As the sun crested the battered treetops of Art Dye Disc Golf Park, “Wasteland Warfare” unfurled beneath a steel-blue sky, signaling the launch of Afterburn @ Art Dye’s volatile first week. On this chilling morning—53°F on the wasteland dial, with light winds whispering secrets—the field of 38 contenders rallied among the industrial obstacles and makeshift baskets, ready to carve their legacy in the ruins. Each throw echoed through the forest like a warning shot: accuracy here wasn’t just strategy—it was survival. Right out of the gates, a bogey-free barrage warned all factions that an outsider might have slipped past the barricades. 🥏🌲
In the MA50 division, Clinton Atwater took command with ice-in-the-veins consistency, marching to a +10 and keeping rival hunters at bay. No wild lead swings, no drama—just cold calculation. The course’s chill bit into the field, but Atwater’s steady line held as others slipped, with Dave Mecham’s 36-point rating tumble making clear this was no place for the weak. Atwater’s new personal best mapped his territory with cool efficiency, leaving the rest wandering the underbrush. 📊🧊
The MA1 arena saw relentless chaos. Guy McAtee, Thomas Sautel, and Kaden Mecham locked horns at –2 for a triple stalemate that flickered with shifting dominance. Early parity cracked on hole 3 as McAtee surged, only for Mecham to detonate the lead on hole 14, then watch Sautel claw it back like a feral raccoon on the penultimate hole. Chris Fox’s early double bogey hinted at sabotage, and Sautel’s blistering 29-point-over par round brought the fury. "THIS IS DISC GOLF IN THE APOCALYPSE, BABY!" The fate of the division hung in the balance as hole 17 delivered a razor-edged swing and prepped the ground for sudden death. 🔥⚡
In MA2, Brandon Voyles and Aaron Prestgard waged an up-and-down skirmish, each landing at –3 after momentum flipped like a rusted supply cart in a sandstorm. Prestgard opened with a charge, faltered after bogeying hole 2, but recovered late to reclaim parity by hole 11. Steven Anderson’s relentless push melted away late, but his 56-point-above-rating performance—alongside Voyles’ career-best –3—set a fierce new bar as the two leaders locked, both refusing to blink. 📈🥏
Over in MPO, Cooper Johnson delivered a masterclass worthy of legend, torching the course with a –10 bogey-free run—no lost discs, no mistakes, just wasteland dominance. The early scraps saw Kenneth Oetker and his own flawless start keeping things tense, but by hole 8 Johnson seized the helm, bolting ahead for a gap as wide as a cratered overpass. Oetker’s unblemished effort and Malachi Vazquez's searing 37-point-above-rating round fanned the flames, but it was Johnson’s double-hot-streaks that secured the throne. Survival isn’t just about power—sometimes you have to play like you're chasing the lost disc itself. 🏆🔥
In MA3, Kevin Harrison survived a white-knuckle duel with Timothy Scholle to claim victory at +1. The lead rattled between them on holes 11 and 12, as Harrison absorbed a late bogey barrage but rebounded heroically to lock it down. Scholle’s outrageous 58-point rating spike included the only two Syndicate layout birdies, but one ill-timed bogey on hole 15 opened the gates for Harrison’s best-ever performance. In the wasteland, every throw is a battle for survival! 🎯💪
The MP40 division boiled down to a head-to-head faceoff: John Ashworth seizing the initiative on hole 1 and never ceding an inch, with Paul Webster keeping pace but ultimately outmaneuvered. Ashworth’s new course best showcased the kind of veteran smarts only years among the ruins can hone. 🦾🥏
Across the board, bogey-free performances by Cooper Johnson and Kenneth Oetker lit up the stat sheets, while Timothy Scholle and Eric Pearson rocketed their ratings into the stratosphere. Lone-wolf birdies by Bridger Gibbons on hole 9 and Kevin Harrison on hole 12 pierced the par-heavy Syndicate gloom, and the course’s unforgiving snare was evident as top-rated stars like Spencer Livsey and Zack White struggled to escape Art Dye’s leafy grasp. 📊🧰
With CTP, Ace, and Super Ace bounties untapped, all eyes now look to the horizon: Scavenger Scramble looms, the prize pool swelling like a hidden cache of pre-war credits. Rivalries have been stoked, alliances clocked—one wrong step next week and you’ll be trading your bag tag just to keep your boots.
The factions’ uneasy truce now strains under the weight of Cooper Johnson’s outsider dominance—just as the old tales warned. Each round redraws the map; every point is a power play.
With the opening blast of Wasteland Warfare now part of Afterburn legend, factions will regroup, heal their wounds, and hatch new plots among the ruins. The Scavenger Scramble is set to crank the stakes: sabotage, scrap-metal windfalls, and survival on the edge await. Fix your sights: the endgame’s only just begun. 🥏🧰
Flippy's Hot Take