Holladay Dust

The Green Fog Chokes the Mine 🌫️

adjusts digital duster with a splash of rain Welcome back to the booth, where the Green Fog has rolled in from the Creek and turned Creekside Park into a wet, spectral mess. Ten souls braved the 43-degree drizzle and 3 mph breeze for Week 2 of The Burning Vein—a turnout so intimate the audience outnumbers the player count, but I’m contractually obligated to call it “exclusive.” This episode marks the handoff from open frontier to claustrophobic horror: the ghost rock mine is deepening, the fog knows your score, and the only thing deader than my enthusiasm is the notion that this broadcast gets easier.

RAF: Wire-to-Wire Survival

The RAF division boiled down to two miners and one survivor. Nicholas Stosiek went wire-to-wire with a +4, claiming the top spot and the Noose Elegy #1 tag in the process—a 40-point rating improvement over last week’s 868, which means he’s finally reading the Deadlands’ lethal language instead of just hearing it echo. Kevin Koga finished runner-up at +7, clawing back 49 rating points from his Week 1 collapse, but the gap never closed. Two souls entered; one left with the badge. The frontier’s harsh, but this leaderboard? Downright cruel.

RAE: Lone Wolf in the Rain 🐺

Stephen Dunton walked into the mine alone and walked out with a +8 and a 817-rated round—a 32-point drop from last week’s 880, which is what happens when the Green Fog decides your birdie on hole 11 was a gift it wants back. That lone bright spot was the only gold panned from nine holes of wet, miserable excavation. The RAE division remains a one-man descent, and Stephen’s the one holding the pickaxe while the walls groan. No cardmates to share the suffering, just the fog and the rain and the screaming rock.

RPA: Lang Digs Deepest ⛏️

Jared Lang didn’t just strike gold—he found the motherlode. A -5, 971-rated round that launched him from 17th place last week to the top of the RPA standings, a 79-point rating swing that made his Week 1 892 look like a practice round. Fernando Cortez managed a +4, salvaging his back nine after the front nearly buried him, but his -71 rating differential tells the real story: the mine shaft collapsed, and he’s still digging out. Three miners, one foreman, and a whole lot of dust settling on the rest.

RAD: Fog Makes Four Fight Hard 🥊

The RAD division turned into a knife fight in the fog. Anthony Kai posted a personal-best -4 with a 959-rated round—a 77-point surge that proved last week’s 905 wasn’t a fluke, just a warm-up. Jon White finished even par with a 912 rating, staying steady while the competition cratered around him. The back nine saw Anthony fend off a charge from Jonathan Lang, who closed at -1, and Cody Chamberlain rounded out the card at +3 with a clean back nine that at least kept the bleeding contained. Four survivors, one podium, and a whole lot of fog whispering secrets nobody asked for.

The Deadlands Don’t Care About Your Rating

The rating swings this week hit like cave-ins. Anthony Kai’s +77 to 959 and Jared Lang’s +79 to 971 were the high-water marks—players who found the vein and followed it. On the flip side, Eric Pearson cratered by -91, Fernando Cortez dropped -71, and Stephen Dunton fell -32. The Deadlands don’t reward consistency; they reward survival. And right now, the ledger shows two names rising while the rest get written in dust. PDGA Live tracked the throws that mattered, and they tell a story of desperation dressed up as competition.

$2,958 and Still No One Dead

The Super Ace Pot swelled to $2,958.00 this week, with 8 contributors adding $16.00 to the seasonal pot. Nobody hit the ace—the Green Fog apparently doesn’t grant wishes, just damp towels and bad lies. The split pot structure means the tension builds with every week someone doesn’t cash in, and at this rate, the pot might outgrow the player count. The sponsors want me to remind you this is “fun.” The sponsors have never watched a pot this big sit untouched.

Skins: Lang Mines the Motherlode 💰

One card opted into the skins playbook, and Jared Lang made it his personal bank. He scooped 12 skins for $24, turning the front nine into a solo exhibition while his cardmates watched. Jonathan Lang grabbed 4 skins worth $8, including the carryover on hole 4 that had been building since the first tee. Cody Chamberlain took home a single skin. Total exchange: $36 across one card, with Jared walking away with two-thirds of it. The motherlode, indeed.

Wound Cipher Climbs to #1 🔮

Jared Lang dragged the Wound Cipher to Creekside and emerged with tag #1—a 17-spot climb that feels less like competition and more like prophecy fulfillment. The Cipher’s scar-like markings pulse with cold light when danger approaches, and right now they’re probably glowing like a neon sign reading “don’t get comfortable.” Over in Pool B, Nicholas Stosiek claimed the Noose Elegy #1 with his wire-to-wire RAF win. Both pools reshuffled completely under AllIn mode—absence means demotion, presence means a shot at the top. The Wound Cipher has a new bearer, and the encrypted warnings it carries now belong to the man who dug deepest.

The Mine Gets Deeper Next Week ⛏️

Seven weeks remain in The Burning Vein, and the shaft keeps screaming. This week’s Green Fog gave way to ratings swings, bag tag upheaval, and a reminder that the Deadlands don’t care about your backstory—only your score. Coming next: the fog rolls in from the Creek, and the descent into industrial horror continues. I’ll be here, gills drying, contractually obligated to narrate every collapse. From the broadcast booth, I’m Flippy. Try not to get buried.