Recap: 2019 Inaugural Prep and Futures Invitational

On Sunday, October 27, the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour played the final round of the 2019 Prep and Futures Invitational at Carolina National Golf Club in Bolivia, NC. 

A rainy forecast was set for Sunday’s round, bringing heavy rains soaking the golf course over Saturday night and well into Sunday morning. Despite the forecast, the grey skies turned blue bringing sunshine and a beautiful day for the final round of the inaugural Prep and Futures Invitational!

With a field composed of the top 45 players from the PKBGT’s six regional series along the eastern seaboard, the competition was fierce with a crowded leaderboard in both divisions heading into today’s final round.

High winds and wet conditions provided a great challenge for the field during Sunday’s round but the scores showed otherwise, as many players improved their first round score. Let’s take a look at how things ended up at the inaugural championship!

Prep Preview

Serving as the first event of the 2020 Prep Preview series, the 2019 Prep Invitational featured 18 players from the Carolinas and beyond.

Holding onto her first round lead to take home first place was Cindy Song (Waxhaw, NC 2023) after posting rounds of 74 – 71 = 145 to win by six strokes. Song’s second round of 71 further stretched her overnight lead and featured three birdies on the front nine followed by 8 consecutive pars to close out her round.

Song, who recently won the 2019 Jimmy Anderson Girls Invitational earlier this month after posting a record breaking round of 65, is set to compete at the PKBGT River Landing Classic and the coveted PKBGT Invitational over the next two weeks.

Finishing in second place was Melanie Walker (Burke, VA 2022) with scores of 75 – 76 = 151. Walker, a high school sophomore, carded twenty-three pars and three birdies over the course of the weekend. Just one stroke behind Walker was Alexsandra Lapple (Ridgefield, CT 2023) who carded rounds of 78-74=152. Lapple’s second round featured an eagle on the par-four sixth followed by birdie on the seventh.

Both Lapple and Walker are set to compete in two weeks at the 2019 PKBGT Invitational.

Finishing in fourth place was Ester Choi (Midlothian, VA 2021) who posted rounds of 79-75=154. Choi, who carded five birdies over the course of the weekend, earned her way into the event after winning the 2019 Storie Apparel Prep Regional Order of Merit title for the Middle Atlantic Series.

Rounding out the top five was Kayla Maletto (Sinking Springs, PA 2024) who, making her first Prep series appearance, carded rounds of 80-77=157. Maletto, like Choi, was honored at last night’s Storie Apparel Awards Banquet for taking home the Storie Apparel Futures Regional Order of Merit title for the inaugural Delaware Valley Series.

Futures National 

Take a look at hole-by-hole live scoring at any point during today’s final round and one will notice many names atop the Futures Division leaderboard. The stakes were high with several players with hopes of taking home the inaugural Futures Invitational title – let’s take a look at who took home the ultimate title!

Entering today’s final round three strokes behind the leader, followed by a five-stroke deficit at the turn, Madison Messimer (Myrtle Beach, SC 2025) dug deep to take home the inaugural Futures Invitational title! Messimer carded consistent rounds of 78-78 =156 to edge out the competition by three strokes.

After going six-over on today’s front nine, Messimer rallied back with birdies on the challenging 11th and 13th holes to card an even-par 36 on the back nine amidst the pressure that accompanies tournament golf and being in contention for a title.

Not only is her 2019 Futures Invitational title her first victory on the PKBGT National series, but today’s win catapulted her to sit first on the 2020 Futures National Order of Merit and earned her spot in the 2019 PKBGT Tournament of Champinos played December 7-8, 2019 at Pinehurst #8.

Finishing three strokes behind Messimer in a tie for second place were Kathryn Ha (Roanoke VA, 2025) and Leah Edwards (Greensboro, NC 2025). Ha, whose weekend was highlighted by three birdies, carded rounds of 78-81=159 to take home a top three finish.

Edwards, who earned her spot in this weekend’s invitational after winning the 2019 Storie Apparel North Carolina Futures Order of Merit title, carded rounds of 75-84=159. Edward’s weekend was highlighted by 22 pars to secure her top three finish.

Also making a run for the title on the final nine of the championship was Abigail Fernandez (Windermere, FL 2023) who finished one-stroke back in third place. Fernandez made her way to the top of the leaderboard during the final round after carding birdies on the 11th and 13th holes.

Another regional Order of Merit champion in the mix, Fernandez took home the 2019 Storie Apparel Central Florida Order of Merit title earlier this year.

Rounding out the top five just one stroke behind Fernandez was Emerson B. Dever (Durham, NC 2025) who posted rounds of 83-78=161. Dever entered the field as a player to watch after a top-ten finish on the 2019 Futures National Order of Merit.

Closing Remarks 

A huge congratulations to all competitors who earned their spot in this weekend’s Invitational event after strong performances on their respective PKBGT Regional series! We look forward to growing this event for the years to come as the PKBGT expands to new regions in the US!

The PKBGT National Series will be back in action this weekend, November 2-3, at the River Landing Girls Classic played at River Landing Country Club in Wallace, NC.

To view the complete schedule, click here.

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FINAL LEADERBOARD

 

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 2020 season will feature over 95 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/.


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *