July 18, 2016

TERRA ALTA, WV — After hundreds of emails, texts, phone calls, and discussions on the golf course, GXX registration is set to open. This year's event is shaking up the format in a way not seen since the implementation of the MELC.

Golfapalooza founder GStan was asked to elaborate on the change in format. "I've got an hour to kill since I'm driving home from work, so here it goes. Way back at the end of GXVIIII we decided we wanted to come up with a competition that would determine the Best Scramble Partner In The World (BSPITW). It sounded awesome at the time because we just downed some Jager and had been drinking for four or five days in a row. Eight months later it still sounded awesome, but the question was how are we going to figure it out?  We think we have come up with a method that will work after a lot of debate amongst the board members; KGB even had some semi-intelligent comments that weren't littered with F bombs."

"This year the golf on Thursday through Saturday will be a four man scramble format. All of the teams will be determined prior to everyone arriving at the cabin. Thursday teams will be Captain's Picks with the captains being determined by number of Golfapaloozas attended. An exception to this will be that the Founding Fathers (me, Butter, KGB, and Sheiker) will be a team and tee off first. The four of us are the only ones to attend all 19 Golfapaloozas. JT is next with 17.5 Golfapaloozas under his expanding belt. He's still mad that he had to be in a wedding during one of the G's so that's where the .5 comes from, not from Real Stan trying to say something funny. Teams on Friday and Saturday will be put together randomly with one exception. One of the goals is for everyone to have different teammates each day, so if there is overlap after the teams are made we will make changes as necessary. While we hope that it just works out, I'll be shocked if it happens."

"History has shown that the MELC scoring system is useless for a four man scramble round," GStan continued. "We intend to determine stroke handicaps for each team using the individual handicaps on the site and applying a formula, taking percentages of each handicap to determine a team handicap. We think this will work but we will need to wait and see. We will add scores from each Loozer for the three days as one of the components for determining the BSPITW. There will be other factors involved that have some subjectivity in determining the BSPITW; as a result the BSPITW will not be receiving money for winning like the MELC Champion has gotten in the past. The BSPITW will also not be part of the Calcutta auction. We will have an announcement on the Calcutta in the next few weeks. Now call Sheiker and ask him about the money stuff! I'm out!"

When reached by phone later in the day, Sheiker had this to say about the cost of the trip. "We have said for years that we aim to provide the Best Value In Golf for this trip, and we believe we have met that goal again this year, in spite of an increase in price. This year the base cost of the trip will be $390 which covers everything it has in the past with one change. The Best Scramble Partner In The World will not be receiving a cash payout this year because of some subjective criteria included in the determination. We took the $10 from that and added $5 to use towards team skins for all three days of golf. Last year pretty much everyone was in on the skins anyway so we are not really adding anything to the total trip cost."

"Many of the same options we've had in the past will be returning this year. The KGB Cup will be held on Wednesday afternoon; captains for this year are yet to be determined. One change is that the Boland Bet is moving to Wednesday instead of Friday so it can stay an individual bet as opposed to a team bet. Another is that the JT over/under 18th hole cumulative score will be taking a year off. All of the other individual options (closest to pin, long drive, long putt, 100 FEET!!!!!!) will be available. Apparel options will also be the same as in prior years. As everyone remembers, Spyder and Spanky tied for the MELC last year. One of the perks of winning is that you get to choose the shirt color. Both of them wanted to get hot pink as this year's shirt. Most of the apparel will be in various shades of pink; there were certain options that weren't available. These items will be black with pink embroidery. Everyone will need to review the comments in the options menu when making your selections."

"We have 24 Loozers as of today with a few more in the pipeline. The opening of the registration period usually draws in more Loozers and we expect this year to be no different."