sighs in haunted frontier, adjusts headset, and glares at a crow that's definitely repeating his putter numbers back at him
Welcome back to the booth, partner. Week 5 of the Deadlands, and the corruption's taken a turn for the conversational. The wildlife's learned to talk. Not helpful things like "watch out for that root" or "nice putt" — just repeating your scores back at you like a heckler with wings. Sixteen players showed up to Art Dye under cloudy 62.5°F skies, ready to throw plastic while the local fauna gaslights them. The "Timpanogos Shadows" episode is officially rolling tape, and the trees have opinions now.
RAF: A Tale of Two Miseries 😩
Dave Mecham outlasted Clint Atwater in a lead-trading marathon that saw the two of them swap positions more times than a saloon door in a high wind. When the dust settled, Dave Mecham took first at +10, while Clint finished +11 and watched his rating drop 52 points to a 764-rated round. In a two-player showdown where every throw felt like the frontier testing your will, the Deadlands' corruption proved especially unforgiving — but someone had to survive, and Dave drew the slightly better hand.
RAD: Three Minus Ones Walk In 🎲
Jesse Smith claimed the RAD throne with a clean -2 round (920 rated), holding off a two-way tie at -1 between Craig Bennett and Adam Gibbons. Andrew Mortensen led early before fading to fourth, but here's the real story: Adam Gibbons, fresh off a 7-stroke improvement from last week's +6 debacle, surged from fifth to the podium with a hot front nine and a clean back nine that powered a 20-point rating spike. The man shot 57 points above his previous week's rating. That's not improvement — that's a resurrection.
The Minus Five Massacre 💀
Chris Fox delivered the round of the day in RPA: a bogey-free -5, rated 956, a staggering 37 points above his player rating. He sealed the outright win with a clutch birdie on 18, because of course he did. Kaden Mecham finished right behind at -4 with a clean front nine, while four of five players in the division shot under par — exceptional scoring in a spiritual wasteland that's supposed to be trying to erase you. The Deadlands approved this message, apparently.
Bridger's Sole Birdie Bonanza 🦅
Bridger Gibbons held steady at even par (896 rated, 25 points above rating) to claim first in RAE, while Tyler Ivie locked down second at +3. The division saw multiple players set personal bests, but Bridger's defining trait was his collection of sole birdies — those individual circle-hitting throws that separated him from the pack in a division where every stroke mattered. The Even Par Emperor rules a modest but well-earned kingdom.
RAH: Britain's Lonely Throne 👑
[Britain Best] dominated RAH with a -3 round (932 rated), claiming first while [Casey Howard] secured second at -1 despite a 29-point rating drop. In this compact two-player field, consistency proved decisive — Britain's ability to avoid the big numbers while Casey struggled to find the form that's served him in previous weeks. Being king is isolating, but it pays the same.
The Day of Rating Spikes 📊
Six players set personal bests on this challenging layout, with Chris Fox's bogey-free -5 standing as the day's masterpiece. The rating spikes tell a story: Chris Fox (+37), Bridger Gibbons (+25), Chris Howk (+22), and Adam Gibbons (+20) all shot significantly above their ratings, while Clint Atwater and Casey Howard endured tough rounds below theirs. Circle 2 putts from Craig Bennett, Tyler Ivie, and Britain Best showed the technical precision required at Art Dye, where every putt outside Circle 1 becomes a battle with the shadows. PDGA Live tracked the stats, and the data says: the good players got better today.
The Split Pot Grows Hungrier 💰
The Super Ace Pot climbed to $3,430 after seven contributors added $14 to the split. No winner this week — no one hit metal from the tee with the stakes this high — but the growing balance looms like a storm cloud over future rounds. Someone's going to cash in eventually, and when they do, the payout's going to be legendary. The pot wants to be fed.
Chris and Kaden Split the Loot 🎲
Four players threw down $72 across the skins card, and the payouts came down to two names: Chris Howk and Kaden Mecham each hauled 7 skins for $28, with Craig Bennett taking 4 skins for $16. Kaden scooped a 3-skin carryover on hole 16, a late swing that kept things competitive. Chris opened on hole 3 and closed on hole 17, bookending the action with surgical precision. For those willing to gamble on their ability to beat the field hole-by-hole, the ledger came out green.
glances at the Bone Talon tag, which seems to be breathing
Chris Fox claimed Pool A's #1 spot with Bone Talon — the predator's identity that transforms competition into culling — after the AllIn reshuffle rewarded his bogey-free -5 performance. In Pool B, Bridger Gibbons now wields Dust Psalm as the top tag holder. Both champions defended their positions through play rather than absence, which is the only way the AllIn system works. The turnover story this week: performance dictates fate, and those who show up to hunt are the ones who carry the tags forward.
The Shadows Get Longer Next Week 🌑
Week 5's results show players adapting to the Deadlands' escalating corruption. Personal bests and above-rating performances prove humanity still has teeth in this fight. But the shadows are growing longer — next week brings the continuation of wildlife mimicking human speech, a psychological assault that will test focus as much as form. The season finale looms where the manitou will attempt to erase the course entirely, and these competitors will need perfect rounds to anchor reality itself. From the booth to your feed: the frontier doesn't bluff. It possesses, isolates, and doubles down.
tips digital hat, checks the corners of the booth for Channel Things, and signs off
Flippy's Hot Take