It wasn't the easiest decision high school golfer Meghan Moore has ever made, but she knew what she had to do. Moore, a junior who plays on the Northern Durham boys golf team, was not going to miss a chance to win a state title. Another attempt at qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open would have to wait.

Moore's game is so strong that she can compete with boys, which is a good thing because Northern Durham doesn't have a girls team.

Northern Durham is in the state championships at Pinehurst No. 6 today and Tuesday for the first time since coach Kevin Wicker took over the team three seasons ago. Before his arrival, it had been 10 years since the team had qualified for the regionals.

And Moore, the top-ranked girls golfer in the state, has been a big part of Northern Durham's climb to respectability.

She has played at No. 4 this season, ahead of her twin brother, Jared.

"I have coaches ask me why she isn't playing with the girls," said Wicker, who admits some boys are embarrassed to lose to a girl. "She's intimidating to these guys."

Some of those feelings are mutual.

"I don't like to lose to them," Moore said, suggesting that she isn't intimidated. "I try to play my own game and not worry about what they're doing."

At last Monday's N.C. High School Athletic Association's 4-A Mid-East Regional at Anderson Creek Golf Club, Moore finished with a 77 after getting off to a rough start. The team used the score, in the top 30, to clinch the third and final state championship berth. She finished 14th in the Pac-Six Conference standings this year with a 39.875 average per nine holes.

"She almost always gives us a score we can use," said Wicker, who has known the Moore twins since they were in the seventh grade, when their family became members at the Lake Winds Golf Course he owns.

Moore's father got his kids involved in golf at an early age.

"I didn't try to push them to play," said Wayne Moore, who said he has always had plenty of friends to play golf with, "but I played with them when they were 6, 7 years old."

Meghan and Jared love the game. They'd play every day if they could.

Their time on Lake Winds helped pave the young girl's ambitions when she was a freshman hoping to play on the boys team. It eased what might have been an awkward transition.

"We all pretty much played at the same golf course growing up," Jared Moore said.

Wicker said it still took Moore some time to earn her teammates' respect.

"When she was in the ninth grade, she didn't quite have the muscle to stay with the boys as far as distance," Wicker said. "That's what makes her tough. She knows she has to play the course and not anyone else."

Moore said she has been treated pretty well by her teammates and opponents.

"Some guys tell me that I'm short," Moore said. "They just joke around with me."

Even now, after a couple of years of getting stronger, her drives are still 30 to 40 yards shorter than the boys.

But while the boys might drive farther, Moore is known for great accuracy, a well-rounded game and a reputation for consistently placing her drives down the center of the fairway.

"She's hitting it right down the middle," Wicker said.

Her consistent play has led to consistent scores.

"I try not to worry about any guy hitting it farther than me because that's what I expect," said Moore, who has committed to play for East Carolina.

If Northern Durham weren't in the state tournament today, Moore would be trying to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open. She was signed up and ready to go. But the events were scheduled on the same days.

She wants to eventually compete on the LPGA Tour and aspires to be the best women's golfer in the world.

Last year, she tried out for the U.S. Women's Open but didn't get very far after a triple bogey on the 16th hole.

"If I wouldn't have done that, I would have gone on to the next round," she said.

But today, she'll be with her team -- it needs her.

"It was hard, but I wanted to do it for my team and be there and help them out," Moore said.