AUGUSTA, Ga. — Michael Hines has been locked in on the golf course before.

“But not as locked in as that,” he said of his performance earlier this month in winning the prestigious Future Masters golf tournament at Dothan Country Club.

The 17-year-old from Acworth, Ga., who has strong family ties in Slippery Rock, tied the tournament record with a 62 in the first round and closed out his win in the final round with four consecutive birdies.

“It definitely has turned everything upside down,” Hines said. “I knew I could play and win a tournament of that caliber, I just was never able to put it all together and do it.”

Hines’ life has changed quite a bit since that win. He’s received national attention and has gotten a lot of interest from colleges who want the services of the soon-to-be senior.

Hines, though, has handled the pressure the best way he can: by playing more golf.

His summer has been a busy one, but he’s taken it all in stride.

“In the end, you’re just playing a round of golf,” Hines said. “Whether it is the final round of Future Masters or on a Monday night at 6 p.m. at your local course, you just have to treat it the same.”

Hines’ father, Craig, was a standout athlete at Slippery Rock High School. He still owns the record at the school in both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

But golf was not one of the sports he played until he moved to Georgia to pursue a job in teaching after graduating from Slippery Rock University in 1989.

“I picked it up as a stress relief,” said Craig, who is the golf coach at Carlton J. Kell High School in Marietta, Ga. “Now it’s one of the more stressful things I do.”

When Craig started golfing, his eldest son, Michael, wasn’t far behind. Michael Hines picked up his first club when he was 2.

By the time Hines was 10, he was playing for his first world championship in his age group.

“That’s probably when I knew this was something I wanted to do,” Hines said. “I just like everything about golf. Every day is different. Every round is different, every shot. There’s always something to work on.”

With all the interest since his Future Masters win, Hines is trying to decide on a college. Then, he ultimately wants to play golf for a living.

He’s off to a good start.

Hines has plenty of relatives in the Slippery Rock area and returns to the area “once or twice a year.”

He got a brush with Slippery Rock Thursday.

In the final round of the American Junior Golf Association E-Z-Go Vaughn Taylor Championship at Jones Creek Golf Club, Hines was paired with Slippery Rock native Brett Rinker.

“It was the first time I met him,” Hines said. “My cousin (Slippery Rock’s Morgan Siebka) told me a lot about him, about how good a golfer he was, but this was the first time I got to see what he looked like.”

Hines closed out the tournament with a 71 to place 15th. Rinker shot a 72 Thursday and finished one spot behind Hines.