On Sunday, January 6, the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour completed the second and final round of the Tournament of Champions presented by Golf Pride Grips at Pinehurst No. 8 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

To earn an invitation to the weekend of events, players were required to have met the specific pre-tournament qualifications. The top participants punched their ticket to the TOC by winning a tournament on the 2018 PKB Tour circuit, winning the 2018 Regional or National Order of Merit race in their respective division, finishing in the top of the field at 2018 PKBGT Championship Events or finishing runner up at PKBGT Classic events.

The weekend was competitive with several players vying for the ultimate title: the Champion of Champions! The tournament was split into two divisions: Bell National at 6,001 yards and Prep Preview at 5,700 yards.

Bell National

It was a nail biter all the way down to the final hole in the Bell National Division. There was a tie for the top of the leaderboard between Anna Morgan (Spartanburg, SC 2019) and Melanie Green (Medina, NY 2020).

That didn’t change for much of Round 2 as the two battled it out all day. In the end, Green outlasted Morgan on the 17th hole. Morgan bogied while Green made par, taking a one stroke lead into the final hole.

Green would never look back, making par on 18 and taking home the Tournament of Champions title. On the weekend she shot 74, 72= 146 (+2).

Morgan fell one shot short of back to back PKBGT Championships, shooting 74, 73= 147 (+3). She battled tough, windy conditions on day one and made eight birdies on the weekend.

Finishing in third place with a final score of 76, 72= 148 (+4) was Amanda Sambach (Davidson, NC 2021). Sambach came back strong on the second day of play shooting even par including back-to-back birdies on holes 16 and 17.

Sara Im (Duluth, GA 2023) finished in fourth place after shooting even par on the day in the second round as well. On the weekend, Im shot 78, 72= 150 (+6).

Rounding out the top of the leaderboard was Rebecca DiNunzio (Norfolk, VA 2019) in fifth after shooting 76, 75= 151 (+7) and Chloe Holder (Williamson, SC 2021) in sixth with a weekend of 77, 75= 152 (+8).

Prep Preview

There was a close battle in the Prep Preview field as well with Grace Holcomb (Wilmington, NC 2021) taking home the trophy after a weekend score of 78, 79= 157 (+13). Holcomb held the lead after day one and never looked back, remaining even keel throughout.

In second place after winning a scorecard playoff was Amber Mackiewicz (Virginia Beach, VA 2023) with scores of 82, 77= 159 (+15). Mackiewicz had two birdies on the day.  

Autumn Carey (Manning, SC 2022) finished in third place with after shooting 81, 78= 159 (+15). A birdie on hole 13 helped push Carey forward for a strong back nine.

In fourth place with a score of 85, 76= 161 (+17) was Madison Lynn Dixon (Inman, SC 2023).

Finishing off the top of the leaderboard in the Prep Division was Abby Franks (Roebuck, SC 2023) in fifth place shooting 82, 79= 161 (+17) and Megan Morris (Cary, NC 2021) in sixth place with a score of 84, 80= 164 (+20)

Closing Remarks

Congratulations to the winners and top finishers in this year’s Tournament of Champions! We would like to thank Pinehurst Resort and the staff at Course No. 8 for hosting this year’s tournament. We continue the 2019 schedule next weekend in Statesboro, GA for the Eagle Classic at Georgia Southern University.

About Our Event Partner, Golf Pride Grips

Golf Pride Grips, the #1 Grip on Tour, joins the PKBGT for a second year as the presenting sponsor of the PKBGT Tournament of Champions. With more than 80% of Tour Professionals choosing Golf Pride grips, Golf Pride has laid claim to more major championship wins than any other grip companies. In addition, Golf Pride’s brand new headquarters are in the process of being built on the property of Pinehurst’s Centennial #8, the host of the 2018 PKBGT Tournament of Champions! All competitors will receive a full set of grips as a part of their player gift package. We are thrilled to have Golf Pride’s support of the tour and junior girls golf as we head into the championship next weekend

Final Scoreboard

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 800+ girls having played, playing in or committed to playing 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.