Maxwell outlasts Kardas in a double-bogey demolition derby
Week 26 brought a single match to UNM North, and nobody will mistake it for a clinic. Jason Maxwell and Jeff Kardas went out on a Tuesday in October and produced zero birdies, a pickup, and five doubles-or-worse apiece, which is the kind of symmetry usually reserved for snowflakes and car wrecks. Kardas posted low gross with a 49, Maxwell took low net with a 42, and between them they turned a par 35 into a long walk. Still, somebody had to win, and the man ranked 10th walked off with the upset over the man ranked 3rd by a single point, mostly because he blew up slightly more efficiently.
Maxwell 5.5, Kardas 4.5
Maxwell got two strokes, on hole 1 and No. 4, and cashed both: he won the opener when both men made double, and he took hole 4 while Kardas was busy carding another one. He added No. 5 and No. 7 around Kardas picking up hole 2 and hole 6, the latter coming on the hole where Maxwell gave up entirely and picked up, which is a bold strategy for a man protecting a lead. Through seven he was up four holes to two and seemingly cruising, at which point he remembered who he was and doubled No. 8 and No. 9, handing Kardas both closing holes and squaring the hole count at four apiece with No. 3 halved.
That left low net to settle it, and Maxwell's net 42 edged Kardas's net 43 by the narrowest possible margin, so the upset goes in the books as a 5.5–4.5 win. Kardas can console himself with low gross on the night at 49, a number that wins nothing when you double the first two holes, plus No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 for good measure. Maxwell can console himself with nothing, because he won, but the gross 50 with five doubles-or-worse and a pickup means nobody is framing this scorecard. Call it a comeback by Kardas that fell one stroke short, or a collapse by Maxwell that stopped just in time; both are true.
Around the league
With no prizes on the board and the $10 pot sitting there looking lonely, the real action was in the standings. Orlando Flores stays on top at 109 points and didn't have to lift a club to do it. Jeff Kardas lost the match and somehow gained a spot, climbing to second at 105.5 and nudging Todd Sewell down to third at 104, proof that 4.5 points on a rough night beats zero points on the couch. Tom Pehr holds fourth at 99.5 and Thomas Jaramillo stays fifth at 96. Jason Maxwell is the week's climber, jumping from 10th to 8th, a fine reward for a round that will be remembered mostly for its back two holes. No birdies anywhere tonight, so if anyone out there has one in the bag, the rest of the league would like to see it.