The 42-day post called it a dress rehearsal. The 28-day post broke down the matchup. The 21-day post said the putter was the project. The 14-day post said the data changed. The 7-day post said the final week was simpler than the last one.
Streamsong is done. This is the resolution.
The Golf
The game held up. That's the first thing to say, and it's the thing that matters most. Across both rounds — driving, approach, putting — everything held up. The swing changes from Dave Theise that were the throughline of every countdown post: locked in. The approach play that went +3.5 SG at the Patterson Invitational two weeks before the trip: still there. The putter that woke up with 31 putts in the Invitational's second round: still awake.
That's the data. Here's the golf.
75 — Streamsong Red
Coore and Crenshaw built the Red with large, receptive greens and generous fairways — the course that was supposed to be the lowest concern in the countdown series because the approach was the constant. The approach held. The 75 is the proof.
77 — Streamsong Blue
Doak's Blue asks for driver and a ground game. The driver was in play — the release feel from the August 17 lesson held up under the pressure of a trip round. The 77 is two strokes more than the Red, but it's a different kind of test. The Blue rewards the ground game, and the ground game was there.
The Rain Round
The third round was so rainy it was hard to keep anything straight. The scorecard deteriorated on the eighth hole. We were able to keep track of who won the match, but the score became less important than surviving the torrential downpour of an almost-hurricane approaching Streamsong.
The match result was what mattered. The score didn't.
The Matches
Three matches. Three wins.
Match 1: Won 2&1. Two and one. Closed with a hole and a half to spare. Not a blowout — a controlled win. The kind where you're ahead, you stay ahead, and you close it out without needing the 18th.
Match 2: Won 3&1. Three and one. A wider margin. The approach was working. The putter was working. The driver was in play. When all three are clicking at the same time, the match ends early.
Match 3: Alternate shot with Craig Myroth. Won 2up on the 18th.
Craig chipped in from 44 yards to win the match decisively by two on the 18th hole.
Alternate shot is the format that punishes every mistake. You hit the drive, your partner hits the approach, you hit the putt — and if any one of those is wrong, the other one is cleaning up the mess. There's no playing your own ball. There's no better-ball safety net. It's the format where both players have to be on, and both players have to be on at the same time.
Craig and I played well. Both of us. The kind of alternate shot round where you're not rescueing each other — you're building on each other. And then on the 18th, 44 yards out, Craig chipped in.
That's the moment. The ball in the air, the 44 yards, the landing, the roll, the drop. Two up. Match closed. That's the one you talk about for years.
The Handicap
Down to 2.9.
The season started at 4.0. It's now 2.9. That's a 1.1-stroke drop in one season — the kind of trajectory that turns a goal into a timeline. The Johnny Chop rules say scratch golfers are exempt from certain rules. Scratch is 0.0. At 2.9, the distance is measured in rounds, not seasons.
Three rounds remain before the next score falls off the index. It could go lower.
4.0 (start of season) → 3.4 (Henry Cup) → 2.9 (Streamsong). Down 1.1 strokes. Three rounds remain before the next score drops. The index is still moving.
The Team
Team Racecar lost the overall competition. Ryan Morrissey of Team Snake went undefeated and won MVP. Grant Vatter also went undefeated for Racecar. I played with Ryan once — he beat me. Nothing wrong with losing to the MVP. It was an excellent match.
That's the thing about match play at a place like Streamsong. You can go 3-0 and still lose the team competition. You can play some of the best golf of your life and the other team has someone who played better. Three matches won. One lost. To the MVP. The scoreboard says Racecar lost. The personal scoreboard says 3-1 and the best golf of your life.
What the Countdown Was Building Toward
The countdown series started 42 days out. It tracked five things: the approach, the driver, the putter, the practice gap, and the lesson work. Here's how each one resolved.
- The approach. Was the constant. Held at Streamsong. 75 on the Red, 77 on the Blue — both scores reflect an approach that traveled.
- The driver. The release feel from the August 17 lesson — let the clubhead catch up to the hands — held under pressure. The Blue course, which demands driver, produced a 77.
- The putter. The project of the 21-day post. Woke up at the Patterson Invitational (31 putts, +0.9 SG). Still awake at Streamsong. Three matches won don't happen without the putter working.
- The practice gap. The 21-day post flagged a 31-day practice gap. The Invitational, the Henry Cup, and the 9-hole test closed it. The game was tested before it was tested at Streamsong.
- The lesson work. The September 21 lesson — flatten the downswing, deepen the hand path, plane mate drill — was the throughline. When the path is right, the irons are elite. When the irons are elite, the birdies come. When the birdies come, the matches close.
The countdown was building toward this. 3-0. Handicap 2.9. Best golf of your life. The work paid off.
The Season
The 2026 season is wrapping up. Here's where it stands:
- 2.9 handicap — career low, down from 4.0 at the start of the season
- Henry Cup champion — low gross, gold ink on the board at Patterson
- Streamsong 3-0 — 75 Red, 77 Blue, alternate shot won 2up on 18th
- Patterson Invitational — two 75s, putter woke up (31 putts, +0.9 SG)
- Patterson Club Championship qualifier — 85 from the tips, 81 in the second qualifier
The season isn't fully over yet. Three rounds remain before the next score drops. The index could go lower. But the big events are done, and the big events went well.