This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the PKBGT Invitational. The Invitational is the premier event on the nation’s largest “girls only” golf tour, and this marks the first year it will be  hosted by Bermuda Run Country Club. Ranked annually as one of the top 50 events in the country, the 2018 field shaping up to be one of the most talented that we’ve ever seen. The weekend is certain to be action packed with excitement as anyone can earn the coveted trophy! In this piece, we take a look at the names and faces you need to know for this year’s event!

Field Summary

The 2018 PKBGT Invitational will feature 66 competitors, including 60 players who earned an invitation, five players who will earn their spot in the Last Chance Qualifier next weekend and one Sponsor Exemption.

Representation Far and Wide

Players will travel from all over the east coast and beyond to compete in this year’s event. North Carolina tops the list with 23 competitors who need not cross state lines for the weekend. Virginia is in a distant second place with 11 competitors with Georgia and South Carolina rounding out the top four represented with seven and six competitors respectively.  

Maryland and New York each have three competitors and New Jersey wraps up the Mid-Atlantic representation with two players. There is one player representing each of the following: Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee and Utah plus an international participant from Korea.

A Field of Champions

The field features two returning champions of past PKBGT Invitationals. Rachel Kuehn won the event in 2015 and Amanda Sambach is the reigning champion, having earned the trophy at the 2017 Invitational. There is a combined 15 PKBGT Major Championship victories in the field, including:

Amanda Sambach:

• 2016 LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Team Championship (Stroke Play)
• 2017 PKBGT Masters
• 2017 Precision Junior Girls Championship
• 2017 PKBGT Tour Championship
• 2017 PKBGT Invitational
• 2018 PKBGT Open Championships
• 2018 Precision Junior Girls Championship

Danielle Suh

• 2018 Northern Virginia Girls Championship
• 2018 PKBGT Tour Championship

Kayla Smith

• 2018 LPGA Symetra Tour’s Women’s Health Classic Junior Challenge Qualifier

Kendall Turner 

• 2016 LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Team Championship

Melanie Green 

• 2018 Mid-Atlantic Girls Championship

Rachel Kuehn 

• 2015 PKBGT Invitational
• 2017 Tournament of Champions presented by Golf Pride

Riley Hamilton

• 2018 PKBGT Masters

Additionally, there are five Association State Champions from each of the following: Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and South Carolina.

The Cream of the Crop

The 2018 field is the top ranked field in PKBGT history! There are 16 players from inside the PKBGT Performance Index top 20 and 31 of the top 50 competing. There is also 10 of the top 250 ranked and 28 of the top 500 ranked players from the national Junior Golf Scoreboard. We delve deeper and take a look at the featured players from this stellar field of competition.

Amanda Sambach (Davidson, NC 2021)

• Sambach took home the 2018 Bell National Order of Merit and is the defending champion of the PKBGT invitational.

Hannah Jonely (Ashburn, VA 2020)

• Jonely earned her ticket to the Invitational by winning the 2018 Prep Preview Order of Merit.

Annabelle Millard (St. George, Utah 2022)

• Millard rounds out the 2018 National Order of Merit champions as she topped the Futures National Division.

Fun Facts

The highest ranked player in this year’s tournament is Rachel Kuehn (Asheville, NC 2019) who is ranked 36th nationally by Junior Golf Scoreboard.

The youngest competitor in the field is Bailey Shoemaker (West Edmeston, NY 2023) who competes in her second Invitational at just 13 years, 9 months old!

The competitor who travels farthest to compete is Annabelle Millard who will make the measly 2,000 mile journey to Bermuda Run Country Club in November.

A Look into the Future

There are 17 players who have already committed to play college golf in the field including:

• Nicole Adam (Pinehurst, NC 2020)//UNC Chapel Hill
• Ainsley Coward (Winston, GA 2019)//Troy
• Caroline Craig (Sautee Nacoochee, GA 2019)//Georgia
• Caroline Crumrine (Wilmington, NC 2020)//Furman
• Emily Dunlap (Greenville, SC 2019)//College of Charleston
• Sasha Hayes (Winston Salem, NC 2020)//Campbell
• Elle Johnson (Inman, SC 2019)//Florida State
• Rachel Kuehn (Asheville, NC 2019)//Wake Forest
• Anna Morgan (Spartanburg, SC 2019)//Furman
• Emelia Pack (Browns Summit, NC 2019)//Queens
• Leila Raines (Galena, OH 2020)//Michigan State
• Amanda Sambach (Davidson, NC 2021)//Virginia
• Katherine Schuster (Kill Devil Hills, NC 2021)//Clemson
• Ryann Sinclair (Mooresville, NC 2019)//North Carolina State
• Ana Tsiros (Asheville, NC 2019)//James Madison
• Kendall Turner (Chesapeake, VA 2019)//James Madison
• Muskan Uppal (Cornelius, NC 2019)//Richmond

Closing Thoughts

The 2018 PKBGT Invitational takes place November 10-12, 2018 at Bermuda Run Country Club in Bermuda Run, North Carolina. With the top ranked field in the history of the tour, this year’s Invitational is certain to provide excitement through its entirety!

The Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour is an initiative of the Triad Youth Golf Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation aimed at increasing learning and playing opportunities for youth golfers. Based out of Greensboro, North Carolina, the PKBGT offers affordable, high-quality nationally ranked girls’ golf tournaments designed to prepare junior girls’ golfers for high school and collegiate golf. The PKBGT is the nation’s largest “girls’ only” junior tour with over 700 members in 2018 and 750 girls playing in or committed to collegiate golf. Learn more about the tour at pkbgt.org or by contacting Tour Director Mike Parker at mparker@pkbgt.org or 336-347-8537.