On Sunday, April 28, the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour played the final round of the 2019 Carolina’s Classic at Carolina Trace Country Club in Sanford, NC.
A game that can take a drastic turn in a matter of moments, golf is the ultimate test of flexibility and the ability to make adjustments on the fly. On Sunday morning, the field of 51 players at the 2019 PKBGT Carolina’s Classic faced the ultimate test of this skill.
The final group of Saturday’s first round departed the scoring area around 7 p.m., only to return less than 12 hours later – ironing out the kinks on the practice facilities an hour or more prior to the tee times set to begin at 7:30 a.m.
Many players – and their families – who enjoyed the extra time from Saturday’s late start felt the pulse of an alarm clock before the crack of dawn on Sunday. To make matters worse, those rising around 5:45 a.m. were greeted by the pounding rain of an early-morning torrential downpour on a day where rain was absent from the predicted forecast.
Not the first occasion of a rainy drive to the final round of a PKBGT event – nor a “rare” misfire in the local meteorologist’s forecast – the girls prepared to battle the elements once again in the early tee times.
Fortunately, the pre-round rain painted an elegant portrait across the landscape of Lake Trace, a real world depiction of the water cycle. More importantly, the rain dissipated – transforming the image from a scientifically magnificent work of art into the familiar fluorescent glow of sunshine peaking out from beyond spotty clouds.
On the course, between the handful of players in each division vying for the 2019 PKBGT Carolina’s Classic championship. Players traded spots on the leaderboard, their position a reflection of the ebbs and flows of one final challenge from the Lake Course at Carolina Trace.
After 36 taxing holes of competition, the leaderboard was set in stone and two players – one Bell National representative and one Futures National – wore the crown as champion of the 2019 PKBGT Carolina’s Classic. Take a look at how the final round panned out!
Bell National
On a teeter totter of a leaderboard, Deborah Spair (Raleigh, NC 2020) prevailed at the top, takin home the 2019 PKBGT Carolina’s Classic championship in the 21 player Bell National field. In excellent position to contend as she entered the final round, Spair sank a timely birdie on the par-four 12th hole. She sailed through the remainder of her round unfazed and closed out the tournament with a two-day total score of 77, 76 = 153 (+9), taking home the coveted PKBGT glass bowl trophy in doing so.
Entering the final round in second place, Caroline Crumrine (Wilmington, NC 2020) held on to that position – earning runner up honors for the tournament. Crumrine rolled with the punches that the Lake Course tossed her way in the final round and remained level-headed through the round. She closed out her tournament with a two-day total score of 75, 80 = 155 (+11).
Paris Fieldings (Suffolk, VA 2023) closed out her round in the best fashion possible, making a birdie on the scenic 18th green with the presence of Lake Trace off in the background. Fieldings finished the weekend with a two-day total score of 77, 79 = 156 (+12), and earned her fourth top-five finish of the season.
Capping off a tremendous week in Sanford, Morgan Ketchum (Winston-Salem, NC 2022) leaves Carolina Trace with another medal after a fourth place finish at the PKBGT Carolina’s Classic. Ketchum ended the weekend with a two-day total score of 74, 83 = 157 (+13).
Closing out the top five in the Bell National division, Taylor Miano (Dobbs Ferry, NY 2020) finished in fifth place on the weekend. Her two-day total for the tournament was 81, 77 = 158 (+14) and she made a four stroke improvement in her final round.
Futures National
The 27 player Futures National field came down to a tiebreaker playoff between Ellen Yu (High Point, NC 2026) and Anna Howerton (Kernersville, NC 2023) who each finished the tournament with scores of 156 (+12). Heading back to the first hole, both players piped their drives down the center of the fairway and hit the green with their second shots.
With a lengthy birdie attempt, Howerton came within two yards of the hole and finished off for par. Yu stared down a ten foot put for birdie and the championship. With ice water in her veins, she lined up the putt and drained it down the center of the cup. In doing so, she took home the championship honors at the 2019 Carolina’s Classic!
In third place, McKenzie Daffin (Fayetteville, NC 2021) finished off her weekend with a two-day total score of 73, 85 = 158 (+14). Daffin closed out her round on a high note with six pars in a row.
Kinsley Smith (Raleigh, NC 2024) hopped on the birdie train in her final round. Finishing the weekend with a two-day scores of 85, 77 = 162 (+18), Smith had four birdies in her final round. She finished the tournament in fourth place.
Rounding out the top five, Grace Ridenour (Cary, NC 2025) made the turn at one-under-par after shooting a 35 on the front nine. Ridenour hit a few bumps on the back nine, but she stayed strong and closed out her tournament with back-to-back pars. She finished in fifth place with a two-day total score of 83, 81 = 164 (+20)
Closing Remarks
We would like to extend our greatest thanks to the staff at Carolina Trace Country Club for their gracious hospitality over the past week in hosting both the 2019 CGA/PKBGT Vicki DiSantis Qualifier and the Carolina’s Classic. Our lives may experience an empty feeling inside as we depart from the club’s scenic premises, but we look forward to our return to Sanford at a future date! Congratulations to all of our top finishers at the 2019 PKBGT Carolina’s Classic!
Final Scoreboard
About the PKBGT
Founded in 2007 by the Triad Youth Golf Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, as a local girls’ golf tour in the Triad region of North Carolina, the tour began as a simple concept: create more effective competitive playing opportunities for girls. By utilizing innovative yardage-based divisions instead of the traditional age-based format, the tour focused on developing tournament experience at the player’s pace. The 2019 season will feature over 90 tournaments in 9 states on the East Coast and with over 900 members, the PKBGT is the largest girl’s only tour in the country. Learn more about the PKBGT at http://www.pkbgt.org/.
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