Pinehurst, NC – The Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour traveled to historic Pine Needles in Pinehurst, NC for the season-ending Tour Championship, where the year-long Order of Merit points race would be awarded.
The Order of Merit is the season-long points race for each division on the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Tour similar to the PGA Tour’s Fedex Cup or LPGA Tour’s Race to CME Globe. PKBGT players earn Order of Merit points throughout the season at National Series tournaments with their top-five point earning events counting towards the standings. The number of points available in each event is adjusted based on number of players in the field, historical strength of the field, and the classification of the tournament. The trophy rewards players for their sustained success over the entire season.
Three players entered the PKBGT Tour Championship with a chance to claim the Prep Preview Order of Merit title: Mallory Pitts (Greensboro, NC 2028), Adeline Rosado (Cary, NC 2030), and Lauren Davis (Cary, NC 2030). The scenarios for each were clear:
- Rosado entered the Tour Championship as the leader and would win the OOM earning no more than 10.25 less points than Mallory Pitts at the Tour Championship.
- Pitts must beat Rosado by 10.5 points in the Tour Championship (3 full places).
- Davis must win the Tour Championship and non-Top 5 finishes from Rosado & Pitts in order to win the OOM.
After Davis withdrew following her first round, it turned into a race between Rosado and Pitts. Pitts would need to finish three spots higher than Rosado at the final event of the season to claim the title, if not Rosado would win the season-long race. After the first round, Pitts had a narrow edge sitting solo fifth to Rosado’s tie for seventh and was projected ahead by a narrow 1.5 points.
Pitts played her front nine in even par and was in contention to not just win the Order of Merit but the Tour Championship as well. However, she would play holes #10-13 in three-over bringing her closer to Rosado. Rosado, playing three groups ahead of Pitts, put together a solid back-nine of two-over par, finishing the event at +9 in solo tenth.
Mallory Pitts answered her bogey on #13 immediately with a birdie on the fourteenth hole and would make pars on the next three holes, positioning herself to win the season-long race needing just a bogey on the final hole. But after missing the green on the #18, Pitts had her work cut out on Donald Ross’s infamous greens. Her first chip ran by the hole and trickled down to the collection area behind the green. All of a sudden, the pressure was amplified dealing with a tricky up and down to win the title. Pitts quickly dismissed her previous chip and hit a beautiful shot giving her a putt for the title. The putt would drop and Pitts would walk away with an impressive bogey save as well as a clinched Order of Merit victory.
Mallory had her best year at the PKBGT National Series level in 2024. She played in nine Prep Preview events, finishing tied for seventh or better in all of them. Pitts also added her first two National series victories at the PKB Foundation Classic and the Precision Jr. Girls Championship. Her great 2024 season saw her rise to be ranked #32 on PKBGT’s Performance Index rankings and #1258 on JuniorGolf Scoreboard.
Congratulations, Mallory on a fantastic season! With their top-two finishes in the Prep Preview Order of Merit standings, Pitts and Rosado have both been invited to the 16th PKBGT Invitational, the premier PKBGT Championship event. We’re thrilled to welcome both to the Country Club of Landfall as they play for the coveted title for the first time!
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/.
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