In the business, they call the notes and quotes leftover from a big event a follow, so here are some of the items that didn’t fit into my daily stories during the Met Open at Bethpage Black this week.
Shouldering the load
John Guyton was in contention until a string of bogeys down the stretch. He didn’t have to deal with any needling, though, because everybody was afraid of his caddie. Guyton brought in his brother, Nick, for the week. Nobody’s going to give a player grief when there’s a former special ops Marine on the bag.
“He just got out of the Marine Corps,” Guyton said. “He was just in Afghanistan for another tour and has a little time off before he starts working in the private sector. He always wanted to come up and caddie for me. He is a good player and did a good job. My brother, Matt, took the ferry over from Connecticut today, so it was nice because we don’t get a lot of time all together.”
Guyton was among the few players who brought a full size staff bag to the Met Open, which is not something normal people do at the Black Course, which is no stroll in the park.
“He’s probably the only caddie here that asked for the staff bag,” John said.
“I missed my gym time this week,” Nick said.
Eggling gets the assist
Bob Rittberger gave a nod to Old Oaks teaching professional Pat Eggeling after he won the Met Open in a playoff. The Garden City head pro lost in the final round of the Long Island PGA Championship early this season, but hasn’t really put a good stretch together since and was looking to pull everything together.
“We worked pretty hard to get my swing ready to play well,” Rittberger said. “This is hopefully a culmination of that work.”
Line of the week
From the looks of Heath Wassem’s scores, the Fenway head pro should’ve come to Bethpage on Monday for a round. He went 81-72-68 and finished in a tie for 25th. All of the players in the top 25 get an exemption for next year’s Met Open.
Met Open
at Bethpage Black
Par 71
1. Bob Rittberger, Garden City 71-71-71-213*
1. Daniel Balin, Burning Tree69-76-68-213
3. Kevin Foley, Neshanic Valley 74-69-71-214
3. Evan Beirne (a), Bethpage 71-66-77-214
5. Scott Ford, North Hills 73-71-71-215
5. Keith Dicciani, Metropolis 73-71-71-215
5. Adam Fuchs, Hamlet Wind Watch 71-69-75-215
5. Charles Bolling, Fresh Meadow 73-66-76-215
9. Frank Bensel, Century 75-69-72-216
9. Abbie Valentine, Bethpage 71-72-73-216
9. John Stoltz, Concord 70-71-75-216
12. Anthony Casalino, Willow Ridge 75-73-69-217
12. Brett Stegmaier, Silver Spring 74-73-70-217
12. Tyler Hall, Darlington 75-71-71-217
12. Matthew Dobyns, Deepdale 73-72-72-217
16. Paul Dickinson, Montauk Downs 77-70-71-218
16. Jim Wahl, Whippoorwill 75-72-71-218
16. John Guyton, Trump National 74-69-75-218
16. Tarik Can, Bethpage 71-71-76-218
20. Michael Quagliano, GlenArbor 77-71-71-219
21. Mike Tulacz, Wiltwyck 78-75-67-220
21. Martin Catalioto, Darlington 78-73-69-220
21. Frank Esposito Jr., Brooklake 74-72-74-220
21. Rob Labritz, GlenArbor 74-70-76-220
25. Heath Wassem, Fenway 81-72-68-221
25. Mike Meehan, Nassau 76-71-74-221
25. Mark Brown, Tam O’Shanter 75-72-74-221
25. Robert Gage, Forsgate 71-75-75-221
25. Mark Mielke, Mill River 76-70-75-221
25. Ryan McCormick (a), Suburban 74-71-76-221
(*) won three-hole aggregate playoff at 1-over
(Photo: John and Nick Guyton during the Met Open by Matthew Brown/The Journal News. To view a gallery of photos from the Met Open, click here.)
