September 2, 2013

TERRA ALTA, WV — A missed call and voicemail from a number with a WV area code and what looks like a Terra Alta extension is not what you want to happen on a Saturday morning. However, it did happen to Sheik last week.

"My first thought was that something was going on with one of the houses," Sheik said in an exclusive interview. "After I listened to the voicemail and heard it was Freddy from the pro shop, I thought maybe the members were finally sick of us and he's calling to say we're no longer welcome. I felt a lot better when he said someone in the pro shop messed up when they scheduled our Saturday tee times. They had booked the Octoberfest scramble in the wrong weekend; it really should have been in our weekend instead."

"Since he has to keep the members happy, he gave us two options. We could either join the members in a four man scramble with a shotgun start at 8:00 am or have our start time pushed back to 12:30. He thought we could do the Johnson contest at 11:30 before our round instead of after the round. This seemed like the only choice since no one is getting up to play in a four man scramble at 8:00 am, especially since we're doing that Thursday. The plan as of now is to start tee by 12:30 with straight tee times like normal. Based on how long Friday's round takes though, we may have to do a modified shotgun and send groups off holes 2-4 to make sure we finish before dark."

The net effect of all this is an extra half-hour of sleep for everyone that wants it since Saturday tee times were going to start at 11:00, especially the final stragglers from the card table.

Loozers are asked to be at the driving range promptly at 11:30. Freddy and crew will get carts turned around from the scramble as quick as possible for us to have for the final round. Expect the bag drop to be a little extra crowded that day.