Greensboro, N.C. (Nov. 8, 2025) — We are currently a week out from the start of the most prestigious event in the PKBGT calendar: the 17th PKBGT Invitational. With players from 17 different states and one province of Canada, let’s take a look inside the field of the 17th PKBGT Invitational!
A New Tradition: Continuing at the Country Club of Landfall
We’re very excited to be traveling back to the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C.! The Country Club of Landfall is one of the finest private, member-owned clubs in the South, comprised of two championship courses boasting a total of 45 holes — with three 9-hole courses designed by Jack Nicklaus and the 18-hole course by Pete Dye, the latter of which will host the PKBGT Invitational.
The Country Club of Landfall annually hosts one of the top women’s collegiate events in the country, the Landfall Tradition, every October. With the Landfall Tradition recently concluded just a few weeks beforehand, the PKBGT Invitational will be set up as close as possible to the collegiate event, allowing players to be able to directly compare themselves to the nation’s top collegiate players in a competitive environment!
Past Champions Achieve Great Heights
Fourteen different players have raised the championship trophy at the PKBGT Invitational in its 16 year history — you can view the event history here. Inaugural Invitational champion Katherine Perry Hamski played professionally on the LPGA Tour and now is the assistant coach at her alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill. Lucia Polo, the 2011 and 2012 champion, and 2013 champion Anna Redding are members of the LPGA Epson Tour. The Wake Forest University duo of 2014 champion Emilia Migliaccio and 2015 champion Rachel Kuehn were two of the top amateur players in the world and helped lead the Demon Deacons to a National Championship. Rachel now plays on the Epson Tour while Emilia currently broadcasts on the Golf Channel while continuing to play in amateur events. Macy Pate, the 2022 champion, is another past champion who now plays for Wake Forest, where she was named the 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year.
Recent University of Virginia graduate Amanda Sambach, the 2017 and 2019 champion, claimed nine top-10 finishes in her amateur career, including a win at the Pacific Rim Collegiate Golf Super League Tournament. The 2018 champion Anna Morgan, a recent Furman University graduate, has recently made the move from amateur to pro by taking part in the Callaway Race to Qualifying on the ANNIKA Women’s All Pro Tour. The champion of 2024, Grace Ridenour, just began her time at UNC-Chapel Hill under the tutelage of Katherine Perry Hamski! These are just a few of the impressive accolades of our past Invitational champions. We’re excited to watch these ladies as they continue their success at the higher levels!
Strength of Field in a Class by Itself
The PKBGT Invitational is perennially ranked as a top-25 tournament in the country. While this event typically boasts a strong field, the 17th rendition of the Invitational will feature one of its highest-ranked fields ever, with 61 players of the 66-person field inside the top 1,000 on Junior Golf Scoreboard’s national rankings. Even more notably, 39 of these players rank inside the top 500, and 17 inside the top 250.
Of the many amazing players joining us at the 17th PKBGT Invitational, 2023 champion Macie Rasmussen (Chesapeake, Va. 2027) will be returning for a chance to become the third player to win multiple PKBGT Invitationals.
Order of Merit Champs in the Field
At each PKBGT event, players earn season-long Order of Merit points based on their performance, with events being weighted based on strength, size and classification of the tournament. Through the standings, players are invited to the season-ending PKBGT Tour Championship at Pine Needles, where the Order of Merit champion of each division is decided for the season. All of the 2025 Order of Merit Champions will be in the field next week at the PKBGT Invitational and aim to add another impressive title to their resume.
Riley Grimm (Pinehurst, N.C. 2028) has won the Bell National Order of Merit for the second year in a row, making this four years in a row of winning at least one Order of Merit ranking in the National Series. She successfully defended her title at the second annual LPGA*USGA Girls Golf National Championship, and placed second in four different events during the season! Riley has finished runner up the past two PKBGT Invitational’s and aims to add her name to the list of champions this year!
Katherine Yun (Ashburn, Va. 2028) took first in the Prep Preview division with her two wins at both the PKBGT Open Championship and the 23rd Precision Junior Girls Championship. As both her first time winning the Order of Merit and her first time participating in the PKBGT Invitational, we’re looking forward to her performance next week!
Autumn Solesbee (Stanley, N.C. 2031) won the Futures National Order of Merit in her first season playing in the National series. Solesbee took first at both the PKBGT Open Championship and the PKBGT Tour Championship, the latter of which she scored a 213 (-3). This will also be Solesbee’s first Invitational appearance.
The Best of the Best
Ever-bettering, the 17th PKBGT Invitational continues to boast a star-studded field, with three players ranked within the top 100 in the country by the Junior Golf Scoreboard. Riley Grimm, our Bell National Order of Merit winner, is currently the lowest ranked player in the 17th Invitational field at #65 on JGS. This will be Grimm’s fourth PKBGT Invitational appearance, with her last two appearances concluding in her placing second.
Aubrey Hilgers (Litchfield Park, Ariz. 2028) is nationally ranked at #73 on JGS and will be making her second PKBGT start. She won her first PKBGT event at the Sarah Schmelzel Tradition. We’re looking forward to what she’ll bring to the table at this event!
The champion of the 15th PKBGT Invitational, Macie Rasmussen, is currently ranked at #83 on the Junior Golf Scoreboard. With three top-5 finishes last season, we’re excited to see what Rasmussen brings forth next week!
Highest Ranked Players
In addition to our previously featured players, nine other players in the field are currently ranked inside the top 200 players in the country by the Junior Golf Scoreboard, including:
- Caroline Hawkins (Columbia, S.C. 2026) — 122
- Meadow Tian (Delaware, Ohio 2026) — 129
- Nina Choe (New York, N.Y. 2026) — 132
- Kayley Roberts (Phoenixville, Penn. 2026) — 155
- Ira Joshi (Pinehurst, N.C. 2029) — 166
- Mia Carles (Clinton, S.C. 2027) — 170
- Ava Osborne (Austin, Texas 2027) — 173
- Angela Nip (Port St. Lucie, Fla. 2026) — 183
- Victoria Davis (Cary, N.C. 2028) — 187
Verballed, Sealed, Delivered
Nineteen players in the 17th Invitational field have already verbally committed or signed to play collegiate golf:
- Hayden Cherry — Appalachian State University
- Eva Becerril — Boise State University
- Caroline Hawkins — Clemson University
- Aliezah Robinson — East Tennessee State
- Angela Nip — Emory University
- Alexis Danielle Goboy — Howard University
- Meadow Tian — University of Illinois
- Addison Braden — University of the Incarnate Word
- Miraya Lurie — James Madison University
- Anna Christian Beeker — University of Kentucky
- Erin Mullin — Lehigh University
- Sophie Weber — NC State University
- Kiersten Bodge — Penn State University
- Madison Koshko — Penn State University
- Carter Bransford — Richmond University
- Nina Choe — UC Davis
- Ava Osborne — UNC Chapel Hill
- Macie Rasmussen — UNC Chapel Hill
- Baker Hudson — UNC Greensboro
Follow the Action…
The first round of the 17th PKBGT Invitational, begins Saturday, November 15th, at the Country Club of Landfall. We look forward to a great event!
- Click here to check out the full official Invitational field.
- Find the official tee times here.
- Follow the hole-by-hole live leaderboard here.
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 2025-2026 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