Forty Rats showed up to Roy Kizer for the season's first Major, and Andrew Blobaum edged out Pat Michalik by three hundredths of a stroke — net 68.27 to 68.30 — for the Rat Derby title and the 750-point Major winner's share.

As Blobaum always says, champions are made on the back nine. After a grinding front nine of 39 that included bogeys on 1, 6, and 9, things looked bleak when he doubled the 11th. But Blo flipped a switch on the par-5 14th, rolling in a birdie to start a stretch that would define the tournament. Two holes later on 16 — the hole that wrecked half the field — Blobaum carded an incredible birdie 3 while Matt Brower, sitting pretty and leading at that point, made a triple-bogey 7. Brower never recovered, adding another bogey on 17 before a birdie on 18 that was too little, too late, finishing T9.

Pat Michalik looked like the man to beat after a flawless even-par 35 on the front — not a single bogey while Blobaum was scrambling to stay in it. But the back nine unraveled quietly. A bogey on the par-3 13th was the first crack, and failing to birdie the par-5 14th — where nine players made 4 — was a missed opportunity. Bogeys on 15 and 17 let Blobaum creep closer, and on 18, needing par to force a tiebreak, Michalik three-putted for bogey. A round that started with surgical precision ended with the title slipping away by three hundredths of a stroke.

Chris Lyles put up the low gross round of the day at 69 — two under on a course playing tough — with birdies on 1, 6, 7, 15, and a closing birdie on 18 for good measure. But his double on the par-3 4th proved costly, and his plus handicap pushed his net to 70.49, good for 6th. He also took home the gross pot and a CTP on 15.

Jason Long was right there with a 71, highlighted by a birdie deuce on the 4th and another on the 8th where he won closest-to-the-pin. But a double on 5 and a bogey on 11 left him at net 72.44 — a reminder that at plus-1, there's nowhere to hide at Roy Kizer.

The par-5 14th was birdie central — nine players made 4 there — but the par-4 11th was a graveyard, dishing out seven doubles and two triples. Stan Temple gutted out a net 69.54 for 4th despite a 7-7 stretch on holes 2 and 5 (an 88 gross), proving that an 18 handicap and a cool head can get the job done.

Skins were spread around, with Long, Greg Jones, Keith Phelps, Caleb Tucker, and Steve Trafton each collecting $128 from the skins pot. Brett Montgomery and Chris Kendzior picked up CTP flags on 13 and 4, respectively.

The 2026 Kickoff Classic at Crystal Falls Golf Club brought 22 Muny Rats to the tee for the season opener, and Greg Jones wasted no time making a statement. Jones posted the only sub-80 round of the day -- a 79 gross that held up as the low round by three full strokes -- and his 74.11 net left the field in the dust by nearly four shots. The exclamation point came on the 192-yard 11th hole, where Jones stuffed it close enough to win closest-to-pin honors, then drained the birdie putt for a deuce and a skin. When you win CTP, a skin, and make the only birdie of the day on the same hole, you own that hole forever. Jones pocketed $156 to go with a tournament-high 650 season points.

Jason Long proved that in skins, it's not how you finish -- it's where you cash. Long came out scorching hot, opening with a birdie 4 on the par-5 first hole and then uncorking a birdie 3 on the 389-yard third -- both good enough to claim skins. Through five holes he was one under par, playing like the near-scratch player his 0.75 handicap says he is. Then hole 18 happened. The 549-yard closer ate Long alive for a snowman 8, turning what could have been a 78 into an 82. But here's the beautiful irony of skins golf: despite finishing 7th net, Long walked away with the fattest check of anyone at $168. Sometimes the first five holes pay better than the last five.

The 18th hole was a house of horrors all afternoon. Crystal Falls' 549-yard finisher, rated the second-hardest hole on the course, played to a brutal 6.45 stroke average. Only two players in the entire 22-man field managed par: Greg Jones (of course) and Pat Michalik, who quietly closed birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey down the stretch for an 88 that netted out to 78.13 and a sneaky third-place finish. Meanwhile, six players made snowman 8 on the hole -- Long, Steve Trafton, Ross Henry, Brett Montgomery, Bhanu Rekapalli, and Jason Kendzior all limped to the clubhouse with triple bogey. Trafton's was especially painful: he had made a deuce on the par-3 eighth to claim a skin, but the 18th ballooned his round from a would-be 74 to an 82.

Speaking of Trafton, his par-3 performance deserves a closer look. He went 3-2-3-3 on the four par 3s (holes 2, 8, 11, 15) -- that's one under par on the short holes alone, including that tournament-skin-winning deuce on 8. Combined with Jones's deuce on 11, those were the only two 2s posted all day. And the Kendzior family provided a subplot worth watching: Chris finished a respectable 5th net at 79.07, while Jason -- in just his second-ever Muny Rats tournament -- brought up the rear at 102 gross and 89.0 net, a 14-stroke gap in gross score. The family dinner table was probably interesting that night.

Perhaps the most quietly impressive performance belonged to Stan Temple, who turned a 101 into a second-place net finish of 77.8. His 23.2 course handicap did the heavy lifting, but you still have to go out there and post the number. Temple beat 20 other players net despite having the second-highest gross score in the field -- proof that the handicap system works exactly as intended. Closest-to-pin honors went to David Williams (hole 2), Thomas Haley (hole 8), Jones (hole 11), and Bhanu Rekapalli (hole 15), with each taking home $24. All told, Jones set the tone for what promises to be an entertaining 2026 season -- and if you need a playing tip from the Kickoff Classic, it's this: whatever you do, lay up on 18.