On December 5-6, the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Tour takes over Pinehurst Resort as champions and top performers of the past season gather for the 2020 Tournament of Champions. The girls will take to one of the most prestigious golf clubs in North Carolina at Forest Creek Golf Club as they battle for the ultimate title: Champion of the Champions.
To earn an invitation to the event, 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 2020 PKBGT Tour circuit, winning the 2020 Storie Apparel Regional or National Order of Merit race in their respective division, finishing in the top of the field at 2020 PKBGT Championship Events or finishing runner up at PKBGT Classic events.
The field of 70 competitors will be split into two separate divisions of play; the Bell National Division and the Prep Preview Division. There will be representatives from nine different states along the east coast, ranging from Florida to Pennsylvania. We delve deeper into each division with our players to watch!
Bell National
The Bell National Division field features 37 of the tour’s top players, including 29 of the top 100 players on the PKBGT Performance Index.
Entering the field ranked #4 on the PKBGT Performance Index is Maria Atwood (Holly Springs, NC 2022). Atwood, a recent verbal commit to James Madison University, comes off a top fifteen finish at the PKBGT Invitational and a third-place finish at the CGA-PKBGT Jimmy Anderson Junior Girls’.
One spot behind Atwood is Amber Mackiewicz (Virginia Beach, VA 2023) at #5 on the PKBGT Performance Index. The Virginia Beach, VA native, comes off a top fifteen finish at the PKBGT Invitational, and first at the Colonial Girls Classic. Amber also took home the PKBGT Masters at Greenville Country Club in the middle of the summer. Amber is also currently the second-ranked player on the Bell National Order of Merit.
Highest Ranked Players
- #4 Maria Atwood (Holly Springs, NC 2022)
- #5 Amber Mackiewicz (Virginia Beach, VA 2023)
- #6 Melanie Walker (Burke, VA 2022)
- #7 Sydney Roberts (Chesnee, SC 2022)
- #9 Kiera Bartholomew (Wake Forest, NC 2023)
- #10 Sophie Lauture (Charlotte, NC 2024)
Prep Preview
The Prep Preview Division features 33 rising talents who competed in both the Futures and Prep Divisions in their bid for an invitation to the 2019 Tournament of Champions.
Madison Messimer (Myrtle Beach, SC 2025), arguably one of the best players on tour in the past three months, was the youngest player to make the cut at the 2020 PKBGT Invitational. Messimer also captured the Prep title at the Imperial Girls Classic. During the 2019 season, Messimer took home the Futures Order of Merit title after winning six events, including the Precision Girls Championship, PKBGT Masters, PKBGT Open, and the Tour Championship.
Jenna Kim (Raleigh, NC 2027), one of the last players to earn their way into the field, dominated on the Discovery NC Regional series and took home gold in her maiden eighteen-hole event at the Cutter Creek Girls Classic. The Raleigh, NC native comes in this week at #59 on the PKBGT Performance Index.
Highest Ranked Players
- #27 Madison Messimer (Myrtle Beach, SC 2025)
- #59 Jenna Kim (Raleigh, NC 2027)
- #89 Emerson Dever (Durham, NC 2025)
- #100 Karsyn Herron (Pikeville, NC 2024)
- #102 Garland Gould (Raleigh, NC 2024)
Forest Creek Golf Club
Opened in 1996, Tom Fazio’s South Course drew inspiration from Augusta National’s rolling, parkland-style layout. The South Course has an understated appeal, flowing gracefully across the land for an unforced, natural appearance.
Upon opening, the South Course was selected by Golf Digest as the third-best new residential course in the country. Pinehurst Magazine named it the second-best golf experience in the Pinehurst area based on votes of area head golf professionals – second only to the famed Pinehurst No. 2
About the PKBGT
Founded in 2007 by Girls Golf of America, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, 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 2020-21 season will feature over 110 tournaments in 10 states on the East Coast, and with over 1,000 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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For complete coverage of the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour, follow the PKBGT on social media @PKBGirlsTour (Twitter), facebook.com/girlsgolftour (Facebook), @pkbgirlstour (Instagram), or visit our website at www.pkbgt.org.
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