Greensboro, NC- The Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour opened its championship season at the ROCKET TOUR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP at the University of Georgia Golf Club on Saturday. The ninth edition of the Players Championship will be contested on the same course as the annual Liz Murphy Collegiate, one of the strongest fields in college women’s golf every year. UGA Golf Club, a top 10 university golf course, will welcome the best of the Bell National, Prep Preview, and Futures National, the PKB Girls Tour, has to offer. A record thirteen states will be in the field. The PKB Girls’ Tour will be live streaming the tenth tee on Sunday on our Facebook page.
Bell National
With the entire field experiencing nearly all four seasons in a day, the current PKBGT Invitational low round record holder takes the overnight lead in her home state. Sara Im (Duluth, GA 2023) didn’t match her first-round Invitational score, but the even par round of 72 gives her a one shot advantage going into tomorrow. Im has never captured a Bell National title on the PKB circuit. She’s been runner-up more than a handful of times. She hopes to change that tomorrow at the UGA Golf Course. Sara went out with in 33 (-2). She like most of the field struggled on the tenth, eleventh and twelfth holes going (+4) over the three hole span. The Duluth, GA native recovered with two birds in her last five holes to go home at 39 (+2) for a round of 72. Joining Im in the final pairing will be the Mercer Women’s Golf commit Mikayla Dubnik (Murrayville, GA 2021) and Kyndall Shamblin (Cleveland, TN 2022) who fired rounds of 75 (+3).
1. Sara Im (Duluth, GA 2023) / 72 (E)
T2. Mikayla Dubnik (Murrayville, GA 2021) / 75 (+3)
T2. Kyndall Shamblin (Cleveland, TN 2022) / 75 (+3)
Click Here to View Full Bell National Leaderboard
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Prep Preview
The 2020 ROCKET TOUR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP Futures National champion has found herself in the hunt in the 2021 Prep Preview division. Emerson Dever (Durham, NC 2025) takes a one shot lead heading into the final round tomorrow. The entire field battled wet and snowy conditions all day long, that didn’t stop the flat stick from heating up as Dever carded three birdies on the day en route to an opening round of 75 (+3). It’s been nearly eleven months since the Durham native hoisted a trophy. Her last victory came just two weeks after her win at UGA in the Tarheel Classic. The final event before COVID-19 shut down the tour schedule for nearly two months. It’ll be a fun final pairing for Dever as she’ll be joined by her friend Kasey McIlvaine (Raleigh, NC 2024) and Taylor Sieg (Summit, NJ 2024). McIlvaine and Sieg finished at (+4) and (+5). In addition to Sieg, Garland Gould (Raleigh, NC 2024) and Macy Johnson (Salem, VA 2023) also sit just two shots off the lead.
1. Emerson Dever (Durham, NC 2025) / 75 (+3)
2. Kasey McIlvaine (Raleigh, NC 2024) / 76 (+4)
T3. Taylor Sieg (Summit, NJ 2024) / 77 (+5)
T3. Garland Gould (Raleigh, NC 2024) / 77 (+5)
T3. Macy Johnson (Salem, VA 2023) / 77 (+5)
Click Here to View Full Prep Preview Leaderboard
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Futures National
Tatum Thompson (Marietta, GA 2023) made great work in her first round on the PKB Girls Tour firing an 81 (+9) to kickoff the ROCKET TOUR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP at UGA Golf Course. Thompson, who started off the tenth hole, struggled out of the gate going (+11) through her first seven holes. Her final eleven holes went much smoother at (-2). Thompson carded back-to-back birdies on holes six and seven (her fifteenth and sixteenth holes). The newcomer takes a two shot overnight lead on the field. Joining Thompson in the final grouping tomorrow is Elizabeth Sullivan (Atlanta, GA 2025) and Yvette O’Brien (Greenwich, CT 2025). Sullivan finished at (+11) and O’Brien closed at (+12). Sullivan and O’Brien both have had some success at the National level, but have yet to hoist a trophy.
1. Tatum Thompson (Marietta, GA 2023) / 81 (+9)
2. Elizabeth Sullivan (Atlanta, GA 2025) / 83 (+11)
3. Yvette O’Brien (Greenwich, CT 2025) / 83 (+12)
4. Pearl Hughes (Dawsonville, GA 2027) / 85 (+13)
Click Here to View Full Futures National Leaderboard
Click Here to View Second Round Tee Times
Round 2 will begin Sunday, February 7, at 8:30 AM, weather permitting.
Follow the final round at the ROCKET TOUR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHP.
Live-Scoring
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 2020-2021 season will feature over 110 tournaments in 9 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/.
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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