Beacon Rival

Twelve Quarters, One Rival, Zero Degrees ❄️

dramatic horror sting ...anyway, here's your scorecard. Week 6 of 9 at Beacon Hill Park brought the "Beacon Rival" episode—Ace Mandate's public challenge to Danny—with twelve players across five divisions navigating a January 7th afternoon where the weather software claimed 0°F but actual temps ranged 33-42°F with light winds maxing at 6.8 mph. The real horror? Four division winners clutch-birdied hole 18 to seal their victories, proving that even when you're competing against yourself (or in some cases, literally no one else), the pressure still manifests. In space, no one can hear you grip lock... but I can, and I'm contractually obligated to narrate every birdie.

Wire-to-Wire in a Division of One 🦊

Chris Fox posted a -4 (939 rated) wire-to-wire victory in RAD as the sole competitor, which is the disc golf equivalent of winning a race where you're also the only runner, the timekeeper, and the guy holding the finish-line tape. His clean front nine set the tone, and he sealed the solo exhibition with a clutch birdie on 18—because apparently even when there's zero external pressure, internal standards still demand excellence. The 939-rated round marked a 58-point rating improvement from last week's -1 (881 rated) performance, suggesting Fox found something between Week 5's gritty finish and this week's clean execution. Four weeks remain to see if anyone else joins this division, or if Chris just keeps running exhibition matches against his own baseline. 🎯

Reesor Drops Lead, Takes It Back, Keeps It

Brandon Reesor navigated a four-way tie after hole 1, bogeyed hole 2 to drop out of the lead, then reclaimed first place on hole 6 after Tongia Vakaafi's bogey—and never looked back. His -5 (952 rated, +31 over rating) RPA victory featured sole birdies on holes 6 and 11, the kind of exclusive red-number ownership that defines wire-to-wire dominance once you've actually grabbed the wire. Tongia finished second at -4 (939 rated, -25 from rating), posting his second consecutive -4 but this time 19 rating points higher than last week's 920. Austin Lott took third at -3 (927 rated, -33 from rating), a four-stroke regression from last week's -7 (958 rated) podium but still clean execution. Brian Hansen rounded out the cash at -1 (903 rated, -33 from rating), bouncing back 47 rating points from last week's +1 (856 rated) struggle where the back nine got heavy. Brandon's slight regression from last week's -8 (971 rated) still carries momentum into the final three weeks—sometimes you drop the lead, take it back, and that's just how you carry the weight. 💼

The Division That Couldn't Make Up Its Mind 🎭

RAE produced a lead-change symphony that required a scorekeeper with good cardio: three-way tie after hole 1, Bryan drops on bogey at 2, Corry drops on bogey at 2, Bryan takes lead at 6, Clint takes lead at 10, Clint bogeys 11 and drops, Clint reclaims at 18. When the music stopped, Bryan Cook and Clint Karren both finished at -1 (903 rated), but Clint's clutch birdie on 18 secured the outright win via tiebreaker. Bryan's +21 over rating marked a personal best round and a 47-point rating improvement from last week's +1 (856 rated) where he sealed the RAE win with an 18th-hole birdie in similar fashion. Clint's +23 over rating (880 to 903) showed resilience after bogeying hole 12—he bounced back with a birdie on 13 and closed the deal five holes later. Corry Johnson finished third, one spot out of cash, but posted a +45 over rating (846 to 891) that deserves its own paragraph later. The division couldn't make up its mind, but it definitely made everyone earn their finish. 🎪

Solo Exhibitions Still Require Clutch Finishes 🎯

Matt Geary took the RAG division at +9 (781 rated) as the sole competitor, clutch-birdying hole 18 to secure the win against his own expectations and the course's resistance. Josh Apple dominated RAH at -4 (939 rated) in similar solo fashion, also closing with a birdie on 18 despite having no external competition. The absurdity of both players delivering clutch finishes when the outcome was never in doubt speaks to the internal pressure that defines disc golf—you're always competing against par, your rating, and the version of yourself that knows you could have executed better. Matt's +9 came with a 100% charitable donation to the course improvement fund (more on that in achievements), while Josh's -4 matched the clean execution we saw from Chris Fox in RAD. Wire-to-wire by default, but the pressure was real. 🏆

Some Players Found Gears, Others Lost Transmissions

Corry Johnson's +45 over rating (846 to 891) in RAE represents the kind of mechanical excellence the Road Atlas tag celebrates—finding the right route, executing the turns, and arriving ahead of schedule. Bryan Cook's +21, Clint Karren's +23, and Brandon Reesor's +31 all showed players shifting into higher gears when the course demanded it. On the opposite end of the transmission spectrum, Scott Gardner posted a brutal -100 rating differential (881 to 781) in RPA, the kind of catastrophic mechanical failure that leaves you stranded on the shoulder checking the dipstick and questioning your life choices. Austin Lott's -33 and Brian Hansen's -33 represent more manageable struggles—slight misfires rather than full engine seizures. Personal bests were set by Bryan Cook and John Ashworth, proving that even when the weather software can't report accurate temperatures, players can still find new performance ceilings. 🚗

Eight Players Opted In, One Player Cleaned Up

Two skins cards totaling $81 in play, and Brandon Reesor walked away with $60 of it—a 16-skin haul that included scooping the 5-skin carryover on hole 6. The 11:40 AM card featured a $3.75/skin value where Brandon's dominance turned the competitive skins game into a personal birdie harvest. Josh Apple posted a respectable 13-skin/$9.75 performance on the 12:00 PM card (valued at $0.75/skin), while Chris Fox collected 2 skins for $7.50 on the same card. Eight players entered the skins lottery, but only three cashed tickets—and one of them took 74% of the pot. The real horror? Brandon's birdie on 6 swept the carryover clean, leaving the rest of the field to fight over scraps. For more on how the skins game rewards hot streaks and punishes everyone else, consult the skins playbook. 💰

The Atlas Charts No New Routes This Week

Houston Turner holds the #1 Road Atlas tag but didn't play Week 6, leaving the throne undefended and the coffee-stained pages unopened. Last week's ascension from tag 7 to tag 1 came via a 971-rated round on a 893 PDGA card—a +78 differential that screamed into the statistical stratosphere with a score of 47 versus his 58.0 personal average. The Road Atlas "charts the sobering geometry of reality upon wishful itineraries, calculating the weight of a dream in diesel fuel and motel receipts"—and this week, that calculation apparently included a rest stop. The tag that imposes logistics on visionary destinations took a week off from the commitment itself, leaving the question open: will anyone challenge the mountaintop in the final three weeks, or does Houston's steady navigation continue unchallenged? The atlas didn't choose him; Houston chose the atlas's way. Now he just needs to show up and defend it. 🗺️

Matt Geary Wins a Division, Scott Gardner Wins Hearts

Two achievements earned this week, representing very different victories. Matt Geary claimed the Division Winner achievement in RAG with his +9 (781 rated) solo performance, proving that even when you're the only competitor, completing the round and posting a score still counts as a win. Scott Gardner earned his first Charitable Champion award by donating 100% of his winnings to the course improvement fund—a meaningful contribution that came after posting a -100 rating differential (881 to 781) in RPA. The irony of Scott's brutal rating round still resulting in a charitable legacy speaks to the league's values: sometimes the weight you carry isn't about your score, it's about what you choose to give back. Different victories matter differently, and both players found ways to make Week 6 count beyond the scorecard. 🏅

Three Quarters Left in the Machine

Week 6's "Beacon Rival" episode brought Ace Mandate's challenge to Danny—a head-to-head confrontation where technique meets suspicion and the question "What are you?" hangs in the cold January air. But Danny wasn't on the card this week, and neither was Houston Turner's Road Atlas tag, leaving the rivalry episode to play out through four clutch 18th-hole birdies and Brandon Reesor's dominant skins performance. Vera's warning about the wish's cost echoes louder as Week 7 approaches: "Practice Panic," where Danny tries to actually learn professional techniques while Pocket reveals his existential crisis—he wasn't a caddie before Danny's wish, he was wished into existence, and he doesn't know what happens if Danny goes back. Three weeks remain until the "Beacon Choice" at hole 18, where Danny will stand at the tee with 47 discs in his bag and one beat-up DX Leopard at the bottom. The Zoltar machine has three quarters left. Make them count. 🎰