Local foursome earn chance to do it like the pros

By Kyle Jorrey Acorn Sports Writer

READY TO FACE THE BEST-From left to right are Peter Eyerman, Ryan Diehl, Roger Gunn, Ron Fernandez and Fred Wolinsky, who will depart in a few weeks for the Buick Scramble National Championships in Orlando, Fla. taking place Oct.7-10.

In the world of amateur golf, there simply is no bigger event than the Buick Scramble National Championships.

Held this year at Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando, Fla., the scramble features 214 five-person teams (107 in the net and gross divisions) from across the U.S. and Canada. It offers not only a $287,000 cash purse, but a chance to play in a Sunday final round that will be televised nationally on ESPN and The Golf Channel.

Local golfers and friends Ryan Diehl, Peter Eyerman, Fred Wolinsky and Ron Fernandez will get that chance in the net division—and it’s one they’re certainly not taking for granted.

"Even just to make it to this point is a huge accomplishment. I mean, there is like 20,000 teams that try to qualify for this event," said Diehl, who lives in Oak Park along with teammate Wolinsky. "We’re going to get the chance to do something really great, and I think we’re all very excited about the opportunity."

With the help of Tierra Rejada golf pro Roger Gunn, the group qualified for the event by taking first place in last month’s Southern California PGA Sectional Buick Scramble Championships at Wood Ranch Golf Course in Simi Valley. Aided by an eagle on Hole 8 by Gunn, and an unthinkable 51-foot eagle putt by Diehl on Hole 18, the group recorded a net 15-under-par to finish in a three-way tie for first—meaning all that stood between them and a trip to Orlando was a sudden death chip-off from 25-feet away on a difficult green.

With emotions running high and the group beginning to the feel the pressure, Gunn, considered one the top teaching pros in Southern California, took his teammates aside for a quick pep talk that might have been the difference.

"Roger said, ‘Hey look, if I could have told you when you got here today that you would be in a chip-off for a trip to Orlando, would you take it?"’ said Fernandez. "We all nodded yes and he said, ‘Then let’s go do this.’ And we did. We crushed them."

The achievement was huge for all four friends, who before that day had spent the last two years as a Sunday foursome just playing the sport they love for fun.

"When it was all over, I was driving home and I called my wife because I knew she wouldn’t believe me, and as I told her, I just started to cry," said Wolinsky, who at 59 years of age is the self-proclaimed old guy of the group. "That day had been an emotional roller coaster, and I really hadn’t realized what an accomplishment it was until that point."

While in Orlando, the five players and their families will be treated to nothing less than first-class treatment from Buick. If you ask Fernandez, who with longtime friend and coworker Eyerman attended a similar event in 1998, it’s a chance for four guys who love golf to feel like they did it for a living—at least for a week.

"Basically, for four or five days you get to know what it feels like to be on the tour––and for us––that’s special," said Fernandez, who lives just down the street for Eyerman in Thousand Oaks and has been with UPS for 26 years. "You really get the royal treatment."

Although just the experience will be memorable for the men and their families, don’t think for a second that this group of golfers isn’t eyeing that first-place trophy and a chance for some ESPN airtime.

"If we play our game, I think we have a great chance of making it to the final round," Eyerman said. "With a guy like Roger Gunn on this team—he’s just a phenomenal player—we really have a chance of going far."

Wolinsky, who said all four will be working hard to prepare their bodies for three straight days of golf, even gave a bold prediction.

"I have a feeling we’re going to do something special down there," said Wolinsky, a CPA who works with the entertainment industry. "But we just want it give it our best shot, and whatever happens, happens . . . more than anything, I think we’re just happy to be going."