McGowan, the son of Champions Tour player Pat McGowan, posted an impressive even-par 70 on the No. 1 Course in Sunday’s final round to best the field by 10 strokes with a 36-hole total of 143.
McGowan held only a one-shot lead over Justin Evans of Spring Lake after an opening 73 on Saturday, and they were tied after McGowan made bogey on the first hole Sunday. But his steady play of 35-35 sealed the victory on the back nine as Evans soared to a 79. Philip James of Charlotte took third with 165.
Chason Trahan of Charlotte out-dueled Pinebluff’s Kevin MacDonald to win the Junior/Senior Division with 75-78 — 153. Trahan led by three shots after Saturday’s round, but MacDonald started fast on Sunday and had pulled even after four holes.
The two swapped the lead four times down the stretch before Trahan birdied the 16th hole to move in front for good. MacDonald finished with a 76.
Scott Bennett of Laurinburg matched MacDonald’s final-round 76 to take third place, but had struggled to an 81 on Saturday.
The series will resume March 3 throgh 5 on the Tom Fazio-designed No. 4 and No. 6 Courses. For information, contact Peter deYoung at 295-5661or by e-mail at pdeyoung@nc.rr.com.
Jones Named: Jeffrey Jones has been named club cottage manager at National Golf Club.
Jones joined National after nearly three years as director of golf packaging at Homewood Suites in Pinehurst. His new position involves overseeing all packaging and rental operations, as well as operations of The Cottages at National, the club’s luxurious private residence club.
The Cottages debuted in late 2004 and offer a shared second-home option for folks who want the enjoyment of a vacation home without the burden of full-time ownership.
Jones, 44, is no stranger to the Sandhills or resort management. Prior to working for Homewood Suites, he managed the Magnolia Inn from January 2000 to March 2003, and he worked in guest services at the Carolina Hotel in 1999.
Jones’ resume also includes 11 years with Disney Resort Operations in Orlando and Hilton Head Island.
“National Golf Club is the perfect next step for me,” Jones said. “I like working in a full-service environment, and with the private residence club, rental villas, upscale dining and Jack Nicklaus golf course, National is certainly full-service.”
Jones said his goal is to exceed the expectations of overnight guests at National, whether they are owners of The Cottages or golfers in a rental villa.
“I want people’s experience here to be always more than expected,” he said.
Jones is also focused on growing the golf packaging business.
“Booking golf packages is fun. It’s a great second aspect of this job,” he said. “And it allows us to expose more golfers to the offerings we have available.”
Tarheel Tour: The Charlotte-based Tarheel Professional Golf Tour will begin its fifth season this week in Charleston, S.C., at Rivertowne Country Club Feb. 21 through 23 for the inaugural Sandlapper Real Estate Classic.
A field of more than 100 professionals is expected to compete for a first-place check of $12,000.
The tour will continue its South Carolina swing at Patriots Point Golf Links in Mount Pleasant the following week and conclude it with the Tarheel Tour Match Play Championship to be held at Oldfield Golf Club in Bluffton. The first round of head-to-head competition will take place Mar. 7, with the championship match March 10.
Following the Match Play Championship, the Tarheel Tour will head back to Charlotte where the majority of its 25 tournaments will take place in 2006. For more information on the tour, visit www.tarheeltour.com.
Harner Elected: Stephanie Neill Harner of Charlotte, one of the state’s top golfers, has been elected to the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame.
A former ACC champion, she was a four-time All-America for the Deacons, the only athlete in the school’s history to achieve that distinction.
Green Honored: Congratu-lations to golf writer Ron Green Sr. of Charlotte.
In the past three months, he has been elected to membership in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the PGA. The popular scribe has been covering sports for more than fifty years. He is also a member of the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame.
Bell ‘All-Star’: Golf For Women magazine has named both Dana Rader and Julie Cole of the Dana Rader Golf School in Charlotte among the nation’s top 50 golf instructors.
The publication also cited Peggy Kirk Bell of Southern Pines as one of its “all-star veterans.” Bell is a founding member of the LPGA.
CGA Yearbook: The Carolinas Golf Association’s annual yearbook publication is now available online at www.carolinasgolf.org.
The yearbook contains recaps, results and photos from all 2005 CGA championships and tournaments. Pages are in Adobe PDF format.
The 2006 championships and one-day tournament schedules are also available on the CGA Web site.
The Carolinas Golf Association has been serving amateur golfers in the Carolinas since 1909 and is comprised of 730 member clubs representing over 184,000 golfers in North and South Carolina.
