ZELIENOPLE — Eighth place doesn't sound so great on the surface.

Eighth place in the Buick Scramble National Championship, the world's largest amateur golf tournament that begins play with 75,000 individuals competing at close to 1,600 golf facilities across the country, is pretty good.

And eighth place is where the Connoquenessing Country Club contingent finished in the 72-hole Buick Scramble Championship held recently at the Ritts Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.

David Maddalon of Zelienople, his father, Joe Maddalon of Cranberry Township, Mark Marion of Ellwood City and Mike Kaczmarek of Zelienople won the net division of the Buick qualifier at Connoquenessing Country Club, shooting 15-under-par.

The quartet, joined by Neville Island club pro Jim Cichra, advanced to the sectional competition at Treasure Lake in DuBois, where it shot 18-under-par to again win the net division.

That win earned the group one of 106 spots in the national finals.

"You enter the qualifier as a foursome and get assigned a club pro," David Maddalon said. "Jim played great for us.

"You can only advance from each tournament by winning the net or actual division. There is no margin for error."

After playing 54 holes — three 18-hole rounds on three different courses — the top 24 teams advance to another 18-hole round to determine the champion.

The Connoquenessing contingent stood in sixth place after 54 holes, but dropped two places after the final round to finish eighth overall.

"That final round was our worst round of the whole thing," said Marion, a dentist in Zelienople. "We shot 10-under-par and we were at least 13 or 14 under in the other rounds."

Joe Maddalon, 59, said the pace of the finals was grueling.

"I have new respect for professional golfers now," he said. "That was pretty intense competition all those days in a row and those guys (pros) do it all the time."

The eighth-place finish marked the best finish by a Western Pennsylvania entrant in the 21-year history of the event.

Rules of the tournament are that at least two drives by each player must be used each round. Besides that, it's a pure best-ball event.

"The drives are over-rated anyway," Marion said. "These tournaments are decided by putting. That's where you make birdies and best ball golf is all about making birdies."

"Everybody has to play well to even make it as far as we did," Kaczmarek said. "It's true teamwork. That's what makes it so gratifying."

The quintet carded a 72-hole total of 231, seven strokes behind the championship squad from Alhambra, Calif.

Tiger Woods served as honorary chairman of the event and presented the championship trophy. All 24 teams in the final round received a plaque.

Marion is a scratch golfer and a former Connoquenessing Country Club champion. None of the others had ever won any tournaments of note.

"This was quite an accomplishment for us," David Maddalon said. "We're all good friends and we're all proud of this."

Once a team enters the Buick Scramble National Championship, only two of them can remain teammates in the event the following year.

The Maddalon father-son tandem plans to stay together and put together another team next year. If the 2005 team chooses, it can re-unite in 2007.

"I hope we do," Kaczmarek said. "I'd love to take another shot at this."