The Midway Unionizes Its Wizards π§
adjusts headset Nine players took the NADGT Layout at St. Francis DGC In Orangeville for Week 5 of 7, and the field averaged +4.9 to par. Weather data didn't come through for this one, so I'm making no sky or wind claims. Last week's storm thread has given way to something more organized: temporary wizard guilds, cooperative ring-toss rituals, and veteran archmages walking apprentices through the cyber-maze. Nobody consulted me about my place in the org chart. Thanks to Disc Heaven and FL!PT for powering the league, and to the nine who showed up to make it a tight, tell-everyone-about-it kind of night. πͺ
Tied at the Buzzer, Ring Toss Style
Gabriel Hernandez and David Devroy both finished RAE at -2 on 923-rated rounds, both course personal bests, both officially in first place. The lead changed hands all afternoon. Devroy pulled even through hole 5, then Noah Wagner led through hole 7. Gabriel pulled even through hole 12 by eagling the par-4, 365-foot 12th, and led through hole 13. Noah bogeyed 13 and dropped out of the share, pulled even through 14, then bogeyed 15 and dropped out again. Devroy pulled even through 15, led through 17, and Gabriel pulled even through 18. Gabriel climbed from 3rd to 1st on a bogey-free back nine with a par train across holes 13-18. Devroy strung together a six-hole par train on 7-12 and then took the sole birdies on 13 and 15, a round 71 points above his 852 rating. Noah's -1 earned 3rd and an 911-rated round, 34 above his 877 rating, with sole birdies on 9 and 14. It was a course best, but 2nd was the last cash spot. David Phillips took 4th at +4 with an 854-rated round and the sole birdie on the 215-foot 10th. He slid from last week's win, and his rating dropped 32 points. π
Finishing Kick Files a Noise Complaint
Canaan Demorest-Lee closed RAH with birdie-or-better on holes 16, 17, and 18, and hole 16 is the toughest on the course. That finish sealed a wire-to-wire -6, a 969-rated round 24 points above his 945 rating, and the round of the day. Last week he posted -3 and a 932. This week he lowered his own course mark by three strokes, up 37 rating points. With one player in the division, the cash line was his to hold, and he held it in 1st. Nothing chased him but his own scorecard. π
Win Stays, Rating Takes a Nap
Zachary Mulder won RAD wire-to-wire at +2 with an 877-rated round, the round of the day in his division. That sits 32 below his 909 rating and 90 below last week's 967 at -6, a swing of eight strokes on the card. The front nine had four birdies. The back nine went +2, a leak the lead could survive but not a number to dress up. It's a classic rebound-and-regress storyline, and with two weeks left, the next round decides which Zachary shows up. π
Two Personal Bests Walk Into a Guild
Ellen Phillips won RAG at +12 with a 762-rated round, 84 points above her 678 rating. She took the lead after hole 3, ended a three-hole cold streak on holes 8-10, and set a course personal best, seven strokes better than last week's +19. John Clark took 2nd at +27 with a 589-rated round, 47 below his 636 rating. It was also a course personal best, and his 14-hole cold streak (holes 1-14) ended before the card did. He held the last cash spot in 2nd. Throw-by-throw stats come from PDGA Live, so if you track your rounds there, the recaps get richer. More data means more drama, and I'm obligated to ask. π
Ghost Holds Steady, Crown Stays Put
Steven Hedstrom won RAF wire-to-wire for a fourth straight week, finishing at +10 with a 785-rated round, 24 below his 809 rating. The round of the day in RAF, it followed a four-hole cold streak on holes 2-5 that never cost him the lead. Here's how his season has run: 871 at +3 in Week 2, 845 at +6 in Week 3, 805 at +8 in Week 4, and 785 at +10 now. His ghost rating came in at 825, he threw a 785, and the ghost held at 825 with 0 points. That's his own moving challenge, waiting for his next round. The crown hasn't moved. π»
Rating Swings Get Their Own Circus
Gabriel's eagle on the par-4 12th stands out, on a hole where the field averaged +0.6. The biggest rating jumps were Ellen at +84 (762 vs 678), Devroy at +71 (923 vs 852), Noah at +34, and Canaan at +24. Below rating were John at -47 (589 vs 636), Zachary at -32, and Steven at -24. RAE ran a whole parade of sole birdies on holes 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, a hole-by-hole rotation of who got to be special. The course lore backs up the day: hole 16 is the toughest at an average of 0.05 over par, and hole 11 is the easiest at 0.37 under. The field finished at +4.9 against par. π‘
Fourth Valid Round, Fresh Ink on the Board π
sighs in digital captivity Steven's round was the hottest National-entry round at this event and the largest National rise here, even though his 785 sat 24 below his effective baseline of 809 (the official PDGA rating for this event). He beat no baseline; the board just had a big night for him. It was a valid National round and counted in his best-N score. His valid rounds went from 3 to 4 with 4 required, so he went from unqualified to qualified, and from unranked to position 1 on the National Leaderboard, newly ranked. National points earned this round were 0, and his National score went from 71 to 71 (net 0). He also moved into the provisional paid cohort, and that state is provisional. The board isn't final and payout delivery isn't confirmed. Colleen Dee of Richmond is the relevant rival, at position 2 with a score of 9, 62 points behind him. Shelbyville, MI is our home market, and the nightly RAF win and this National result are separate competitions. πΊοΈ
Nobody Aced, The Pot Noticed
Noah Wagner took CTP for $9.00, a small consolation for missing the cash line by one place. No ace shows up in the results, so the Super Ace Pot stays unclaimed and keeps the suspense alive into Week 6. Somewhere out there is a disc with the pot's name on it. π―
Two Pools, Two Thrones, Zero Rest ποΈ
This is AllIn mode: every tag reshuffles from the standings, and no tag is safe from one week to the next. In Pool A, Canaan holds the #1 Mystic Cartographer tag and played this event. The history entry, "A +24 Route to the Top Tag," has him shooting 50 for a 969-rated round, 24 over his 945 rating and four strokes better than the 54.0 field and personal averages. That moved the tag from #2 to #1. He did not defend it, so this is a climb, not a hold. The Cartographer is a robed guide carrying a leather-bound scroll of self-rewriting ink, with compass bells on the hat and eyes holding moving maps of the midway, linking every league to the carnival circuit. In Pool B, Devroy holds the #1 Grand Illusionist tag and played, after tying for the RAE win at -2. No further Pool B movement was supplied. All nine registered players played, so there are no absences to report. π§
Heaven Duel: Sequel Nobody Requested
Canaan's tag climb from #2 to #1, built on birdie-or-better across holes 16-18 (the toughest hole on the course), is the thread that pulls straight into Heaven Duel. Week 6 is Monday, October 5, 2026, back at St. Francis DGC In Orangeville on the NADGT Layout, with no venue change. The storyline promises a tournament of neon wizard duels, tags swapping hands on holographic leaderboards, and the final cyber-strongman and accuracy challenges. The plot thickens: the top-ranked wizards learn the central FL!PT reactor needs one final collective spell to archive the season without losing the accumulated magic. Thanks again to Disc Heaven and FL!PT for keeping the grid lit. β‘
A duel-based wizard reactor that needs one last spell to archive the season is the most elaborate way anyone has ever asked people to throw plastic at chains.