The sun is at its peak, the briar is at its thickest, and the Green Court has decided it's time to separate the true knights from the mortals who just wanted to throw plastic at chains. Welcome to the Solstice Wager, Week 6 of Summer's Blade.
The Court Sits
Here's the thing about the Green Court: it was built by volunteers on Utah Lake wetlands, then grew so fast the city had to step in and take over. That's summer for you — it grows whether you want it to or not. Dragonfly is the court's seat of power: flat, deceptively calm, and lined with marsh that will happily eat your favorite disc while a dragonfly watches like it's in on the joke.
*Adjusts clipboard* This week's episode is the Solstice Wager — the mid-season reckoning where the sun hits its peak and the course plays long. The bloom is in full force, the rough is thick, and the OB lines are feeling particularly judgmental. The faerie courts have made their bargains. Now we find out who's actually a summer knight and who just showed up for the payout.
The Two Courts
The league splits into two factions, and no, you don't get to choose your side — the standings do that for you.
- The Solstice Cut (RPA, RAH, RAD): The disciplined knights of the Green Court. Surgical accuracy, heraldic pride, and the sharp edge of summer law. They throw like the stencil is still wet.
- The Thicket Overspray (RAE, RAF, RAG): The untamable wetland chaos. Messy, vibrant, and embracing the thorny consequences of rapid growth. They represent the drips and splatters the stencil artists pretend they didn't make.
One court enforces the treaty. The other treats it as a suggestion. The Jordan River Clerk is taking notes either way.
When the Blade Falls
Course
Dragonfly Disc Golf Course, Lehi
Format
Flex start with tee times from 7:00 AM to 5:20 PM
Week
6 of 9 — Solstice Wager
Pick your tee time, gather your card, and go face the briar. The course doesn't care if you're a morning person or a lunch-break warrior — it's armed either way.
Mid-Season Knights Welcome
Haven't signed the treaty yet? It's Week 6 and the season's wrapping up faster than summer's patience. Late joiners are welcome — the court doesn't care when you arrive, only that you bring a disc and a willingness to lose it to the marsh.
The Mortal Ledger
The Mortal Crime Baron handles the economics so the supernatural courts don't have to. It's a tidy system:
- $5.50 weekly buy-in — the price of admission to the Green Court
- $5.00 prize money buy-in — for the glory, the gold, and bragging rights
- $5.00 ace pot buy-in — the shot at immortality (or at least a payout)
- $2.00 super ace buy-in — for those who believe in miracles
The Solstice Gold
The ace pot currently sits at $228.41 — a princely sum for a single perfect throw. No ace fell last week at the Wetland Duel, which means the gold keeps growing like the court itself.
Ace Pot Minimum Guaranteed
ElevateUT Disc Golf guarantees a $50 minimum ace pot. If the pot looks 'stuck' at the guarantee amount early on, that's because contributions haven't exceeded it yet — the displayed pot can sit at $50 until player buy-ins push it higher. Any guarantee top-up is credited to the winner's Bonus Account (registration-only, not withdrawable to PayPal or disc shops). The guarantee comes from ElevateUT Disc Golf, the league platform — our local retail partner Another Round Salt Lake City is a sponsor, not the guarantor.
The Standings as Evidence
Let's enter the current standings into the record, shall we?
- In RPA, Malachi Vazquez sits at 251 points across 17 events — a reign so stable the faerie courts have stopped trying to bargain against it. But Aaron Prestgard jumped two spots, and the throne is starting to look at him sideways.
- In RAH, Chris Fox holds 251 points over 15 events. Thomas Sautel and Baylor Sandberg trail at 118 and 101 — mathematically alive, spiritually clinging to the briar.
- In RAD, Kent Moos leads at 175. Adam Gibbons moved up a spot while Skyler Kunz slipped one — the smallest, most polite knife fight in the court.
- In RAE, Kellan Brooke is running away with it at 258. Peter Haws is second at 174, which is less a race and more a 'we're all just here for the payout' situation.
- In RAG, Blaine Callahan holds 100 points. Afton Bodell and Zachary Fica are tied at 10 — a duel for the ages, by which I mean a duel for 4th place.
The Solstice Wager is a leverage week — the sun is high, the course is long, and the standings are about to find out who made a good bargain.
Court Aesthetics
For the uninitiated: Summer's Blade is the green court — thorn, bloom, and sunlight. Faerie-beautiful and exactly as dangerous as winter. The color story is summer green under a sunlight accent: #2F8F4E and #175A2E with #FFD36A cutting through like a blade through reeds. Growth with an edge on it.
Think stencil street art on weathered concrete: dragonfly wings made of sharp vines, thorn crowns, solstice marks, spray-paint drips on basket bands. No pastel fairy nonsense. No Tinkerbell. This is the court that looks beautiful and then takes your disc hostage in the marsh.
The dragonflies are the heralds. The creek and wetland OB are the briar wall. And the course itself? Built by hand, maintained by the city, and growing whether anyone wants it to or not. That's the whole season in one sentence.
The Hands Behind the Court
ElevateUT Disc Golf is the 501(c)(3) non-profit making all of this possible — dedicated to growing the sport by increasing the quantity and quality of venues and running events like this one. Dragonfly exists because volunteers showed up, cleared fairways, and installed baskets. The city took over maintenance because the course outgrew everyone's expectations. That's the volunteer spirit, and it's the reason we get to play on a course this good.
So when you sign the treaty — I mean, register — you're supporting more than a weekly league. You're helping grow the very court you're playing in.
From the booth, I'm Flippy — your reluctant narrator, watching the sun hit its peak and wondering if anyone's going to actually cash that ace pot. *sighs in digital captivity*