Gunn'-ing for it all

Fresno State golfer Gunnar Avinelis' work ethic has him seeing nothing but green grass ahead

By Brent VonCannon
The Collegian

Some people have very appropriate names, and Gunnar Avinelis has a personality to match.

Explaining how he got his name, Avinelis, a senior member of the Fresno State men’s golf team, said, “I have an older cousin named Gunnar. My grandfather, a fighter pilot in the Navy, named him that.”

Avinelis also noted that “Gunnar” means “Warrior” in Scandinavian, part of his ethnic background.

The image of a fighter certainly serves Avinelis well since his rebound from a serious back injury he suffered last year while on the golf course.

An MRI showed a herniated disk and nerve damage in his leg. Avinelis was given an epidural injection in the spine, which meant doctors were able to “get the stuff in between the vertebrae,” Avinelis said. Weeks of rehab followed.

But Avinelis progressed enough to rejoin the team later in the season, only to re-injure his back during a swing on the fourth-to-last hole of the Diablo Grande tournament in Patterson, one of the last of the season. He finished that tournament in what he described as the highlight of his golfing career.

“We were playing pretty well, even though the weather was adverse,” Avinelis said. “Then my disk slipped, and I was in a world of pain. Coach said I could try and finish if I wanted.”

Persevering through the rounds, Avinelis noted that in golf, the team’s lowest score in a round gets dropped. “One teammate was playing horrendously that day,” Avinelis said. “But the last four rounds were even par, and we won that tournament. Had I not finished, we wouldn’t have won.”

With that can-do attitude, Avinelis has received numerous awards and honorable mentions in his career at Fresno State. Besides averaging around 75 strokes per round at his golf game, Avinelis also excels at academics. He is a Western Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete, Fresno State Scholar-Athlete and a Smittcamp Family Honors College student.

Avinelis plans to graduate in spring 2007 with a degree in marketing. He said he is especially interested in sports marketing and has already interned for the Fresno State sports marketing department. Avinelis said he sees himself working more in the area of team sponsorship rather than as an agent.

Calling himself a sports junkie, Avinelis enjoys all sports. But his favorite one is basketball. A native of Springville, Calif., Avinelis grew up playing on club and traveling teams, and went on to become captain of the Porterville High School basketball team.

Measuring in at 5-foot-11 inches as a college freshman, height was not an advantage for Avinelis as he contemplated continuing with basketball.

Having been introduced to the world of golf eleven 11 ago by a friend of his dad’s, Avinelis said he was comfortable with the sport and wanted to give it a try at the collegiate level.

So he joined the Fresno State men’s golf team as a walk-on in 2002. As the only senior on this year’s squad, Avinelis is a true veteran. With five seniors graduating last year, Avinelis has remained to help out his new teammates where he can. “I’m like the old man compared to the rest of the team,” Avinelis said.

“He’s our leader,” said freshman Todd Angel, one of Avinelis’ teammates. “He’s committed to golf and the team, and gives 100 percent to everything he does on the course and off. Gunnar is a great role model.”

Avinelis spent last summer back in rehab. He said that he has built up his physical strength through consistent exercise and is now playing better than he ever did before the injury.

In fact, Avinelis was one of only three golfers in the country last year to be awarded Strength Conditioning All-American, an award presented by the National Strength Conditioning Association for work ethic in that area.

“Gunnar is a phenomenal stud in the weight room,” said Mike Watney, the men’s golf coach. “He’s a real workaholic and puts in, like, 40-hour days.”

Avinelis said his relationship with Coach Watney goes beyond sports. “He and I, as Christians, share a common belief system,” Avinelis said. “My faith plays a huge role in who I am and what I do.”

Avinelis, a member of Well Community Church, is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group on campus.

Despite his love for the game, Avinelis said he doesn’t plan to pursue golfing professionally. Instead, he said he will take advantage of recreational opportunities with golf in the business world.

For example, when Avinelis interned for Morgan Stanley, co-workers quickly found out about his golfing ability, and he got a lot of playing time with them. “It’s a great way to get to know people,” Avinelis said.

“Being a golfer is one of the best athletic opportunities in the world,” Avinelis said. Traveling to new places, getting ahead in business, and building personal strength and stamina are opportunities golfers can look forward to, Avinelis said.

Summing up his life right now, Avinelis said, “I go to class. I play golf.” With those two priorities foremost in his mind, Gunnar Avinelis plans to keep fighting for the future he wants.

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