Eight Riders, One Very Wet Decree 🌧️

Eight players, 47.8°F average, rain falling at a steady clip and wind averaging 10.7 mph through the cottonwoods at Urban Forest at Spanish Fork — that's Lord Rides, Week 8 of 9, and the forest lord is said to ride through the course watching the final battles. One week left after this. Every stroke carried the weight of the whole season, and the water made sure everyone felt it.

Deadlocked Until The Very Last Putt

RPA Gold ended even, and it ended on the eighteenth. Chris Norman took the lead through hole 5 after trading it back and forth with John Ashworth, and Ashworth pulled even through hole 18 to finish the pair tied at -9, both 969-rated. Ashworth's number ran 46 points above his 923 rating; Norman's hot streaks covered holes 4-7 and 9-14, and he answered a double on 16 with a birdie on 17. Miller Schenewark came in at -5 on a 919 — 68 under his 987 rating — but he owns the shot of the night: an eagle on the 429-foot par 4 at 14. Small consolation for a card that finished right on the cash bubble.

Never Gave It Back, Never Even Blinked

Blake Hawkins tied Tyler Romney for the lead through hole 3, took it for good through hole 7, and closed it out wire-to-wire at -11 on a 993-rated round — the round of the day and 38 points above his 955 rating. His front nine ran three strokes better than the back, and he was the only player in the field to birdie hole 1, that 258-foot par 3 nobody else solved. Romney finished -7 on a 944, Tanner Shell -6, and Chris Fox -3 on an 894 — 29 under his rating — though he found OB on 14 and still buried a 49-footer from Circle 2 on 17 like the hole owed him money.

A Solo Ride And A Hundred-Eleven-Point Leap

RAE Red had one entry and nobody to beat, so let's not pretend there was a race. Josh Aram put up -9 on a 969-rated round — 111 points above his 858 rating and a personal best on this layout, with Circle 2 putts on 7 and 15 and a clean front nine. Anybody who wants to give him an actual opponent next Monday is welcome to register.

The Pot Nobody Has Claimed Yet

No CTP was on the board this week. The Super Ace pot sits at $2,999.91 with eight contributors and still no winner — nearly three grand waiting on one throw, and the finale is the last chance to go claim it.

Four Dollars Closer To A Better Forest

This event raised $4.00 through the league's $4.00-per-player registration contribution, all of it from the league itself. The Urban Forest Course Fund now stands at $543.05 of a $1,000.00 goal — 54% of the way there, $456.95 to go. Thanks to the league for chipping in.

The Crown Stayed Put, Which Is Rude

The bag tag is the league's standing pecking order, and this week the top of it didn't budge: Josh Aram defended the #1 tag for the first time, holding the crown through his -9 in RAE Red. Everybody else spent the night playing for the privilege of staying exactly where they were.

One Week Left, Hoofprints Already Fading

The finale is Last Quarry, Week 9, back at Urban Forest at Spanish Fork on The Wild Hung League Layout next Monday — the last hunt, the last tally, the curse lifted for another year. Hawkins's 993 and that Norman-Ashworth dead heat walk into a final board where the #1 tag gets defended one more time and the last quarry gets claimed. Registration is open for anyone who wants a say in how this ends.

And then the stencil hoofprints fade off the trail, waiting on next season's treaty — which is a very grand way to describe a bunch of people signing up to throw plastic in the mud again.