Woods Betrayal

adjusts headset while fog machine glitches again Welcome back to Week 6 of The Culling, where Dragonfly's trees woke up and chose psychological warfare. dramatic horror sting that nobody asked for

The Trees Have Chosen Violence 🌲

Fourteen players ventured into Dragonfly's frozen corridors on Thursday, January 8th, where temperatures ranged from 27.5°F to 35.1°F and wind gusts hit 16.6 mph—perfect conditions for the "Woods Betrayal" episode of our ongoing heist saga. This is the chapter where the course itself becomes the antagonist, where errant throws kick off trees at brutal angles, where even Ferris's confidence wavers. And somewhere in those tree-choked fairways, Principal Rooney found their actual scorecard. The trap is set. The woods remember everything. And fourteen fools walked right into the ambush. glubs ominously in B-movie creature

The Back Nine Belonged to One Man

Kenneth Oetker didn't just win RPA—he conquered it with a 1002-rated round that finished 37 points above his rating and included a bogey-free back nine that swept every skin from hole 10 to 18. His 54 (-3) was surgical: he took the lead on hole 7 and never looked back, threading Dragonfly's tightest gaps while the course devoured his competition. The only blemish? Three bogeys on the front nine that felt like concessions to gravity rather than actual mistakes. Austin Lott opened strong with the day's only birdie on hole 1 and held the lead through hole 6, finishing with an even-par 57 (974-rated, +14 above rating) that would've won most weeks but couldn't match Kenneth's back-nine clinic. Scott Belchak hung around with a +2 (947-rated, +37 above rating), briefly sharing the lead on holes 3-4 before Kenneth's hole 7 birdie changed everything. The woods picked their champion on that tee pad, and the rest was just documentation. 🎯🔥

The Woods Picked Their Champion Early

Chris Fox's wire-to-wire RAD victory (+3, 947-rated—23 points above his 924 rating) proved that sometimes the course decides who survives before anyone else gets a vote. He grabbed the lead on hole 1 and held it through all 18, navigating Dragonfly's betrayal with the calm of someone who'd made a deal with the trees themselves. Kelby Sosa made it interesting with lead changes on holes 2, 4, and 6, but collapsed with bogeys on holes 5 and 9 that left him at +6. Nicholas Jennings struggled to a +10 finish, 29 points below his rating, as the woods extracted their toll. When the course turns hostile, it doesn't matter who should win—only who the fairways allow to escape. 🌲⚔️

When Your Only Competition Is the Course

In RAH, Craig Bennett dominated with a +7 (910-rated) wire-to-wire performance, claiming the only birdies on holes 8 and 12 while Kevin Harrison (+9, 892-rated, -22 below rating) hung tough in second. RAF belonged entirely to Clinton Atwater, who carded a personal best +11 (874-rated) that finished an absurd 58 points above his 816 rating—the largest positive differential of the day. His four-stroke improvement from last week's +15 proved that even in the "Woods Betrayal" episode, some players find their rhythm when the competition is just them versus Dragonfly's frozen gauntlet. RAE saw Brodie Duncan cruise wire-to-wire with a +8 (901-rated), highlighted by a clutch birdie recovery on hole 2 after a rough opening. When your only opponent is the course itself, survival is victory. 🥶🏆

The Numbers Don't Lie (But They Do Betray)

The statistical wreckage tells the story: four players defied the cold and the woods to post above-rating rounds, led by Clinton Atwater's +58 performance and Kenneth Oetker's +37 clinic. Chris Fox (+23) and Scott Belchak (+37) joined the survivors' club, proving that Dragonfly's betrayal isn't universal—just selective. On the other end, Brandon Reesor suffered a brutal -56 rating differential, Nicholas Jennings fell -29 below, and Kevin Harrison posted -22 under. Sole birdies became rare treasures: Austin Lott claimed holes 1 and 13, Kenneth Oetker took hole 7, Craig Bennett owned holes 8 and 12, and Brodie Duncan snatched hole 2. The par 3s played as advertised, but the par 4s—especially hole 18—became carryover graveyards where hopes went to die. The woods don't lie, but they absolutely betray. 📊❄️

The Skins Game: Where Betrayal Pays

$144 changed hands across three skins cards, and the distribution was as ruthless as the weather. Kenneth Oetker's 16-skin haul ($48) included a massive 6-skin carryover scoop on hole 18, the direct result of everyone else's misery building through the back nine. Austin Lott collected 7 skins for $26.25, while Scott Belchak's four birdies earned him 11 skins and $13.75. The 8:00 AM card told the clearest story: Chris Fox opened with a birdie on hole 1, Kenneth took over on hole 7, and from there it was a one-man show as carryovers built and broke. The woods betrayed most players' scorecards, but for those who survived? The skins game paid dividends. (Need the playbook? Check the skins explainer.) 💰🃏

The Heist Hustler Brought a Knife to a Gunfight

Scott Belchak, wielding his #8 Heist Hustler tag, challenged Kenneth Oetker's #2 Roc Rebel for supremacy in RPA. The result? A 59-to-54 shellacking that left Kenneth 2-0 in their season rivalry and still clutching his tag like the phantom hand on your off-limits plastic. Scott brought plausible backstories and solid play; Kenneth brought a 1002-rated chainsaw and a bogey-free back nine. The Roc Rebel's wall stands tall. Meanwhile, Austin Lott defended the #1 Fakeout Foreman tag by finishing second in RPA—no challenges issued, no ground lost. The master of misdirection watches from above, crafting believable lies and leaving fake scorecards on benches while the rest of us freeze our hands off. His role as the Syndicate's operational security remains unchallenged, proving that sometimes the best way to win is to convince everyone else they're chasing ghosts. 🎭🔒

Three Weeks Left Before Dad Finds the Roc

Week 6 is in the books, and the "Woods Betrayal" chapter delivered exactly what it promised: a course that turned hostile, a scorecard that fell into enemy hands, and performances that ranged from transcendent to catastrophic. Rooney has the real scorecard now. The trap is set for hole 14. And next week? Episode 7: "Cameron Erupts"—the breaking point where the vintage Roc gets damaged and Cameron's season-long anxiety explodes in full comic book fury panels. Three weeks remain in this nine-chapter heist, and the noose is tightening. The woods have chosen their champions. The rest of us are just trying to make it home before the parents pull into the driveway. sighs in direct-to-VHS quality See you next week, when someone's dad discovers a chip in a disc that was never supposed to leave the bag. 🎬⏳