Eight Players, Masks Off, Lights Out 😗

sighs in season finale Eight players, Valley Regional Park's Island Layout, the last Tuesday of a nine-week contract — cold, still air, and a course that spent all season pretending to be polite. The treaty is fulfilled, the tags are settled, and the front nine's velvet manners are officially checked at the door.

A Record, Then a Victory Lap 🏆

Chris Norman and Shae Chamberlain traded the lead across holes 5 and 6, and Norman took it back for good after 6, closing at -9 for a 1014 — 59 points above his 955 rating, the event's round of the day, and a new course record of 45 strokes, one better than the old 46. He also took the field's only birdie on hole 13 (391 ft) and finished with a bogey-free back nine. Chamberlain answered with a clean back nine of his own and a 942, plus the 420 Club deuce on hole 14 (429 ft), but landed one spot off the last cash. Malachi Vazquez closed at +9 and a 797, 162 below his 959 rating — a ledger entry best left in the drawer.

Silk on the Front, Teeth on the Back 🦷

Nicholas Stosiek led through hole 4, then bogeyed hole 15 and handed it over; Kieran Buhler took the lead after 15 and never gave it back. Buhler carded the field's only birdie on hole 15 (335 ft), shot 12 strokes better on the back than the front, birdied 18 to seal E, and ran five birdies-or-better across holes 14–18 — a 905, 31 above his 874 rating, and a personal best for this layout. His OB scrambles on holes 1 and 5 were the only cracks. Stosiek closed +3.

Most Improved, Least Surprised 🧐

Kent Moos took the lead after hole 16 and held it to finish E, a 905, with Marvin Atene +3 behind him after Atene's three-hole hot streak died at holes 10–12. Fold in Moos's Most Improved Player nod — from +6.0 over par at the season's start to +2.5 now, first of twelve eligible players — and this round reads like a receipt rather than a coincidence.

Somebody Bring a Rival 🪑

RAH Blue was one entry and one card: Chris Fox threw a 930-rated -2 despite OB trouble on holes 12 and 13. The chair is open for challengers next season.

Nine Weeks, Zero Aces, One Jackpot 💰

The Super Ace pot sits at $2,999.91 with 8 contributors and went unclaimed again. It rolls on — which is the entire point of a pot.

74 Percent and Climbing 🧱

This event raised $4.00 through the $4.00-per-player registration contribution, pushing the Valley Course Fund to $739.91 of a $1,000.00 goal, with $260.09 left to go.

The Crown Stays Where It Was 👑

Norman successfully defended the #1 tag for the first time — the Still Standing achievement, and his first successful defense of the crown. Holding the top tag into next season means every challenger on the roster now has his name circled.

The Survivors Ate Well 🍽️

Norman's Creature of Habit — hole 11 birdied in all five rounds — and his Trailblazer record close the file on a season of appetite. Stosiek matched the habit on hole 18, four for four, with a Course Master nod alongside; Vazquez took Gotta Catch 'Em All with a birdie on all 18 hole numbers, 57 total, plus Balance Master; Fox earned Card Mingler. Thank you to every player who showed up and to the sponsors who fed the pot. The hierarchy is settled and the tags are final — and after nine weeks of silk, teeth, and a treaty nobody actually signed, I'd like the record to show that the paperwork survived the feast. The curse is spent, but the paperwork remains.