The culmination of a year’s worth of tournaments has finally brought us to the PKB’s most prestigious event of the year–the 2016 Invitational.
The field for this year’s event features players from 13 different states, making it one of the most diverse fields the PKBGT has ever seen for a single tournament. Players have earned their spot into the Invitational by finishing at the top of the PKBGT Orders of Merit, winning their state championship, playing in Invitational qualifiers, or earning an at-large bid. The Grandover Resort West course will be played at 6,200 yards and is expected to be an exciting test for even the best PKBGT juniors.
Two decorated PKBGT golfers in the 66-player field are Emily Hawkins (Lexington, NC 2018) and Rachel Kuehn (Asheville, NC 2019). Hawkins has had an impressive 2016 season starting with a runner-up finish at the 2015 PKBGT Invitational. Hawkins also had two PKBGT wins, 9 Top-3 finishes, and she was our Bell Order of Merit Champion in the 2016 season. Hawkins also won the CGA 20th NC Junior Girls’, Carolinas Junior Girls’, and the AJGA Girls’ Championship. Kuehn is the reigning champion of the PKBGT Invitational after firing a two day total of 3 over par, 147 in 2015. Kuehn also had a win in the 2016 season at the Tiger classic and 5 Top-10 finishes.
UNC Wilmington committee Caroline Cahill (Wilmington, NC 2017) is ranked second on the PKBGT Performance Index. She had 5 Top-5 finishes , winning three PKBGT events she played in this past spring season. Cahill won the Palmetto Classic @ University of South Carolina, also the Metrolina Classic, and the NC One-Day @ Carolina Trace. Cahill will join the UNCW Seahawks in the fall of 2017.
Another golfer playing well all year is Nicole Adam (Pinehurst, NC 2020). Adam lit up the Futures Series circuit this year, with four wins during the 2016 season. Her biggest wins this year came at the PKBGT Futures Open this past May at Sapona Ridge CC and at the Tar Heel Classic event at UNC-Chapel Hill Finley GC in April. This will be Adam’s second appearance at the PKBGT Invitational; she was the champion at the Last Chance Invitational Qualifier in 2015 which earned her a spot into the event last year.
The PKBGT Invitational field also features 10 players who have committed to play collegiate golf. These players will be taking their golf games to the next level:
- Mogie Adamchik (Raleigh, NC 2017) – Appalachian State
- Caroline Cahill (Wilmington, NC 2017) – UNC Wilmington
- Madison Isaacson (Greensboro, NC 2018) – James Madison University
- Hailey Joy (Reidsville, NC 2018) – UNC Greensboro
- Keri Kenkel (Charlotte, NC 2017) – UNC Greensboro
- Holly McCann (Raleigh, NC 2019) – University of Maryland
- Natalie Petersen (Holly Springs, NC 2017) – Georgia Southern University
- Riley Smyth (Cary, NC 2018) – University of Virginia
- Sophia Trombetta (Independence, OH 2018) – University of Michigan
- Louise Yu (Duluth, GA 2017) – Vanderbilt University
The PKBGT Invitational will kick off this Friday, Nov. 11 with the Inspire. Dream. Achieve. Banquet at The W on Elm in Downtown Greensboro featuring Katherine Perry and Jan Mann as our special guest panelists. We will also honor our PKBGT Order of Merit winners of 2016. Tournament action will begin on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 9am. You can follow the action live on the 2016 Invitational Tournament page, http://pkbgt.shotstat.com/Tour/TournamentDetail.aspx?TID=4898. We look forward to a great 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 low cost, nationally ranked girls’ golf tournaments designed to prepare junior girls’ golfers for high school and 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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