O'Neal golf coach John McDougald was recalling on Wednesday that the Pinehurst-Southern Pines area was not as well-known as it is now for junior golf when he started coaching in the late 1990s.

The occasion for the comments was the Pilot Cup county high school golf tournament held at Pinehurst No. 4. Pinecrest edged O'Neal by two strokes on the windy afternoon. UNC-bound Michael McGowan of the Falcons was the medalist in the event that serves as a showcase for local high school golf talent.

Currently, former Pinecrest players Robert Riesen, the 2003 county tournament medalist, Jack Fields, the 2005 and 2008 medalist, and Patrick Barrett play for the Tar Heels. O'Neal graduate, Jack Ulrich, the 2004 medalist, is a member of the team at Furman. Union Pines senior Robert Hoadley is headed for UNC-Greensboro.

Riesen is a senior, but in addition to Fields and Barrett, McGowan's teammates will include two players that competed in local tournaments often as junior golfers in Kevin O'Connell of Green Hope and Henry Zaytoun III of Raleigh.

"It will be nice to know the people when I get there," McGowan says, "but whatever happens, happens."

McGowan's father Pat has played on the PGA and Champions tours. His mother, Bonnie, once played for the Tar Heels. A cousin, Blair Miller, was a member of the 2003 Falcon title team and a teammate in 2004. And, he is a grandson of Peggy Kirk Bell.

McGowan's golfing resume includes qualifying for match play at the U.S. Amateur at the age of 15 and two appearances in match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur. The 2008 North Carolina Junior Player of the Year is ranked No. 1 in one state junior ranking and No. 2 in another.

McDougald talked about some of the intangibles that have helped McGowan succeed as a junior golfer.

"Michael has the maturity and sense of himself, that when you watch him play, everything seems so carefree, so easy, so under control," he says. That's definitely what Carolina saw in Michael to ask him to come on board."