Terry Sanford golfer’s drive credited for opportunity to play on college level

Terry Sanford golfer Thomas Horne has committed to play on the college level at Georgia Southern.

Contributed photo

Earl Vaughan Jr.

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He wants to be the best. He never gets tired of practicing. He’s at the golf course doing something every day.”

Terry Sanford golf coach Jeff Morehead on Ethan Paschal, who will play for North Carolina on the college level

In local high school golf circles, Terry Sanford’s Ethan Paschal joined some elite company when he signed this week to play at the college level for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The number of players from this area who have been remotely affiliated with college golf at the Division I level is extremely small, to say the least.

And Paschal now finds himself on a short list of storied names that include Fayetteville High/Terry Sanford legends such as Raymond Floyd and Chip Beck.

Floyd enrolled at UNC but left after a single semester to begin his highly successful career on the pro golf tour.

Beck was an All-American at the University of Georgia and spent numerous years as a touring pro.

A third prominent name was that of David Chung, who was home-schooled but went on to play college golf at Stanford.

And don't forget District Attorney Billy West, the N.C. State product who dominated the Cumberland County Golf Championship for years. 

The only other recent Fayetteville high school golfer to make the college ranks in Division I is Spencer Oxendine. The former Jack Britt standout is currently a graduate student at North Carolina State, where he is the top player on the Wolfpack squad.

When assessing the primary asset that has brought Paschal success early in his career, Terry Sanford coach Jeff Morehead said it’s all about drive.

“He wants to be the best,” Morehead said. “He never gets tired of practicing. He’s at the golf course doing something every day.”

Another major plus for Paschal is his ability to walk away from a bad shot and move on to the next hole.

“It just affects you going forward if you keep dwelling on it,” Morehead said.

Paschal said it was a lesson he learned in junior golf at about age 10.

“I finally realized the more times I get mad at myself, I’m just beating myself and I’m going to keep making bogeys,” he said. “I just try to think about what’s ahead of me, not behind me.”

Paschal said several schools contacted him about playing golf, but once North Carolina got into the mix the decision was pretty much a sure thing.

He’d love to see action as a freshman for the Tar Heels but knows the pressure will be on him to prove himself.

“They do qualifying for every event about every two weeks,” Paschal said. “You’ve got to work for playing time, especially at Carolina.”

Paschal will carry an impressive resume to Chapel Hill. This year, he played in the U.S. Amateur at prestigious Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, finishing 17th in stroke play and qualifying for the match play round.

He also led Terry Sanford to the state 3-A team championship this past year while taking home medalist honors for himself. He was named to the Rolex Junior All-America second team.

Earl’s Pearls

• Paschal wasn’t the only Terry Sanford golfer to sign a national letter-of-intent this week. Teammate Thomas Horne confirmed his commitment to Georgia Southern.

Horne had the second-best score for Terry Sanford in this year’s state 3-A finals, shooting 72-76-148 to Paschal’s 71-69-140.

Horne was named first-team all-conference each of the past three seasons.

• Congratulations to the Terry Sanford football team, which was named the state 3-A football team of the week last week by Deer Park Water for its 34-27 come-from-behind road playoff win against Vance County.
• Because of the transition between the fall and winter sports seasons, there were no CityView Athletes of the Week honored this week since no county fall sports women’s teams are currently playing.

Athletes of the Week will resume as soon as the winter sports season begins later this month.

This week’s picks

It’s bad when you have to throw a penalty flag on yourself, but when you’re wrong you’re wrong and you pay the price.

In my haste to make deadline last week, I got ahead of myself and did not make a pick in the Pine Forest-Ashley playoff game.

Since there was no prediction, I’m counting it as a loss, which dropped my record for the week to a barely acceptable 4-3. The season total is 60-20, or 75%.

With only three games to call Friday night, I hope I don’t leave anybody out.

• Terry Sanford at Harnett Central: I’ve always felt when you play someone you already lost to a second time, the odds favor the loser if it was a close game.

Terry Sanford lost by a couple of touchdowns in an earlier meeting with Harnett Central, when head coach Bruce McClelland was sidelined by a one-game suspension.

The Bulldogs are familiar with the territory at Harnett Central, and it’s not at all an exhausting trip so I’m giving the Bulldogs the edge tonight … Terry Sanford 21, Harnett Central 20.

• Burlington Williams at Seventy-First: This is about as tough as a second-round game can get for a high seed like the Falcons. Williams is a seasoned playoff team and gave Seventy-First an overtime scare just two seasons ago.

I’m sure Coach Duran McLaurin is taking this one extremely seriously and will have his Falcons ready … Seventy-First 28, Williams 22.

• Cape Fear at Havelock: I’d like to be optimistic about this one, but Havelock has been a tough opponent since my earliest days covering high school sports.

I wish the Colts well, but they are going to be hard-pressed to get a win tonight … Havelock 28, Cape Fear 14.

Follow Earl Vaughan Jr. on X (Twitter) @EarlVaughanJr.

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