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By Andrew McClure Twenty-one years ago, four Long Island high school buddies, who hadn’t seen one another in a couple of years, decided to get together to catch a Mets game during the 1988 season. There was a pre-game tailgate, a 6-0 Mets win over Philadelphia which was highlighted by a near no-hitter by David Cone, and a promise that the four would reunite each year.
Well, for 22 years the four have kept their word. The annual guys’ weekend has taken childhood friends Greg “Whitey” Blanc, Gerry Schlange, Donald King, and Calvin “Stork” Van De Water to such events as a Rolling Stones concert, the 1996 NCAA championship game, three New York Giants’ games, the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City, and the 2002 MLB All-Star Game. This year it was the US Open at Bethpage Black.
Despite weather that was better suited for ducks, the three men and Schlange, who now teaches elementary school in Lenexa, Kansas, shared another memorable weekend. “We’ve been looking forward to this since they announced that the Open would be at Bethpage,” Schlange said. “The rain was a nuisance, but it’s not the first time we’ve dealt with lousy weather. We sat through a monsoon at Giants Stadium a few years back. We always have a great time.”
The four men, all graduates of Uniondale High School, secured their tickets for what was supposed to be the final round of the tournament nearly six months ago. The rainy June turned Sunday into round three.
Blanc, who lives in Plano, Texas, said there was little to no disappointment in not witnessing the final round. “Half the time we miss big shots because we’re yapping,” he said. “Getting to see the Open on a course we’ve all played…extremely poorly I should add, is pretty neat. But, our get-togethers are more about smoking cigars, knocking back a few scotches, and having a lot of laughs. The event is just a small part of it.”
On this Sunday, the four found a comfortable spot in the grandstand behind the ninth green. They scoff at some of the fans who are providing unsolicited advice to the pros, talk about some of the ridiculously high scores they’ve carded on the course, and talk about plight of the struggling New York Mets.
The 6-foot-8 Van De Water, who played basketball at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida, hosted the other three men at his East Islip home for the weekend. His wife and three children spent the weekend with other family members in Montauk.
The four began the weekend on Friday night with hundreds of hot wings, steaks, and perhaps a few too many adult beverages. “Seeing the guys and kicking back for a weekend is great, although they made a wreck of my house,” Van De Water joked. “I’ve missed only one of these weekends over the past 20 or so years. It’s nice to be able to catch up on things and relax with the guys. We spend most of the time ranking on one another.”
The only real drama the four share over the course of the weekend is who will cash in on some of the wagers they have made on the on the tournament. King has drawn the favorite Tiger Woods, Schlange has K.J. Choi, Blanc has Justin Rose, and Van De Water has drawn Retief Goosen.
King, who draws a strong resemblance to the late comedian Nipsey Russell, is the only one of the four to make all 22 reunions. He cherishes his time with his friends. King, who resides outside of Selma, Alabama, sums it up like this. “We all have families now, so finding a weekend to spend a little time together is not as easy as it used to be,” King said. “These guys are like brothers to me. It’s a special weekend each and every time we get together. I hope it something that we can do for a very long time.”
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