Linville Cup 2023: Mentor Coaches Spotlight

Jodie and her husband, Neal, have three adult sons and 7 grandchildren. Jodie graduated from Newnan High School, Piedmont Hospital School of Nursing, and was employed as a Registered Nurse at Newnan Hospital for many years. Jodie has been active in the community for over 45 years serving on many civic, community, church, charitable and sports organization boards. She enjoys golf, pickleball and being with her family.

A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Madison “Moose” Moosa started playing golf at the age of 8. She grew up playing on the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour and won her first event in 2010 at age 13! Moosa played NCAA D-1 Collegiate golf at Furman University, a nationally ranked team for 4 years. She graduated in 2021 with a degree in Health Science and is now pursuing her love for the game through professional golf!

After working in the healthcare industry for years, Jennifer became an assistant director with a volunteer ministry, and has recently relocated to Pinehurst. For many years she traveled and supported her junior & collegiate golfer. Her daughter, Courtney Gunter, was a highly ranked junior golfer, played for and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and is now the Women’s Golf Coach at Western Carolina University.

A 9-time PKBGT Champion, Perry attended UNC-Chapel Hill and played collegiately for the Tar Heels from 2010-2014. After an All-America career in Chapel Hill, she competed for 2 years on the LPGA Symetra Tour.  Following LPGA Q-School in 2016, Perry gained LPGA status and will be entering her 5th season on the LPGA Tour. Perry serves as an ambassador of the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour and will host the Katherine Perry Hamski Girls Tradition in March at Bryan Park Golf Course in Greensboro, NC. Katherine and her husband welcomed their first child, John, in September of 2020.

A native of Gastonia, North Carolina, Leila is a graduate of Clemson University in the Professional Golf Management program. A Class A Professional in the PGA, Leila served as the PGA Reach Director for the Philadelphia PGA Section and is currently a Career Services Recruiting Specialist with the PGA of America and a Board Member with Women Golfers Give Back. 

Originally from Whiteville, North Carolina, Kayla attended the University of North Carolina – Wilmington (UNCW) where she played golf for the Seahawks all four-years. While at UNCW, Thompson was awarded the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award each year along with WGCA All-American Scholar honors her Freshman year. Kayla graduated in 2018 with her Bachelors Degree in Communications and now is continuing the pursuit of her life-long dream of playing professionally.

Torey Chandler is a 2014 graduate from Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, S.C., where she was a member of the golf team and team captain for the 2013-2014 season. In May, 2016 she became a Tournament Administrator for the Carolinas Golf Association. She handles pre-tournament administration for all junior championships, Ladies Four-Ball Play Days, all TYGA (Tarheel Youth Golf Association) events. Her other experiences in the golf industry include being a P.J. Boatwright intern for the Greater Cincinnati Golf Association, volunteering with the Dorchester Dragons Special Olympics golf program, Swing Thought Tour, and working in the golf shops at River Falls Plantation in Duncan, S.C., and the former Black Bear Golf Course in Longs, S.C.

A native of Spartanburg, SC, Natalie attended Furman University from 2016-2020 and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors earning her Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences. Natalie had a very accomplished collegiate career at Furman, she won 4 events, including the 2017 Southern Conference Championship. She also had the honor of participating in the Inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the 2017 and 2021 US Women’s Opens and the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship. She was a 4x SoCon All Conference as well as a 2x WGCA All American (Honorable Mention and First Team). During her COVID-19 shortened senior season, she earned the lowest career stroke average in Furman University Women’s Golf history (72.6), as well as the lowest single season stroke average (70.8) in FUWG history. She also won the 2020 ANNIKA Award, and was named the 2020 PING WGCA Division I National Player of the Year, was the #1 ranked player in Golfstat, and achieved #14 in the WAGR. She also excelled in the classroom, as she was a 4x WGCA All-America Scholar and received the 2020 Furman University Winston Babb Memorial for leadership and Dr. Gary Clark Student-Athlete Achievement Award. She turned professional in July 2020 and competed on the Epson Tour from 2020-2022. She finished #40 on the money list at the end of the 2022 Epson Tour season with 2 top 15s and 2 top 5s. She is currently studying for the MCAT with hopes of being accepted to medical school in the fall of ’24.

Before before heading to Blacksburg, Virginia, to play collegiately at Virginia Tech, Jessica was a avid player on the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour. While at Virginia Tech, she was able to play for five seasons while earning bachelor’s degrees in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, and Psychology. She was a part of the team’s first win in history, fittingly at Old Dominion’s 2019 Princess Anne Invitational in Virginia Beach. She was also fortunate enough to be named the 2019-2020 Virginia Tech Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the year. She now resides in Norfolk, Virginia, and works at Cypress Point Country Club. Spicer has had a successful amateur career, including wins and top finishes at the regional and national level, and is hopeful to pursue professional golf in the near future.

A native of Southeastern Michigan and a PKBGT Alumni, Killian has been involved in the game of golf since she was 7 years old and has always loved any opportunity to be in Pinehurst. After a successful Junior Golf Career, she went on to play NCAA D-1 Collegiate golf at UNC-Chapel Hill. Killian decided to pursue a career in Golf after graduation and wanted to find a way to give back to the game. In 2020, she took a job with the PKBGT where she found her love of working in junior golf and watching players develop throughout the season. Now, Killian is a Junior Golf Tournament Manager for the CGA.

A graduate of Wake Forest University, Charlene retired after 36 years in commercial banking with Wachovia and First Tennessee banks. Charlene also volunteers for the Carolina’s Golf Association as a rules official and is the Finance Chair of the Appalachian State University Foundation Board. 

A 3-time PKBGT Champion, Kirk attended East Carolina University and played collegiately for the Pirates from 2011-2015. During her time at ECU, Kirk was selected by the LPGA Foundation as the 2015 Dinah Shore Trophy recipient. In addition, Kirk held the PKBGT Invitational scoring record from her win in 2011 with a 2 day total of 5-under (66-71) until last year. She is currently working in analytics as a Decision Sciences Team Lead for Truist Financial Corporation, which is the merged bank of BB&T and SunTrust and continuing to play amateur golf.