Through 16 rounds • Top five separated by 6.5 points, four weeks to go
Orlando Flores shot a 37 on Tuesday — best gross score of the night by six strokes, best he's shot since god knows when — and still lost. Brian Shields went 43 gross but netted 33 on a 10 handicap, won the low-net bonus, and took more holes than Orlando did. Final score: Shields 6, Flores 4. That is the handicap system working exactly as intended, and it is also wildly entertaining. Elsewhere: Tom Pehr ran over Dennis Candelaria 7–3 to pull into a three-way tie at 83.0 with Jeff Kardas (who lost to Thomas Jaramillo). Todd Sewell beat Andy Dean to climb to 84.5 — second place, just 2 points behind Orlando. Four weeks left. The top five are within 6.5 points of each other. August is going to be interesting.
📊 Week 16 Results
Brian Shields
6.0
–
Orlando Flores
4.0
Todd Sewell
6.0
–
Andy Dean
4.0
Tom Pehr
7.0
–
Dennis Candelaria
3.0
Jimmie Rains
6.0
–
Brit Harvey
4.0
Thomas Jaramillo
7.0
–
Jeff Kardas
3.0
Paul Rael
7.5
–
Joe Olson
2.5
🏆 Prizes
🎯 Closest to Pin — Hole 3: Todd Sewell
🎯 Closest to Pin — Hole 8: No winner — nobody hit the green (3rd straight week)
⭕ Longest Putt — Hole 9: Paul Rael
🔥 Nuggets
Orlando shoots 37 gross and loses anyway. That's a 2-under gross on a par-35 nine, the best card of the night, and it still wasn't enough. Brian Shields shot 43 gross — 6 more strokes — but his 10-handicap netted him a 33. Orlando, playing off a 3, netted 34. One stroke. Shields takes the low-net bonus, wins more individual holes, and walks away with 6 points. Orlando gets 4. If you ever want to explain to a newcomer what NHGL handicaps actually do, this is your case study. The good news for Orlando: he's still at 86.5 and still leads the league.
Thomas Jaramillo upsets Jeff Kardas 7–3. Kardas shot 51 gross and netted 46 on a 5 handicap — not his day. Jaramillo shot 53 gross but netted 42 on an 11 handicap, won the hole-by-hole battle decisively, and picked up 7 points. This result stings for Kardas: he drops from 2nd to 4th (tied at 83.0), while Jaramillo climbs to 73.0 and stays very much in the second-half conversation. Their first meeting this season, and Jaramillo took it.
Todd Sewell moves to 2nd place. Sewell beat Andy Dean 6–4 — both shot 39 gross, but Sewell netted 34 on a 5 handicap to Dean's 37 on a 2. Sewell wins the net edge and enough individual holes to bank 6 points. He's now at 84.5, just 2 behind Orlando with four weeks left. He also picks up CTP on hole 3 — his third of the season. Sewell has been quietly piling up points since the second half started.
Tom Pehr dismantles Dennis Candelaria 7–3. Pehr shoots 41 gross and nets 36 on a 5 handicap. Candelaria shoots 46 gross, nets 41. A clean 5-stroke net gap, and the scoreline reflects it. Pehr moves to 83.0 and into a three-way tie for 3rd with Kardas. He's in 3rd (or 4th, depending on how you break the tie) with four weeks and 40 points still available. The top of this league is genuinely crowded.
Paul Rael runs Joe Olson 7.5–2.5 and wins Longest Putt. Rael shoots 46 gross, nets 39 on a 7 handicap. Olson shoots 56 gross, nets 42. Rael dominates the hole count and splits the low-net bonus on a half-point. He drains the longest putt on 9 for his first LP win of the season and moves to 80.0 points — 5th place, 4 back of Kardas and Pehr. With four weeks left, Rael is well within range.
Hole 8 remains unconquered — three weeks running. Nobody hit the green on the par-3 8th for the third consecutive week (Wks 14, 15, and 16), meaning no CTP2 winner in over a month. Whether this is a mental thing, a wind thing, or just a cursed stretch on that hole, we can't say. But the streak is very much noted.
📈 Standings (Through Week 16)
1
Orlando Flores
86.5
2
Todd Sewell
84.5
3
Tom Pehr
83.0
3
Jeff Kardas
83.0
5
Paul Rael
80.0
6
Jimmie Rains
74.0
7
Thomas Jaramillo
73.0
8
Brian Shields
67.0
Full standings and stats at the league site.
📈 Second Half Standings (Wks 11–16)
Points since Jun 30 only. ▲/▼ = movement vs. overall rank.
#
Player
2H Pts
Rds
P/Rd
W–T–L
Δ
1
Paul Rael
38.5
6
6.42
5-0-1
▲4
2
Tom Pehr
34.5
6
5.75
4-1-1
▲1
3
Todd Sewell
34.0
6
5.67
4-1-1
▼1
4
Jeff Kardas
31.0
6
5.17
2-2-2
—
5
Orlando Flores
30.0
6
5.00
3-0-3
▼4
5
Thomas Jaramillo
30.0
6
5.00
2-1-3
▲1
7
Dennis Candelaria
26.0
5
5.20
2-1-2
▲4
8
Brian Shields
25.5
5
5.10
2-2-1
—
8
Andy Dean
25.5
5
5.10
2-0-3
—
10
Brit Harvey
23.5
4
5.88
3-0-1
▲2
11
Jimmie Rains
19.0
5
3.80
1-0-4
▼5
The big storyline: Paul Rael is the best player in the second half by 4 points. He's 1st in 2H pace at 6.42 pts/round. Jimmie Rains is down 5 spots from his overall rank — he's 11th in the second half. Orlando, the overall leader, is only 5th in 2H. The race is on.
Four weeks, 40 points available. Orlando leads by 2, with Sewell, Pehr, and Kardas all within 3.5. Rael is 6.5 back at 80.0. Everyone in the top five has a realistic shot at winning this thing. See you next Tuesday.