Met Open Afterthoughts

By Billy Condon

Play at the first day of the 94th Met Open has come to an end and the limelight is on 17-year-old Sam Bernstein. Bernstein is arguably the youngest player to hold the overnight lead at the Met Open, and he holds a one-shot lead over Andrew Giuliani and Bob Rittberger.

From the little that I saw of Bernstein's play, he appeared poised and confident, although he did show some emotion after narrowly missing his birdie putt on the 291-yard par-4 fifth hole. As many professionals and amateurs wore the logos of their home clubs, Bernstein chose to wear a shirt from the Carter Cup, subtly reinforcing his youth as players cannot be over 18 years of age in that event. Bernstein is in a field against not only past Met Open champions, but competitors from past U.S. Opens, PGA Championships and Masters.

As far as the championship course, the players could not express more compliments. Although difficult, the players felt the conditions were fantastic and that to score well, you have to play well - as any championship golf course should be. The hardest hole on the course proved to be the ninth, a par four that had a scoring average of 4.76, looking more like the scoring average of a par 5. Speaking of five-pars, none of the three on the course had a scoring average below par. The easiest hole on the course proved to be the fifth, with a scoring average just under par at 3.97.

With one day of play under their belts and another sunny day expected for tomorrow, one can expect low scores as moving day at the Met Open separates the field.