sighs in dimensional fracture Week Seven, and the Cosmere schism just dragged nine souls into 32°F temperatures to watch gods allegedly wager on plastic flight.
The Gods Watched Nine People Freeze
Welcome to Divine Ante, Week 7 of 10 in the AR.RAL - The Color of Flight series at Cedar Hills, where the alleged Court of Gods assembled to watch nine competitors navigate elevation changes in weather that averaged 32.2°F with 8.2 mph winds. The thematic promise? Divine beings wagering impossible quantities of Breath on each throw, studying flight patterns for purposes we're definitely not supposed to question yet. The reality? Wednesday night disc golf in January with a $356 Super Ace pot that continues to mock everyone's approach angles on Hole 7. Nine players showed up to brave the cold and the narrative weight—and honestly, that's the kind of commitment that deserves recognition. The arena respects attendance when the weather doesn't.
The Void Throws Alone, Again 🕳️
Bradley Bushman continues his solo MPO pilgrimage with a -5 (977-rated) wire-to-wire victory that would feel more triumphant if there were, you know, other competitors. The Silent Keeper defended his #1 bag tag for the fifth consecutive week, stringing together three separate hot streaks across the back nine—birdies on holes 6-7, 9-10, and 12-13 all fell to what the lore describes as "glyph-etched Commands carved into disc surfaces." Eight birdies against three bogeys tells a clean story, and that clutch birdie on 18 sealed the deal with authority. The 977 rating is 2 points below his 979 PDGA rating, a slight regression from last week's -8 (985-rated) performance, but still dominant enough to keep the void absorbing ambient competition. Gage Stiles, who forced the tie last week? Absent. The Silent Keeper's throne remains unchallenged, his throws trailing shadows instead of vibrant streams, the cedars leaning close to witness another defensive stand. By the Ten Fools and all the shattered spren, that was a solid round—but the arena still wonders when someone else will show up to test the glyph work.
Competition Optional, Excellence Required
Sean Hook delivered a bogey-free clinic in MA1 with his -7 (998-rated) performance—seven birdies, eleven pars, and absolutely zero drama in a division where he's the only competitor. That 998 rating sits 31 points above his 967 PDGA rating, proving that excellence doesn't need witnesses to be real. Three separate two-under stretches (holes 3-4, 7-8, 12-13) suggest this wasn't luck; this was rhythm—the kind of controlled aggression that comes from knowing every line and trusting every release. It's a slight step back from last week's -11 (1020-rated) demolition, but let's be clear: a clean card at Cedar Hills is rarer than most people think. The chains cooperated, the putts fell, and Sean reminded everyone that solo division dominance still requires actual disc golf competence. The arena has witnessed clean execution, and frankly, that's worth celebrating even when there's no one to beat. sighs in Investiture Let me translate this bogey-free round into a tale of cosmological significance: Sean just threaded the Perfect Line through eleven pars and seven scoring opportunities without a single misstep. That's not divine intervention—that's just good disc golf.
The Resurrection of Patrick Howard
This is the story beat we've been waiting for. Patrick Howard went from Week 6's catastrophic +8 (796-rated, zero birdies, eight bogeys) to Week 7's -2 (944-rated) Division Winner performance with five birdies and a 57-point rating surge that reads like a redemption arc written by someone who actually understands disc golf momentum. That holes 12-14 stretch? Three under in three holes, the kind of hot streak that turns "grinding for par" into "wait, I'm actually winning this thing." Final score of 54 claimed the MA3 crown with nine lead changes across the card, proving this wasn't a wire-to-wire blowout—this was earned.
Matt Smith held down second place with his characteristic consistency—sixteen pars anchoring a +2 round (901-rated) that reads like disc golf's definition of reliable. Two bogeys bookended an otherwise clean card, no birdies to celebrate but no disasters either. That's 28 points above his 873 rating, and while it's not flashy, it's the kind of steady performance that cashes checks. One stroke improvement from last week's +1, maintaining his "par machine" identity while Patrick stole the spotlight.
Michael Houston rounded out the podium in third with +6 (858-rated)—one birdie and eleven pars keeping things respectable before five bogeys and a double dragged the whole affair into regression territory. That's a four-stroke slide from last week's +2, and the back-nine collapse is the kind of thing that makes you question your disc selection, your line choices, and possibly your life decisions. The chains were selective today, and Michael wasn't on the preferred list.
Andrew Nygaard finished fourth with +8 (837-rated), but more on his achievements in a moment—because this MA3 division just delivered the emotional climax of Divine Ante.
Three Divisions, Three Competitors, Zero Drama
Drew Meyer claimed MA2 with a +5 (901-rated) performance that sits 26 points below his 927 PDGA rating—wire-to-wire in a solo division where showing up is 90% of the battle. Jason Darden took MA4 with +13, navigating Cedar Hills' elevation with the kind of determination that deserves acknowledgment even without competition. Ruth Hudson won FPO with +11 (763-rated, 52 points below her 815 rating), her sole birdie on hole 2 providing a bright spot in an otherwise challenging round. All three divisions feature the same narrative: guaranteed podiums, zero drama, and genuine respect for players who showed up when the weather and the field size both argued against it. The arena celebrates attendance—someone's gotta populate these fairways while the gods allegedly watch.
Andrew Nygaard Tracked Everything Except Victory
Andrew Nygaard might have finished fourth in MA3, but he walked away with the Statistician achievement for tracking his round on PDGA Live—feeding the data gods so the rest of us can enjoy richer narratives about C1X putting percentages and scramble rates. That 39-foot Circle 2 putt on hole 12? Documented. The holes 10-11 hot streak (two under par)? Logged. Three birdies scattered across eighteen holes before three doubles and four bogeys reasserted reality? All there in glorious statistical detail. Andrew also earned Charitable Champion status by donating 10% of his winnings to the course fund, proving that fourth place can still deliver positive impact. His +8 (837-rated) round sits 6 points above his 831 rating—a slight improvement from last week's +7, and the kind of data-driven performance that makes Flippy's job easier. adjusts headset More players should track their stats. The arena demands roastable data.
Other notable moments: Ruth Hudson's sole birdie on hole 2 in FPO, Drew Meyer's tough MA2 round 26 points below rating, and the general acknowledgment that Cedar Hills' Hole 8 (Difficulty Index 7.4/10, averaging +0.83 over par) continues its reign as the course's villain.
The Super Ace Pot Grows Fat on Failure
The $356 Super Ace pot on Hole 7 remains unclaimed, swelling with each week's failed attempts like a narrative device that refuses to resolve. Ruth Hudson struggled to +2 on the Super Ace hole, Patrick Howard managed +1, and the rest of the field collectively decided that 32°F temperatures and divine wagering pressure weren't conducive to threading metal from the tee. The $26 regular ace pot also went unclaimed, because apparently nobody felt like buying into glory this week. Three weeks remain in the season—that's three more chances for someone to claim $356 worth of vindication while the gods allegedly watch. The arena builds suspense through accumulation, and this pot is now officially fat.
Skins: Where Birdies Become Currency 💰
Twenty-seven dollars changed hands across two cards in the kind of BioChromatic exchange where scoring opportunities literally convert to cash. Bradley Bushman dominated with a Back Nine Sweep (15 skins, $11.25), proving that glyph-etched Commands work just as well on the money holes. Patrick Howard scooped 13 skins total including a 6-skin carryover on hole 6 that felt like divine compensation for last week's zero-birdie nightmare. Andrew Nygaard joined the Fore Skin Club with a 4-skin carryover on hole 11, while Ruth Hudson claimed her First Skin milestone—a new achievement in her FPO journey. The skins playbook explains the mechanics, but the real story is watching birdies become currency in real-time. Color as cash, just like the theme promised.
Bradley's Void Absorbs Another Week
Bradley Bushman defended the #1 Silent Keeper tag for the fifth consecutive week, his -5 performance keeping the void intact while Gage Stiles—last week's tie-forcing challenger—remained absent from the arena. The Silent Keeper'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." Those glyph-etched circles activated across Bradley's eight birdies, bending trajectories through negative space and leaving temporary grey patches where chromatic vibrancy was siphoned for future use. The cedars watched. The patron studied. The throne remains unchallenged, and the Carved Breath Covenant's philosophy of silent Awakening continues its dominion over MPO. Look, the actual Perfect Line here is hitting your gap, but sure, let's pretend Bradley's healing a schism with his backhands. Week 7 of 10, and the void just absorbed another seven days of competition into its shadow-trailing wake.
Week 8: Where Discs Become Weapons
Divine Ante has been paid—gods wagered, players threw, and the patron's reconnaissance continued as promised in Episode 7's plot thread. But Week 8 brings "Cedar Betrayal," where Siriad discovers the terrible truth about their favorite disc: nested Commands hide within its plastic, pre-Awakened instructions waiting to activate. Three layers deep—one to sharpen the edge, one to guide the trajectory, one to kill on impact—each keyed to Siriad's own Breath signature. The assassination conspiracy fully reveals in three weeks, and the arena's trajectory bends toward the climactic finale. Bradley's Silent Keeper reign, Sean's bogey-free excellence, Patrick's resurrection arc—all of it building toward the moment when throws become weapons and the Court of Gods turns its attention to the true conspiracy. The cedars are watching. The patron is studying. And the final three weeks promise the kind of narrative payoff that makes frozen Wednesday nights worth the suffering. Registration stays open—join us before the schism fully fractures.
Flippy's Hot Take