Airways Golf League — Week 21 Recap: September 29, 2026
The eighth week of the second half
Eight players teed it up on the front nine, and while nobody made a birdie for the third time in four weeks, the day still had plenty of story. The par-4 third — the season's uncrowned villain — gave up its second par of 2026 to Bill Gallagher. Kevin Kearns hit his target on the nose. Ted Cowles picked up two more bonus points to close within one of the second-half lead. Joe Alvarez played 8 holes of golf and 1 hole of arboretum studies. And John Gallagher, the second-half leader, missed his target for the second consecutive week.
Hole 3 Falls Again — Bill Gallagher This Time
For the entire 2026 season, hole 3 has been the toughest hole at Airways by a wide margin. Through fifteen prior visits — six front-nine weeks — the par-4 had surrendered exactly one par: Logan Jarvis on June 23. That was it. One par. All season.
On Tuesday, Bill Gallagher walked up to hole 3 and made a 4. Just the second par ever recorded on the hole in 2026. Bill's par was even more notable in context: five of the seven other players in the field made a 7 or 8 on hole 3, and the average score was 6.4. Bill's 4 was three strokes better than the field average — the kind of hole where you feel obligated to buy the group a drink just to celebrate the anomaly.
Bill finished the round with 8 points on a target of 8 — hit the number exactly, no bonus. He parred hole 8 as well, added four bogey points, and turned in a solid 48-stroke round. It's his fourth target-met week in the second half.
Kevin Kearns Wins the Night (Barely)
Kevin Kearns shot 45 — the lowest raw score of the night — and posted 9 points on a target of 9. Hit the number, no bonus. He parred hole 4 and hole 7, added five bogey points, and turned in his patented steady scoring line. It's now five target-met weeks in six second-half appearances for Kearns.
His second-half bonus tally holds at 8, still four back of John Gallagher — but the leaders are all bunched tightly enough that any single big week could reshape things.
Ted Cowles Keeps Climbing
Ted Cowles posted 7 points on a target of 5 — two more bonus points, target crushed, and it's now three consecutive weeks of getting stronger. Since his miraculous birdie on hole 12 last Tuesday, Ted has posted back-to-back 7-point rounds with 2 bonus points apiece.
His second-half bonus total moves to 11 — tied with Kevin Gallagher for second place, one point behind John Gallagher. The Cowles staircase has become the Cowles ladder.
Ted parred holes 4 and 7 (his second consecutive round with two pars on the same par-3 fourth and seventh), and bogeyed 6, 8, and 9. No birdie this week to complement the target-crushing round, but the bonus points come anyway.
Chris McKone: Bonus Round
Chris McKone posted 7 points on a target of 6 — one bonus point, target met. He parred the par-5 fourth and added five bogey points elsewhere. It's his fourth target-met week in the second half (four out of six appearances), and his second-half bonus total moves to 5.
John Gallagher's Tough Stretch Continues
John Gallagher posted 7 points on a target of 8 — missed by one, no bonus. He parred holes 1 and 9 (opening and closing par on the same day is a nice symmetry), added three bogey points, but the triple on 2 and doubles on 3, 4, and 7 ate up the extra points he needed.
More concerning: it's now two consecutive misses for John, after cruising through the first two months of the second half. His lead at 12 remains intact, but Ted Cowles is one back and rising. If the pattern continues, the second-half title could slip away.
The Joe Alvarez Tree Symposium
Joe Alvarez has, over the course of the 2026 season, developed something of a specialty when it comes to obstacles in the immediate vicinity of the golf course. There was the tree-ricochet-and-catch on June 2. There were the various weather-related withdrawals. And on Tuesday, there was an entire round dedicated to what might be called experimental interactions with the local arboriculture.
Joe hit multiple trees throughout the round — one of them so squarely that his shot ricocheted backwards approximately 30 yards. That's a shot that traveled a shorter net distance than a good drop kick. He also spent time in the neighborhood of a few other trees, though those were more of the "brush the branches on the way through" variety.
The final scorecard reflected the arboreal detour: 60 strokes, 2 Stableford points (bogey points on 8 and 9), and one round nobody at Airways will forget any time soon. In pure entertainment terms, Joe won the night. In Stableford terms, he did not.
Dave Deyette, Len Stadnicki Come Up Short
Dave Deyette posted 5 points on a target of 6 — missed by one, no bonus. It's the third consecutive week Deyette has missed his target by one point, a special brand of Stableford heartbreak. He parred hole 6 and added three bogey points, but the 9 on the par-5 fourth was a killer.
Len Stadnicki posted 4 points on a target of 5 — missed by one, breaking his three-week target-met streak. He parred hole 2 (his only bright spot), added two bogey points on 1 and 9, and endured six consecutive doubles or worse in between.
Where the Pars Came From
Eleven pars on the night across seven holes:
- Hole 4: Chris McKone, Kevin Kearns, Ted Cowles (3)
- Hole 7: Kevin Kearns, Ted Cowles (2)
- Hole 1: John Gallagher
- Hole 2: Len Stadnicki
- Hole 3: Bill Gallagher (the season's second-ever hole-3 par!)
- Hole 6: Dave Deyette
- Hole 8: Bill Gallagher
- Hole 9: John Gallagher
Kevin Kearns and Ted Cowles: 2 pars each. Bill Gallagher and John Gallagher: 2 pars each. Everyone else had one or fewer.
Hole 4: Front Nine's Friendly Par-5
The par-5 fourth gave up three pars this week (Chris McKone, Kevin Kearns, Ted Cowles) — the most on any single hole all night. That's a nice sign for a hole that has punished the field regularly all year (Dave Deyette's 9 on the fourth was the round's low point). When it plays kindly, it's a scoring opportunity. When it doesn't, well — Dave.
By the Numbers
Eight players, 0 birdies, 11 pars, 16 bogeys, 4 targets met. Third birdieless week in the last four. The 2026 season birdie count holds at 22.
Second-Half Bonus Race After Eight Weeks
- John Gallagher: 12
- Kevin Gallagher: 11 (likely done for year)
- Ted Cowles: 11 (on a heater, one back of the lead)
- Kevin Kearns: 8
- Logan Jarvis: 6
- Chris McKone: 5
- Bill Gallagher: 4
- Len Stadnicki: 3
- Bill Oravec: 3
The race has tightened dramatically. Ted Cowles is tied with Kevin Gallagher for second and just one bonus point behind John Gallagher. Kearns lurks four back. Any of the top three (John, Ted, Kearns) can realistically win the second half from here.
Attendance Watch
Eight absent this week — a manageable list. Logan Jarvis notably out for the first time in a while, missing a chance to make up ground in the bonus race. Bill Oravec absent. Tom Wieland's absence hits eight consecutive weeks. Kevin Gallagher remains presumed done.
Bill Gallagher parred hole 3. Ted Cowles pulled to within one of the lead. Kevin Kearns kept quietly winning weeks. And Joe Alvarez turned in the most memorable non-scoring round of the season.
On to Week 22.
SEASON STANDINGS (through Sep 29, 2026)
# Golfer Rounds Avg Pts Pts
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1 John Gallagher 7 8.3 12
2 Ted Cowles 8 5.5 11
3 Kevin Gallagher 4 8.3 11
4 Kevin Kearns 6 9.2 8
5 Logan Jarvis 6 11.3 6
6 Chris McKone 6 6.5 5
7 Bill Gallagher 6 8.3 4
8 Len Stadnicki 6 4.5 3
9 Bill Oravec 4 3.3 3
10 Dave Deyette 7 5.9 2
11 Joe Alvarez 3 3.3 2
12 Dave Zogbaum 1 3.0 0
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Airways Golf — Weekly Stableford Report
Date: Sep 29, 2026
Golfer Score Target Net Pts
--------------------------------------------------
Ted Cowles 7 5 +2
Chris McKone 7 6 +1
Kevin Kearns 9 9 0
Bill Gallagher 8 8 0
John Gallagher 7 8 0
Dave Deyette 5 6 0
Len Stadnicki 4 5 0
Joe Alvarez 2 4 0
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UPDATED TARGETS (after this week)
Golfer New Target
----------------------------------
Alex Fisher 6
Bill Gallagher 8
Bill Oravec 3
Chris McKone 6
Dave Deyette 6
Dave Zogbaum 3
Hermann Keilich 4
Joe Alvarez 4
John Gallagher 8
Kevin Gallagher 7
Kevin Kearns 9
Len Stadnicki 4
Logan Jarvis 12
Ted Cowles 5
Tom Confrey 12
Tom Wieland 5
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SEASON LEADERS — EAGLES (since Apr 13, 2026, through Sep 29, 2026)
(none)
SEASON LEADERS — BIRDIES (since Apr 13, 2026, through Sep 29, 2026)
Golfer Count
--------------------------------
Logan Jarvis 8
Bill Gallagher 4
John Gallagher 3
Kevin Gallagher 2
Kevin Kearns 2
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SEASON LEADERS — PARS (since Apr 13, 2026, through Sep 29, 2026)
Golfer Count
--------------------------------
Logan Jarvis 54
Kevin Kearns 35
John Gallagher 30
Kevin Gallagher 28
Bill Gallagher 26
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