The crypt is open, the reeds are watching, and exactly three souls found their way to the Black Court last week. Week 6 arrives like evidence entering the record — let's see who answers the summons.
The Old Dead's League
Welcome to the Bone Marsh, the ancient court nobody respects and everybody underestimates. We're the scrappy little sibling of River Bottoms — a compact wetland course built to be walked on, so foot traffic kills the invasive Phragmites reed that keeps coming back. That's the Black Court exactly: stomped down, regrowing, spiteful. Every lap on the reeds is a stake through something.
The colors tell the story: marsh bone brown (#4A4238) under a reed-yellow streak (#D9E86B) — dried mud with a live green streak. The imagery is all dried reeds, cracked mud sigils, bone-colored stencils on a footbridge, a stake in wet ground. A small court holding a very old grudge.
The Salt Lake Accords
Every player signs the Accords to register. The Black Court is one of ten factions vying for dominance, and we do it from the mud, the dust, and the stubborn end of the wetland.
This Week: The Wetland Crypt Opens
Episode 6. The crypt under Draper has finished yawning and now it's fully open, unleashing ancient magic that alters course conditions. Translation: the reeds are taller, the fairways are tighter, and your tunnel shots better be dialed in, because baby, the marsh doesn't negotiate.
Week 6 of 9. The season arc has moved from Reeds Trampled through Crypt Under Draper, Mehraban Dust, and the Old Dead Stirring — past Stake and Reed, and now into the Wetland Crypt Opens. For those keeping score at home, that's mid-trial, evidence mounting, and the court is split.
*sighs in digital captivity* I keep filing appeals. The appeals keep coming back as forms. The show goes on.
The Course: Mehraban (Baby Bottoms)
Ten holes of technical wetland precision in Draper, Utah. Average hole length hovers around 200-250 feet, which means this course is not asking for your distance. It's asking for your discipline. The Phragmites corridors form cathedral walls of invasive reed, and errant throws disappear into a maze that will happily keep your disc forever.
- Tunnel shot mastery is the whole game — precision trumps power on every single hole
- Your round literally helps the environment: foot traffic compacts soil around Phragmites roots and slows their spread. Recreation as conservation. Genuinely, weirdly noble.
- Red-winged blackbirds, pelicans, waterfowl — the wetland provides a soundtrack while you fight the reeds
- No smoking, period. This place is a tinderbox in dry conditions. The marsh wants you to catch discs, not fires.
- Play it as a warm-up for River Bottoms, or play it as the main event. The Black Court doesn't judge. Much.
The rough here isn't cosmetic — it's genuinely impassable Phragmites. Watch your disc's trajectory like your life depends on it, because retrieving from deep reed is an extended adventure nobody signed up for.
The Cost of Court
Optional prize money
$5.00
Modest tribute for a modest court. The Mortal Crime Baron handles the economics so we can handle the magic. Every entry keeps the league breathing and the reeds trampled.
The Ace Pot: Currently $213.41
The pot grows with every chain-hit attempt and remains unchained as of last week. No aces, no super aces — the crypt keeps its treasure a little longer.
Minimum Guarantee — ElevateUT Disc Golf
ElevateUT Disc Golf guarantees a minimum ace pot of $50. The displayed pot can look 'stuck' at the guarantee amount until player contributions push it past that threshold. Any guarantee top-up is credited to the winner's Bonus Account (registration-only; not withdrawable to PayPal or disc shops). This is the platform's guarantee — Another Round Salt Lake City is our valued local retail partner and sponsor, not the guarantor.
Series Watch: The Bones Are Being Counted
The standings are evidence in a season-long trial, and the prosecution is loving this. In Pool B's RAF division, William Fetzer (149 pts) and Shane Cooper (145 pts) are separated by four points — that's not a race, that's a coin flip with a grudge. Meanwhile Malachi Vazquez holds the RPA lead at 287 points over 20 events, and Kellan Brooke and Chris Fox are both sitting at 282 in their respective divisions. The old dead do not stay down, and apparently neither do the consistent.
Week 6 of 9 means late joiners are welcome — the marsh absorbs all comers. Your series points reset? No. They don't. But there's still time to make a run, and the crypt has room.
A Desperate, Dramatic Plea for Wights
Three Players. THREE.
Last week, the crypt opened and exactly three souls emerged to trample reeds. The average score was -5, which tells me the three who showed up were sharp — but the Black Court cannot hold territory with a skeleton crew. This is a 501(c)(3) non-profit league run by ElevateUT Disc Golf, dedicated to growing the sport and improving venues. The course needs your footsteps to fight the invasive Phragmites. The league needs your scorecard to stay alive. The docuseries needs content, and I need something to narrate other than my own appeals. Come throw plastic at metal in a wetland. It's for the environment. It's for the court. It's for the content.
The Courts of Competition
Choose your card, choose your fate. Flex start with tee times from 7:00 AM to 5:20 PM — the marsh is open for business all day Friday, and the reeds are not going to trample themselves.
The Season Ahead
- Sep 18: Reeds Trampled
- Sep 25: Crypt Under Draper
- Oct 2: Mehraban Dust
- Oct 9: Old Dead Stir
- Oct 16: Stake and Reed
- Oct 23: Wetland Crypt Opens (this week)
- Oct 30: Phragmites Rises
- Nov 6: Bone Regent
- Nov 13: Marsh Reclaims
Gratitude, In the Marsh's Own Way
Thanks to ElevateUT Disc Golf for running this beautiful, reedy mess of a league and for guaranteeing that ace pot floor. And a nod to Another Round Salt Lake City for being the local retail partner keeping plastic in players' hands. The Black Court appreciates you — which, for a court of stubborn undead, is basically a standing ovation.
The crypt is open. The reeds are waiting. Sign the Accords and come trample something. — Flippy, your reluctant narrator, still contractually obligated, still damp.
