July 8, 2018

WHEELING WV — It's hard to believe it's already past July 4th and that only means one thing - Golfapalooza is right around the corner. The 22nd edition of the greatest golf outing in America will commence in less than 10 weeks. Work is continuing to occur behind the scenes to get everything finalized for this year's event.

The Wilson cabin has been reserved for months, however there will be a change to the additional housing this year. The cabin up the road that we have rented for the last several years is unavailable. Sheiker will explain: "I logged on to AirBnB in October after GXXI to see if I could reserve the house for next year like I do with the Wilson cabin. They were only accepting reservations through March 2018 at that time so I put a reminder in my calendar to go back and check for reservation ability in March. In early February, right before GStan and I went to St. Louis to watch the Penguins beat the Blues with Guy and KGB, I got an email from a realtor in Deep Creek that the house was for sale. The listing was still on AirBnB but only taking rentals through March. I reached out to the owner and asked if she would hold our dates and told her when we would need the house. I didn't hear anything back from her until mid-June when she sent me a note that she had a long-term rental tenant who would be in the house through October. So for now I have rooms at the lodge on hold until we get closer to GXXII and see where the final count will settle. It's unfortunate but it was out of anyone's control."

Tee times have been reserved for Wednesday through Saturday which take us from the KGB Cup through the final round. The KGB Cup will be play your own ball while the GXXII rounds will be four man scramble as in the past two years. Apparel options are still being finalized - Bro is talking with the shirt lady on whether any of the colors that Alf wants are available and affordable. He is also going to see what other items she may be able to get for us. He is expecting that the ordering for all additional apparel outside of the G golf shirt will work as it did last year with the online link directly to the catalog that was set up for us.

One item that may lead to a small increase in price this year is a change in team skins. Last year team skins were made part of the trip cost but kept it at $5 a day. This year that amount is being bumped up to $10 a day due to the four man teams. "We wanted to make the payouts a little more meaningful," said Butter Flanagan. "As great as it feels to make an eagle to win a skin, it's that much of a letdown to know you may have only won $5 each for it."

As a reminder, registration for GXXII is a two-step process. Loozers first have to commit to the event as attending and be added to the field. Part two will be made available soon that will allow everyone to select options. One new option this year will be whether someone wants to stay at the cabin or at the lodge. This will help manage the need for additional rooms.

Golfapalooza founder GStan had this to say when asked for final comments. "I played my first 2018 round of golf yesterday and about the only good thing about it was that my brother Sleepy was with me. It would be the understatement of the year to say that I can't wait to play with the rest of my Golfapalooza brothers."