Pinehurst, NC – The Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour traveled to historic Pine Needles in Pinehurst, NC for the season-ending Tour Championship. Pine Needles has hosted four U.S. Women’s Open Championships in 1996, 2001, 2007, and 2022.
Sunday’s at the U.S. Women’s Open’s at Pine Needles never disappointed and the same can be said for Sunday’s at the PKBGT Tour Championship at Pine Needles. After tropical storm Debby caused some delays earlier in the week, the weather stayed dried during play allowing the Bell National division to play 54-holes and the Prep Preview & Futures National division 36-holes.
The Bell National division started the day with a three-way tie for the lead at three-under par and eight more players stood within four of the lead. But Sunday was a day of survival as the course played the hardest of the three-day event. Riley Grimm (Pinehurst, NC 2028) birdied the first hole to grab a share of the lead. The 18-hole and 36-hole leader, Ira Joshi (Pinehurst, NC 2029) birdied the second to move one in front of the pack at -3. But the U.S. Open venue showed its teeth as all but one of the leaders would drop multiple shots on the front nine.
Following her second round 68 (-4), Maria “Isa” Errichetto (Southern Pines, NC 2027) made nine consecutive pars to start her final round giving her a one-stroke lead at the halfway point. Following birdies on #10 and #13, Isa saw her lead grow to three. From the 3rd hole of her second round through the 16th hole of the final round, Erricheto played the stretch bogey-free and in seven-under par. A true championship worthy performance. Her closest competitor, Joshi, would drop a shot on the par-five 15th, giving Errichetto a four-shot lead. The lead gave her a cushion to play her final three holes stress free, ultimately claiming the Bell National title by three.
In the Prep Preview division, Madison Park (Charlotte, NC 2026) held the overnight lead following her opening round of 69 (-3). Park opened the door to her competitors by playing her front nine in 42 strokes. Lina Polteraitis (Florence, SC 2026) and Elizabeth Guthrie (Charlotte, NC 2028) made a move up the leaderboard shooting matching 71’s (-1) and were the only two players at the event to shoot under-par on Sunday.
Katie Lee (McLean, VA 2026) entered the day in second place and after playing her first eight holes in even par, suddenly she held the outright lead. But, she’d play her next three holes in a combined four-over dropping her out of the lead. Lee would go on to tie for third with Guthrie and Paisley Freda (Cornelius, NC 2027). Freda matched her opening 75 (+3) on day two to climb a spot up the leaderboard. But the day would ultimately belong to, Baker Hudson (New Bern, NC 2026). Hudson remained steady all day, especially down the stretch, playing her back-nine in even par to win the division by two strokes.
Like the Prep Preview division, the Futures National division would see a come from behind victory on Sunday. Ten players entered the round within striking distance of Madison Cameron’s (Arlington, VA 2025) lead. After nine-holes of play, the leaderboard was stacked with players looking to make a back-nine charge.
Tsai Yan Chiang (Holmdel, NJ 2029), Arley Jennings (Spartanburg, SC 2030), Makenzie Aaron (Browns Summit, NC 2029), & Madison Woodrum (Statesboro, GA 2029) all stood within two strokes of the lead through nine holes. Jennings made a birdie on the par-5 tenth hole giving her the outright lead and never looked back. She parred the next five holes but bogeyed the par-3 16th. She answered the bogey with a statement, making birdies on the 17th & 18th holes to win the Futures National division by four.
We would like to extend our greatest thanks to the entire staff at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club for their incredible hospitality and for their efforts to get the course playable following the storm last week. This weekend provided a challenge for all of our competitors and we would like to congratulate all of our Top Finishers at the 2024 PKBGT Tour Championship! The Tour Championship marks the end of of the 2024 National Series season and we thank all our players for another great season! We look forward to seeing everyone in October as we kick-off the 2025 season!
Click Here to View Full Bell National Leaderboard
Click Here to View Full Prep Preview Leaderboard
Click Here to View Full Futures National 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 2022 season will feature over 138 tournaments in 12+ states 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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