August 23, 2021

TERRA ALTA, WV — Who is the best scramble partner in the world? That is a question Golfapalooza has been trying to answer for several years now. Reigning BSPITW champion JT “Jambone” Thomas humbly suggested last year, upon receiving the award, “I don’t know if I’m necessarily the best scramble partner in the world, I think maybe I was just lucky to be on three really good scramble teams.” That was a statement that the Golfapalooza competition committee took to heart, and began to look for opportunities to allow individual Loozers to distinguish themselves amongst what has become predominantly a team-centered event.

Golfapalooza wants to retain its team spirit and atmosphere, but also provide greater opportunity for individual Loozers on those teams to more firmly establish themselves as the actual Best Scramble Partner in the World. With that in mind, the following two primary changes will be introduced this year into the BSPITW competition.

First, individual point scoring will be available this year. For each of the three scramble rounds, each member of the team will receive points equal to the number of net strokes under par your team finishes the round. Eight under par means 8 points for each Loozer on the team. In addition, individual team members can score individual points for accomplishing any of the following during the round – 1 point for each putt made longer than the length of the flagstick, 1 point for each shot holed out from anywhere off the green, and 1 point for each par 3 (or par 4) tee shot that hits (and stays on) the green.

The long putt and hole out points can be scored by only one Loozer per hole, once the ball is in the hole, the hole is over. Other team members do not get a chance to try to make it. It will be up to each team to decide if they want to rotate their shot order, or maintain the same order throughout the round. Or a hybrid of both of those. The par 3 (or par 4) tee shot on the green point is scored by all members of the team who hit the green, regardless of which shot is used by the team. So if your team shoots 8 under par for the round, and you made 3 long putts, and you hit all 6 par 3 greens (LOLgoodone), you would get 17 BSPITW points for the round. And if one of your teammates also made 3 long putts, but did not hit any of the par 3 greens (thattracks), your teammate would get 11 BSPITW points. Additional information will be provided at G as to the most appropriate way to mark points on the scorecard.

The second change to be implemented, pending golf course approval, is to do at least one, possibly two scramble rounds as 3-man teams instead of 4-man teams, reducing the number of scenarios where Loozers are paired together on the same team without a realistic opportunity to pass a teammate who is ahead of them in points, (or BE passed in the Green Jacket race for the fewest points.) The plan is to do two groups together per hole, which also adds new opportunity for head-to-head gamesmanship and betting – and everyone knows one thing Golfapalooza always needs is more stuff to bet on. Also part of the plan, we intend to use only 3 carts per hole, with one set of opposing team members sharing a cart. (A couple of Golfapalooza’s board members have reported playing in scrambles using this format and noted it is not an inhibitor to pace of play or enjoyment.)

23 Days! Can’t Wait!!!