Two weeks from today, the top competitors of the PKBGT will gather at Bermuda Run Country Club to kickoff the 10th annual PKBGT Invitational. The event, which features 66 of the east coast’s top junior golfers, will take place on both Bermuda Run’s East and West Courses. Round one will be played on the west course, a PKBGT event host since the first year of the tour’s existence.
This weekend, 40 players step on that very same course in hopes of earning their invite to the nationally ranked event. Five coveted spots remain up for grabs in this year’s historic Invitational field, the top ranked in tour’s existence.
The Last Chance Qualifier kicks off early Sunday morning, October 28 with the first tee time scheduled for 8:30 AM. By the end of the day, the top five finishers will have their tickets punched for a return trip to Bermuda Run on November 10-12.
In addition to the five invites, the winner of the qualifier will earn an invitation to the Tournament of Champions at Pinehurst Resort in December. The field for Sunday’s event includes competitors from five states throughout three regions spanning six graduation classes.
We take a look at the featured players yet to receive an invite vying for the final five spots come Sunday:
Mara Hirtle (Pinehurst, NC 2020)
Hirtle comes into the tournament as the highest ranked competitor on the PKBGT Performance Index not currently in the Invitational field. She comes off a 2018 season where she competed in several events on both the Bell National and Prep North Carolina series. Her top finish in the Bell Series came in early May at Carolina Trace CC where she finished in sole possession of fourth place. Her Prep North Carolina resume includes three top five finishes including a T2 finish in the North Carolina One-Day Series at Statesville CC.
Lotte Fox (Raleigh, NC 2020)
Fox enters Sunday’s competition inside of the Top 100 of the Performance Index. Her 2018 season included two top 10 finishes on the Bell Series that reached its pinnacle with a T5 finish at the Precision Junior Girls Championship at Bryan Park. Her best finish on the Prep North Carolina Series came in the two day North Carolina Series Finale at Colonial Country Club at the end of September.
Alice Zou (Potomac, MD 2022)
Zou’s 2018 season featured rounds in both the Bell National and the Prep Middle Atlantic Series. On the national stage, Zou earned a 10th place finish at the Revo Girls Classic held at the University of Maryland GC in mid-July. Her success on the Prep Middle Atlantic Series included three top five finishes with her best performance coming in the form of a third place finish at the Middle Atlantic One-Day Series at Crofton CC. She enters the qualifier just outside of the Top 100 of the Performance Index and looks to improve her position with her performance on Sunday.
Melanie Walker (Burke, VA 2022)
Walker enters the weekend ranked inside the Performance Index Top 150 and competed on the Futures National and Prep Middle Atlantic Series in the 2018. She frequented the top 10 in her Futures National competitions. She finished T3 on two separate occasions, the first coming at the Pennsylvania Classic at Heritage Hills Resort in May and again at the Revo Girls Classic at the University of Maryland GC in July.
Ellen Yu (High Point, NC 2025)
Yu is the youngest member included on the featured players list at only 11 years old. She dominated the Discovery North Carolina Series in the 2018 campaign, racking up four wins. Yu carded an even 36 at the North Carolina One-Day Series at Mill Creek in June. She completely dominated the field at the North Carolina One-Day Series at the very same Bermuda Run CC (West) that she will be playing on Sunday. Yu scored a six-under 30 in that late July competition where she birdied six of the nine holes and ran away with a win by 14 strokes over the next closest competitor. This will be her first 18-hole PKBGT event.
With an invitation to not one but two PKBGT Major Championships at stake, the competition is sure to be close at Bermuda Run on Sunday. The top five finishers who have not already earned their spot in the 2018 PKBGT Invitational will do so at the conclusion of the tournament. We wish all of our competitors the best of luck and look forward to a great event!
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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.
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