Joey Herrera stood on the 18th green at Valencia Country Club, his final putt dropping into the cup. It was the kind of moment every golfer dreams about: he had qualified for the 2025 U.S. Open. The years of early mornings, long van rides, missed cuts, and hard-won finishes had all led to this. And the best part? His dad was right beside him, looping the bag as his caddie.

"To qualify for the U.S. Open is a really special feeling," Herrera said. "It made all the hours of work worth it. What made it even more special was that I qualified at Valencia Country Club a course I've played many times and where I've gotten to know the staff and members well."

For Herrera, a proud alumnus of Cal State East Bay, this wasn't just about advancing through golf's toughest qualification path, what's known in the sport as The Longest Day in Golf, which is covered nationally at various courses on Golf Channel. This was a personal milestone rooted in his development at a place that believed in him long before the galleries and cameras showed up.

Coming from Fillmore, California, Herrera didn't take the traditional pipeline to the PGA Tour. He began at Ventura College before transferring to Cal State East Bay, where he would leave a mark that still echoes through the Pioneer golf program. Over his two seasons in Hayward, Herrera collected first-team All-CCAA honors in each of the two seasons. At the 2019 CCAA Championships, Herrera finished fifth on the leaderboard. 

But what sticks with him most from that time wasn't just the scorecards or trophies. It was the experience from the coaching he received and the bond with his teammates.

"I think Pioneer Golf really helped me. Coach Sue took a chance on me and brought me onto a team that was already really good. Being able to play every day with players of that caliber really helped my game develop. We also got to play a world-class golf course in TPC Stonebrae, which naturally helped elevate my game."

Herrera credits the people around him just as much as the facilities or tournaments. His roommates and teammates were more than playing partners. They were brothers, grinding through early 5:30 a.m. workouts and qualifying rounds, always pushing each other and always showing up.

Herrera admits that coming from a Division II program, there were times he felt overlooked. He didn't get the same visibility as players at bigger schools. But rather than being discouraged, he leaned into it.

"In the beginning, I felt like I had something to prove," he said. "But I also believed in myself. Pretty quickly I realized East Bay was the right fit. Our team was close. Everyone had good intentions. We all wanted to get better."

That self-belief would prove vital when the path to Oakmont began. The U.S. Open qualifying process is famously rigorous: one round at local qualifying, then 36 holes in one day at sectionals, where typically only four out of 100 players advance. For Herrera, the timing couldn't have been better. In the weeks leading up, he made a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour and finished high at the Southern California Open. His game was sharp, and more importantly, his confidence was soaring.

"I felt really comfortable going into it," he said. "When you've played professional golf for a while, you get used to these high-pressure qualifiers. You know what it takes."

Still, there was something poetic about qualifying at Valencia. It wasn't just another stop on the road—it was home turf. It's where he's logged countless rounds. It's where staff and members know his name.

So when the last scorecard was signed and Herrera knew he was heading to the U.S. Open, it wasn't just a personal victory, it was a community celebration.

Herrera found himself brushing shoulders with players he grew up watching when reaching Oakmont Country Club this past June. The off-course moments, seeing familiar faces from the PGA Tour, being part of the same practice rounds and locker room chatter, were surreal at first.

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little weird walking around in the same spaces as people I've looked up to my whole life," he admitted. "A lot of the off-course stuff was different and something you have to get used to. But once I stepped inside the ropes, I felt pretty comfortable and just tried to do what I know how to do and that's play golf."

The accomplishment is already remarkable. A Division II kid from East Bay, who honed his game at TPC Stonebrae and learned toughness on long van rides, qualified for the U.S. Open.

If there's one thing Herrera hopes other young golfers, especially those coming from small programs, take from his journey, is "There will always be people more talented than you or with better physical attributes. But you have to control what you can control your effort and your attitude. If you do those things, whatever happens, happens but you can hold your head high."

And for Joey Herrera, the journey from Cal State East Bay to Oakmont isn't just a personal dream realized. It's proof that big dreams can start in small places.