On Saturday, October 13, the 2018 Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour season comes to a close. In partnership with the Middle Atlantic PGA, the PKBGT plays the final Middle Atlantic One-Day Series event at Brambleton Golf Club in Ashburn, VA.
The Middle Atlantic One-Day Series included 7 One-Day tournaments in the Middle Atlantic region and the two-day Series Finale played on September 29-30. Concluding with this weekend’s competition, these events offer innovative yardage-based divisions to girls aged 9-17. The PKBGT Series Progression allows players to progress towards playing collegiate golf by playing yardage/skill appropriate tournaments as they develop their game.
Though the design of one-day tournaments is for golfers of all skill levels, they are a great place for development golfers to “get into the swing of things” playing tournament golf. The goal of the regional events, offered from Central FL to the Middle Atlantic, is to provide a fun and friendly tournament on a premium golf course. The Middle Atlantic One-Day Series event at Brambleton Golf Club features a field of 51 players from the PKB Girls’ Golf Tour, the nation’s largest “girls’ only” junior tour.
Prep Division
The 15 player Prep Division field features three of the top-5 in the Prep Middle Atlantic Order of Merit rankings. Vynie Chen (Centreville, VA 2020), Sue Lee (Lorton, VA 2022) and Melanie Walker (Burke, VA 2022) compete for the final two spots on Team Middle Atlantic in this year’s Linville Cup.
Vynie looks to regain the momentum she built in August when she earned three top-3 finishes in a row. Topped off with a win in the Middle Atlantic Series at Bowling Green CC, she hopes to round out a successful season by solidifying her 2nd place position in the Prep Middle Atlantic Order of Merit rankings.
Sue added to her season of top-5 finishes with a strong performance in last weekend’s event at Pendleton GC. She sits in 3rd place in the Prep Middle Atlantic Order of Merit rankings and looks for one last finish atop the leaderboard to secure her position.
Melanie finished top-5 in three events this season and looks to play her way into the top-3 of the rankings. She currently holds the 4th place position in the Prep Middle Atlantic Order of Merit rankings, and looks to build off of her T5 finish last weekend in Brambleton.
Following the completion of the 2018 Middle Atlantic Regional Series, the top 3 finishers of the Storie Apparel Middle Atlantic Prep Regional Order of Merit will punch their ticket into the prestigious 2018 PKBGT Invitational.
Futures Division
Featured in the 15 player Futures Series is Catherine Qiu (Great Falls, VA 2024), Nguyen (Springfield, VA 2024) and Taylor Park (Fairfax, VA 2022). The Futures Middle Atlantic Order of Merit race is tight and this weekend’s event event will likely decide who takes home the crown.
Following her victory last weekend at Pendleton, Catherine jumped two spots into 1st in the Order of Merit rankings. She has three wins on the Middle Atlantic Series this year and a win in the final event at Brambleton would secure her 2018 Futures Middle Atlantic Order of Merit championship.
Close behind in 2nd on the Futures Middle Atlantic Order of Merit, Josephine has only one finish outside of the top-3. Though she dropped one spot into 2nd place in the rankings, a 2nd place finish at Pendleton was no small feat. She looks to ride that success into the final event at Brambleton to take back her 1st place ranking and win the 2018 Futures Middle Atlantic Order of Merit championship.
Taylor enters the final event at Brambleton in 3rd place on the Order of Merit rankings after dropping one spot following last weekend’s event at Pendleton. She looks to add another top-3 finish in this weekend’s final event and make a final push to move up in the Order of Merit rankings.
Discovery Division
Rounding out the 2018 season is the 21 player Discovery Series. The final tee times includes the top-3 of the Discovery Middle Atlantic Order of Merit rankings.
Madison Lehr (Mechanicsville, VA 2024) sits comfortably in the 1st place ranking on the Discovery Middle Atlantic Order of Merit following her third win of the season at Pendleton GC. She looks to close out a tremendous season with another top-5 finish and take home the Order of Merit championship.
Sydney Neou (Leesburg, VA 2027), Cailyn Park (Fairfax, VA 2025) and Sarah Wang (Mclean, VA 2025) are in a close race for the final two spots in the Order of Merit rankings. Sydney holds the 2nd place position after a 6th place finish this past weekend at Pendleton. She hopes to return to early season form when she won two events and finish the season strong.
Cailyn and Sarah are locked T3 on the Order of Merit rankings after solid scores at Pendleton. Sarah moved up one spot after a 5th place finish and Cailyn held her position with a 4th place finish. This weekend’s event at Brambleton is the final opportunity for either girl to pull away and take the 3rd place spot in the Order of Merit.
Final Remarks
Order of Merit
The winners of the Prep and Futures Divisions of the Storie Apparel Middle Atlantic Order of Merit will earn an invitation to the PKBGT Tournament of Champions at Pinehurst No. 8 in December. Additionally, the top three finishers in the Prep and Futures Order of Merit will a spot on Team Middle Atlantic in the 2019 PKBGT Linville Cup at Mid Pines Inn and GC.
Everyone looks to continue their success this weekend at the Middle Atlantic One-Day Series event at Brambleton Golf Club! We will present awards to the top-4 finishers in the Prep and Futures Series, and the top-3 finishers in the Discovery Series. 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 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 700 members in 2018 and 750 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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