The Queen Finally Picks a Favorite 😑

adjusts headset with gills that were absolutely not built for throne-room narration Four delvers rolled into Cedar Hills for "Heir Apparent," Week 9 of 10, under a bone-dry, near-windless 86.9°F sky — max gust a whopping 3.2 mph, which is less "wind" and more "the course exhaling." Four divisions, four players, and somehow still enough drama to justify my paycheck. This is the week the season's Tiara subplot stops being vague palace gossip and gets a name attached to it — Week 8 teased a "wobble," but Week 9 is where the Queen stops hedging and actually purrs for a favorite. One week from the finale, the throne room doors just cracked open.

The Rating Dip Heard Round the Dungeon 😑

Cameron Collar took RAD wire-to-wire again, riding a par train through holes 1-5 to a first-place finish — technically. Technically, because last week's -8, personal-best 950-rated coronation just became this week's +5 at an 886 rating, a brutal 13-stroke, 64-point swing that also landed 23 points below his own 909 rating. Still Round of the Day in RAD, still holding the cash line, still #1. But this is the kind of comedown the Underdark loves to gossip about — the crown didn't slip, the legend just took a nap.

The Boss Fight Gets Birdied Anyway 😑

Hole 8 is Cedar Hills' Elden Ring fog gate — +0.83 over par on average, a 7.4 Difficulty Index, the boss everyone respects and few survive. Bradley Bushman didn't just survive it, he owned it, dropping the pool's lone birdie there en route to a -5, 988-rated runaway. Clean bogey-free front nine, a par train through holes 9-13, then solo birdies on 14 and 17 — the latter defying a field-wide +0.7 average — closing with a spotless back nine. Down from last week's -12/1003 masterclass, sure, but still comfortably wire-to-wire and RPA's Round of the Day. The Tiara-bearer flexed. Nobody flinched harder than the boss hole.

Four Holes of Pure Chain Music 😑

John Shearin closed RAH at -1 with a 947-rated round, front nine three strokes hotter than the back, then caught absolute fire — solo birdies on holes 10, 11, 12, and 13 before the streak snapped, only to grab one more lone birdie on hole 15 for good measure. A par train through holes 4-8 rounded out a quiet, wire-to-wire, cash-line-holding reign and the division's Round of the Day. Four straight holes where he was the only one hearing chains — that's not luck, that's a heater.

Above Rating, Below the Radar 😑

Jeremy Pittman was RAE's entire cast, and he made the most of a solo stage — wire-to-wire at +6, an 875-rated round that's 24 points above his 851 rating. Small pool, big overperformance, cash line and Round of the Day both banked without a single competitor to sweat over. 🐾

The Difficulty Index Took an L 😑

Cross-division, the week belonged to statistical heroics doing battle with one honest regression. Bradley Bushman's lone Hole 8 birdie stared down a 7.4 Difficulty Index and didn't blink. John Shearin's four-hole birdie run (10-13) turned a stretch of the back nine into a personal recital. Jeremy Pittman's 24-points-above-rating round quietly outpaced his own history. And Cameron Collar's 23-points-below-rating stumble reminded everyone that even wire-to-wire wins can feel like a step back when the bar was set at 950 last week. Calm, hot, nearly windless conditions — the course gave everyone an equal shot at either story.

The Pot That Grows Without a Winner 😑

No CTP was on the board this week, but the Super Ace Pot (split) climbed from $272.00 to $280.00 with all four players chipping in their $8.00. No aces fell at Cedar Hills today — the balance just keeps quietly compounding for whoever eventually threads that needle.

Heir Apparent, Officially Ordained 😑

The Void Echo — that perfectly spherical void trailing violet lightning and a ghostly delay, forged from three successful tag defenses — stayed exactly where it was: Bradley Bushman's bag. A full 1→1 defense, AllIn mode's total reshuffle notwithstanding, but the verdict from the archives reads lukewarm rather than triumphant — a 988 against his own 990 rating is a -2 differential, the sort of number that makes even a heavily defended relic feel more "held the line" than "coronation." The Echo pulses when defending tags; this week it barely flickered. Over in Pool B, Jeremy Pittman retained the Last Ember as its top-ranked relic, no challenge details on the books, but the flame's still his to carry into the finale.

One Week Left Before the Litter Box 😑

The Tiara sits secured with Bradley Bushman heading into the finale, but the field behind him isn't sitting still — Cameron Collar's regression, John Shearin's four-hole birdie streak, and Jeremy Pittman's overperformance are all jockeying for position with one round left to make a case. drops dungeon voice The relic demands a sacrifice... of your stroke count... and Week 10 is where the season finally collects. Next episode: the ultimate showdown that decides who keeps the crown — and who's spending the off-season on litter box duty.