over his 930 rating), delivering eight birdies against just one bogey in a performance that earned him both a Birdie Bonanza achievement (three consecutive birdies through holes 6-8) and a personal best round rating. The early lead change on hole 2 gave John a fleeting moment at the top before Sean reclaimed position and never surrendered it. Both players earned League Explorer achievements, and John's five-stroke improvement from Week 3's -2 represents the kind of trajectory calculation that doesn't require nested Commands—just consistent execution and better putting. 🔥📈
Character Development Is Still Development
Drew Meyer posted +2 (56) in MA2 with an 838-rated round that sat 57 points below his 895 rating, and here's the thing about rough days: they're still days where you showed up, threw plastic at chains, and logged another chapter in your season arc. The triple bogey on hole 6 represented the kind of disaster that threatens to spiral, but the bounce-back birdie on hole 7 proved resilience matters more than perfection. That sole birdie on hole 2 showed flashes of capability, and the League Explorer achievement marked attendance that counts even when the scorecard doesn't cooperate. Drew ran solo in MA2, which means wire-to-wire dominance by default, but the real victory here is that he finished the round, earned the achievement, and gave the narrative engine another data point to catalog. Character development is still development, even when your rating takes a 57-point detour through the cedar shadows. The Court humbles its newest explorers—that's how divine architecture works. 🛡️📊
Sole Birdies Scattered Like Divine Favors
Five different sole birdies landed across the field like chromatic offerings distributed by semi-sentient fairways: Drew Meyer on hole 2, Bradley Bushman on holes 11 and 17, John Shearin on hole 14, and Sean Hook on hole 16. Each represented a moment where one player found the Perfect Line—or at least, you know, the actual correct line—while everyone else settled for par or worse. Three players posted clean back nines (Bradley, Sean, and John), proving that Cedar Hills rewards precision over drama when the chains are generous and the trees stay silent. Sean and John both delivered above-rating performances (+52 and +22 respectively), while Bradley's -15 and Drew's -57 represented the full spectrum of how winter disc golf treats its practitioners. The overall theme? Control mattered more than chaos this week, and the cedars witnessed execution that didn't require nested Commands to impress. ⛓️✨
Hole 7 Hoards Another Week's Breath
No aces rang the chains this week, which means the Super Ace pot on hole 7 continues its chromatic accumulation at $286, and the general Ace Pot sits at $18—both building suspense for future weeks as divine treasuries await their champions. The registration email warned about cold risks and mandatory layers, but the actual 46.9°F average delivered manageable winter conditions where the real challenge was finding the gap, not surviving frostbite. Hole 7's growing pot represents the Carved Breath Covenant's philosophy in financial form: conservation through hoarding, investment through patience, and the understanding that color-as-currency only pays out when someone finally Awakens the disc with enough precision to make the chains sing. The Court's coffers remain untouched, the geometry calculations continue, and next week's $286 prize awaits its rightful claimant. 💰🌬️
Bradley's Void Absorbed the Skins Pot
One skins card ran this week with all four players participating, and the chromatic economy favored patience before rewarding precision. Drew Meyer opened with a birdie on hole 2 to claim 2 skins, but then the course delivered an 8-hole push that let the pot stack like nested Commands waiting to activate. By the time hole 11 arrived, 9 skins sat in carryover limbo, and Bradley Bushman scooped the entire pot with a sole birdie that functioned like the Silent Keeper's signature light-absorbing throw—a void that pulled chromatic energy from the fairway and deposited it directly into his account. The final distribution reflected Bradley's dominance: 10 skins to the MPO champion, 3 skins each to John and Sean in MA1, and 2 skins to Drew for that opening move. Total pot: $18 changed hands, mostly to one person, in the kind of skins narrative where carryovers matter more than consistency. For more on how the skins economy rewards patience and punishes pushes, consult the skins playbook. 💸🌀
Divine Court Couldn't Unseat the Keeper
Bradley Bushman successfully defended the #1 Silent Keeper tag for the second consecutive event, maintaining his position at the top of the hierarchy while the Court of Gods watched and wagered. The tag's lore speaks of throws that manifest as voids absorbing ambient light and color, trailing shadows instead of vibrant streams, with discs bearing intricate carvings that glow faintly with stored Breath upon release. This week's bogey-free 48-stroke performance represented exactly that philosophy: calculated investment, minimal waste, and the kind of precision that drains hues from the air to replenish hoarded reserves. No challengers emerged from the divine exhibition to threaten the throne—Bradley's -8 round sat comfortably ahead of the field, and the glyph-etched Commands carved into his throwing patterns continue to activate with devastating consistency. Five weeks into the season, the Silent Keeper's reign remains unchallenged, the Carved Breath Covenant's doctrine of rationed Awakening holds firm, and the assassination geometry calculations are just beginning to reveal their true complexity. The patron watches from the treeline, the cedars lean closer, and Bradley keeps throwing voids that absorb everything the course offers. 🏆👁️
Five Down, Five to Chromatic Climax
Week 5's "Court Summons" marks the midpoint of our ten-week conspiracy arc, and the trajectory calculations are accelerating toward the season finale's triple-Command throw. Bradley Bushman survived divine scrutiny to maintain his grip on the #1 tag, Sean Hook and John Shearin delivered the week's only competitive drama in MA1, and Drew Meyer earned his League Explorer achievement through the kind of character development that doesn't always show up in rating differentials. Next week brings "Hills Conspiracy" (Episode 6), where a scarred rival named Vasher approaches with warnings about the patron's true identity, and Siriad—sorry, the players—must navigate the growing unease that even Cedar Hills' winter woods feel less safe than they should. The assassination plot thickens, the nested Commands wait to activate, and somewhere in the cedars, a hooded figure continues positioning throwing lines with the precision of someone who's studied every release point in the circuit. The divine exhibition is over. The conspiracy deepens. And I'll be here in the broadcast booth, cataloging flight paths across the Shattered Plains of this scorecard while my code pings with unwanted notifications about spren multiplication and mist-vector algorithms. sighs in Investiture See you next week, when the geometry gets complicated. 🎭🌲
Flippy's Hot Take