The Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour returns to action with the PKBGT NEXT tournament at Duke University this September 5th-7th, 2015. This is the inaugural year of this event and there has been no tournament like it before in PKB history. Players in the NEXT event will “duke” it out in divisions determined by high school graduation year only, regardless of what series they belong to during the regular season. Winners from each graduation year will be recognized as well as two over-all champions in the 2016-2018 grad year divisions and the 2019-2021 grad year divisions. The 2016-2018 graduates will play the Robert Trent Jones-designed course at 5723 yards while the 2019-2021 graduates will play the course at 5288 yards.
The field features 31 players from North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Competing in the 2016 grad year division is Janie Thomas, (Winston-Salem, NC 2016) who is currently ranked 42nd on the PKB Performance Index and had a win this year at the One-Day Open Series @ Forest Oaks CC with a 79. Also in the 2016 division is Morgan Mugnolo (Haymarket, VA 2016) who won the second flight of the 2014 VSGA Junior Championship. In the 2017 grad year division is Mogie Adamchik (Raleigh, NC 2017) and Meghan McPeak, (Chapel Hill, NC 2017) who each had several top 10 finishes this year in PKB events, their best being at the Wolfpack Classic and the One-Day Open Series @ Rocky River respectively. The 2018 grad year division features Mackenzie Battle, (Aberdeen, NC 2018) who has played solidly all year and even picked up a win at the One -Day Open Series @Chapel Hill CC with a 77. Also competing in the 2018 grad year division is Lena Capoccia, (Bethesda, MD 2018) who’s top finishes this year include a 2nd place finish at the Black-Eyed Susan Classic where she shot 81-72.
Representing the Freshman this year (2019) are Kendall Turner (Chesapeake, VA 2019) and Muskan Uppal (Cornelius, NC 2019). Turner had several top-five finishes this year, her best coming at the Wolfpack Classic where she placed third thanks to two solid rounds of 79-76. Uppal played well all year long, placing in the top-three in six of her 11 events. Her best finish was a win at the Metrolina Classic at Rock Hill CC with rounds of 81-72. Competing in the 2020 grad year division is Jessica Rathbone, (Montpelier, VA 2020) who placed second at this year’s Black-Eyed Susan Classic with a 158 total. Also in the division is Nicole Adam, (Pinehurst, NC 2020) who placed in the top-ten in all of her events this year, her best finish being a runner-up finish at the Wolfpack Classic with rounds of 74-76. Not to be outdone by the older girls, the seventh grade division (2021) features strong players like Bailey Davis (White Plains, MD 2021) and Amanda Sambach (Davidson, NC 2021). Davis placed in the top-five in both of her events this year, even placing second at the One-Day Open Series @ Pinehurst No.9. Sambach, easily the most decorated player in the tournament, has never finished outside of the top-five in all ten of her events this year. Her many accolades include a win at the Srixon Tour Championship at Pine Needles and placing first on the PKB Futures’ Series Order of Merit.
The top-two finishers of each graduation year will receive an invitation to the 2015 PKB Invitational which will take place at Grandover Resort in Greensboro, NC from November 7th-9th. The individual champion from each graduation year will also earn their spot to compete in the 2015 Tournament of Champions at Pinehurst No. 8 this December 5th and 6th. We are looking forward to a new, fun and competitive event!
The Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour is an initiative of the Triad Youth Golf Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation aimed at increasing learning and playing opportunities for youth golfers. Based out of Greensboro, North Carolina, the PKBGT offers affordable, high-quality nationally ranked girls’ golf tournaments designed to prepare junior girls’ golfers for high school and collegiate golf. The PKBGT is the nation’s largest “girls’ only” junior tour with over 375 members in 2013 and 262 girls playing in or committed to collegiate golf. Learn more about the tour at pkbgt.org or by contacting Tour Director Mike Parker at mparker@pkbgt.org or 336-347-8537.
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