Manufacturer's member may golf with Michael Jordan

   Phillipe deKerillis can picture it all.

   “I’ve had a lot of dreams so far,” deKerillis, a member of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club, said.

Phillipe deKerillis is a finalist in the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge.

   “I’ve always imagined being at the U.S. Open,” deKerillis, also known as "Dr. Phil," said. “I imagine breaking 100. I imagine it’s going to be the experience of a lifetime. I know it’s going to be a lot of intense pressure. I hope I can handle it.”

   Golf Digest received more than 73,000 entries for this year’s contest. Participants needed to submit a six-word essay that explained why they should represent the average golfer in the U.S. Open Challenge.

   DeKerillis, 39, entered the contest in late November 2008. His six-word speech? “ER doctor ready for Bethpage trauma.”

   “It just kind of clicked in my mind,” deKerillis said. “Everyone’s using the cancer survivor, soldier angle. I said, ‘What’s going to separate me from the crowd?’ Being a doctor was one of the things. There aren’t many of them around. I then concentrated on Bethpage. It’s the seventh hardest course in the nation. There’s a warning sign on the first tee. It can be a mental and physical beatdown.”

   DeKerillis then received notice in January that he was a quarterfinalist. He, along with 10 others, went to the PGA National Resort and Spa, home of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic, in Palm Beach, Fla., for an interview, video and photo shoot. Golf Digest then notified deKerillis that he made the final four. He believes that his personality and experience helped him to become a finalist.

   “I think I’m genuine. I’m pretty sincere,” deKerillis said. “I think they liked the fact that I was a caddie. I started young. It showed them that I really appreciated golf. The words got me there, but from there, it’s a matter of ‘do they like you?’ They felt that we [the finalists] would best represent the game of golf. It’s important that we’re ambassadors for the game. I guess they thought I could do it.”

   DeKerillis, a Southampton, N.Y. native, first became involved with golf at age 14. His good friend’s father was the head greens keeper at the National Links of America, and deKerillis needed a job.

   “I had to make money, so he said ‘why don’t you caddie?’” deKerillis said. “I actually started caddying. I learned the ropes. [Golf] became a fun sport for me. When I was a senior in high school, I joined the golf team. I wasn’t a good golfer back then because I was unpolished. No one taught me how to play golf.”

   DeKerillis, a Clarkson University graduate, didn’t play golf in college, though. After graduation, he spent four years at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and then another four years completing his residency in Brooklyn, N.Y. For about 12 years, deKerllis didn’t play a lot of golf.

   “I literally did nothing,” he said. “I worked. I had a baby. I was married. I didn’t have the time or money.”

   Seven years ago, deKerillis and his family moved to Erdenheim as he became an attending doctor at Abington Hospital. That’s when deKerillis reincorporated golf into his daily life.

   “I had a little bit more money, a little bit more time,” he said. “That’s when I started to get more serious.”

   In 2007, deKerillis joined Manufacturers, and he immediately noticed a change in his game.

   “I started to play better golf because I had a range to go to,” he said. “I could hit balls and practice, and that’s when my handicap took a nice dip. I think I was about a 12, and now I’m a 7.6. I was able to work on my game, and it’s become a serious thing for me.”

   Being outdoors is deKerillis’ favorite part of the game.

   “I work indoors. I have no sunlight. It is eight hours of nonstop noise. You’re always being asked to do things,” he said. “Out here, you’re breathing fresh air and getting sunlight. You’re with your friends. It’s more than just a sport. It’s almost like therapy for me.

   "I always wanted to be a doctor. I was the kind of kid who watched open heart surgeries. I was amazed by the human body. I had this awe for doctors, what they do and the power they have.”

   An emergency room may be a different than a golf course, but the two environments demand that you constantly think, according to deKerillis.

   “As a doctor, you have to use your mind, and I’m analytical,” he said. “On the golf course, I analyze shots and winds.”

   Both environments, deKerillis added, also present different degrees of stress.

   “I’m able to handle the pressure [on the golf course]. I’m more adapted to it,” he said. “To me, pressure is being in the ER and saving someone’s life. Being on the golf course and hitting a perfect 7-iron, while that’s stressful, it’s certainly not the same kind of stress.”

   Of course, deKerillis has informed both his colleagues in the ER and his friends at Manufacturers that he’s a finalist in the U.S. Open Challenge.

   “Everyone’s going crazy. It’s overwhelming,” deKerillis said. “Friends are telling friends, who are telling friends. I’m posting flyers everywhere — anything I can do to spread the word.”

   Even friends from high school who deKerillis hasn’t spoken to in 20 years are congratulating him and showing their support.

   “I appreciate it. I need the votes,” he said.

   Voting in the U.S. Open Challenge runs through May 1, and the winner will be announced May 4. Until then, deKerillis intends to practice as often as he can at Manufacturer’s.

   “Most of my free time is on the range here,” he said. “I’m working on my swing so it becomes less mind, and more physical. I can’t let emotion get in the way of my swing.”

   Manufacturer Superintendent Scott May will isolate an area of tall rough for deKerllis.

   “We have a short practice area that we are going to let grow real long and gnarly so he can get help on some of those shots,” May said. “We’re going to basically not mow that are for awhile. That’s the least we can do.”

   “The rough over [at Bethpage] is tremendous, and here, it’s not,” deKerillis added. “I’m going to hopefully be able to work on my short game and my thick rough. If I wait until May to turn my game into overdrive, it’s going to be too late.”

   May said the change won’t impact members at Manufacturer’s. Everyone’s “real excited” about deKerllis being a finalist in the U.S. Open Challenge.

   Although deKerillis wants to ultimately win the contest, he feels proud to have made it to the final four alone.

   “I have to realize that I can’t get too focused on it,” deKerillis said. “It’s a game. This is fun. It’s a dream come true. I’ve worked hard for it. I think I’ve earned everything I’ve done.”

   The winner of this year’s U.S. Open Challenge will appear in a 90-minute special that will air on NBC prior to the final round of the U.S. Open. In last year’s inaugural challenge, winner John Atkinson of Omaha, Neb., played at Torrey Pines Golf Course alongside Timberlake, Matt Lauer and Tony Romo.

   "This is a six-week marathon. It’s not a sprint,” deKerillis said of the contest. “If you ever had a dream about playing golf in the U.S. Open and you like my story, go on and vote every day. Spread the word and keep the momentum going.”

   The 2009 U.S. Open will be held June 15-21 at Bethpage. To help deKerillis’ dream become a reality, visit www.gdopencontest and vote.