On Sunday, May 19, the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour played the final round of the 2019 PKBGT Gate City Classic at Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro, NC.
Players arrived at Forest Oaks Country Club on Sunday morning to brilliant blue skies, the course still sizzling from multiple Saturday’s spectacular slate of junior girls’ golf. Several under-par scorecards were signed off in the scoring tent, lighting up the board with flashes of red numbers after round one.
On consecutive days of purely gorgeous conditions, Sunday’s final round peaked at a warm yet comfortable 88 degrees. A steady breeze eased the strength of the sun’s rays piercing through a feverish flow of fluids – competitors hydrating to maximum capacity before their tee time.
Departing the Forest Oaks parking lot Saturday evening, the Prep division was up for the taking. Two players were locked in a dead heat after posting first-round scores of 73 (+1). Several players sat within a handful of strokes behind the leaders. A strong finish on Sunday afternoon could give anyone in the bunch an additional boost into sole possession of the top spot.
Meanwhile, the Futures and Discovery leaders entered the final round with a more substantial cushion. Both posted under-par rounds on Saturday, looking to ride the momentum into Sunday and close out the tournament in the red.
The driver’s ping echoed across the towering tree-lined fairway in Greensboro as the girls began their final run at 11 a.m. No more than a handful of fluffed clouds, resembling marshmallows, flowed through an ocean of vibrant blue skies over the course of the afternoon.
After all of the groups poured through the tent adjacent to the 18th green, the scores were tallied and three players stood amongst their fellow competitors as champions. Let’s take a look at how the final round played out at the 2019 PKBGT Gate City Classic!
Prep Division
Two rounds of golf simply were not enough to determine a champion in the 32 player Prep division! Alyssa Cox (Mount Airy, NC 2019) and Emily Brubaker (Raleigh, NC 2020) finished Sunday’s second round in a dead heat, tied with scores of 73, 75 = 148 (+4).
Heading back to the first hole for a tiebreaker playoff, Cox defeated Brubaker in bonus golf by making par to earn the title of 2019 PKBGT Gate City Classic champion in the Prep division.
She made three birdies in a row beginning her back nine to put herself in position to make the tiebreaker playoff. Brubaker made two birdies in the last three holes to join Cox in the playoff, falling just short and finishing runner-up.
In her backyard of Greensboro, Macie Burcham (Greensboro, NC 2021) finished in third place at Forest Oaks this weekend. Burcham made one birdie in her final round on Sunday. She ended the weekend with a total score of 74, 77 = 151 (+7).
Rounding out the Top Four, in a two-way tie for fourth place was Ella Perna (Durham, NC 2022) and Annabelle Jennings (Chesapeake, VA 2020). Perna finished the weekend with back-to-back scores of 76. Jennings posted scores of 75 and 77. Both girls closed out the weekend with total scores of 152 (+8).
Futures Division
Picking up where she left off in the Discovery division last season, Ellen Yu (High Point, NC 2026) brought home the championship in her first regional event of the 2019 season. Yu posted a one-under-par weekend total score of 71, 72 = 143 (-1). Yu dropped four birdies in her final round en route to the 2019 PKBGT Gate City Classic champions in the 30 player Futures field.
Finishing runner-up with a weekend total score of 79, 76 = 155 (+11) was Kinsley Smith (Raleigh, NC 2024). Smith’s three-stroke improvement in Sunday’s final round featured two birdies, including the final hole of her tournament.
Tyla McCaffity (Raleigh, NC 2021) held on to a Top Finish in her weekend at Forest Oaks, earning third place honors. Unlike the weather this weekend, McCaffity came out storming in the first round and found herself in the final pairing on Sunday. Her two-day total score was 76, 82 = 158 (+14) and she made one birdie on her final afternoon.
Closing out the Top Four in the Futures division was Kitson O’Neal (Pinehurst, NC 2023), finishing in fourth place. O’Neal made an eight-stroke improvement on Sunday with a round of 76 that included four birdies. Her two-day total score was 84, 76 = 160 (+16).
Discovery Division
Taking the 15 player Discovery division championship with an extraordinary two-day performance, Gracie Song (Waxhaw, NC 2026) earned first-place honors at the 2019 PKBGT Gate City Classic. Song dropped an out-of-this-world score, finishing the weekend with a total score of 31, 33 = 64 (-8). That’s right, she followed up a five-under-par first round with a three-under-par finishing touch to an eight-under-par takeover of Forest Oaks!
Conquering no small feat of her own, Jenna Kim (Raleigh, NC 2027) posted a two-under-par 34 in her final round to secure a runner-up finish. Kim’s two-day total score of 35, 34 = 69 (-3) came with two birdies and an eagle in her final round!
Elizabeth Sullivan (Atlanta, GA 2025) made the trip north from Georgia well worth it, finishing in third place. Sullivan finished her weekend with a two-day total score of 36, 37 = 73 (+1).
Rounding out the Discovery division Top Four, finishing in fourth place was Leah Edwards (Greensboro, NC 2025). Hanging out in her backyard of Greensboro for the weekend, she finished with a two-day total score of 37, 37 = 74 (+2).
Closing Remarks
We would like to thank the entire staff at Forest Oaks Country Club for hosting the 2019 PKBGT Gate City Classic! Mother Nature treated the tour and its supporters well with a weekend of fun in the sun. Congratulations to all of our Top Finishers in our hometown of Greensboro this weekend!
Final Results
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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