Wilmington, NC– The Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour headed to the Country Club of Landfall for the final round of the sixteenth edition of its most prestigious championship: the PKBGT Invitational.
Final round play at the PKBGT Invitational began at 9:00 AM with a shotgun start. Grace Ridenour (Raleigh, NC 2025) entered the final round holding a four shot lead after two rounds of 70 (-2). Her closest competitor was Riley Grimm (Pinehurst, NC 2028) followed by Jenna Kim (Raleigh, NC) who was seven strokes behind. The day would turn into a duel between Grimm and Ridenour for the title.
After a birdie on the second hole for Grimm and an opening bogey on the first for Ridenour, Ridenour’s lead was cut in half. Ridenour would birdie the third but gave it right back two holes later with a bogey. Grimm played steady, making eight pars on her front nine as the pair made the turn with two shots separating them.
Ridenour made a statement with back to back birdies on the tenth and eleventh holes extending her lead to four. But, she would then go on to make a double bogey on the par five twelfth and the lead stood at two again. Grimm would continue her streak of pars making thirteen straight until she hit it tight on the par-3 16th and made birdie. All of a sudden, the lead was just one with two to play.
On the 17th hole, Grimm would make a bogey while Ridenour made par to grow her lead to two. After a wayward tee shot on the par-5 18th, Ridenour advanced her ball to the very large green-side bunker. Grimm, needing an eagle to tie, hit a towering drive and easily reached the green in two. Ridenour hit a fantastic bunker shot onto the green applying pressure to Grimm’s putt. Grimm’s eagle try just missed the whole and rolled by, she would miss the come-backer and finish with a par. Ridenour was able to lag her birdie try to tap in range and secure her break through win!
Despite plenty of success in her junior career, Ridenour had yet to win at the Bell National level until today. The UNC-Chapel Hill commit had a full circle moment as the first player to have won the PKBGT Invitational was current UNC assistant coach, Katherine Perry Hamski. For Grimm, it was another close call at the PKBGT Invitational after her tie for second last year. She should be proud of the fight she showed this weekend and her ability to apply pressure to Ridenour. Grimm, no doubt, will continue to put herself into contention at the PKBGT Invitational and other major championships in the years to come.
Finishing in a tie for third with a score of 221 for the tournament was Mia Carles (Clinton, SC 2027) and Nina Choe (New York, NY 2026). Choe fired a 69 (-3) in the final round with five birdies. Carles also shot under par with a round of 70 (-2). There was a three way tie for fifth place between Jenna Kim, Lauren Paige Slatton (McMinnville, TN 2025), and Zoe Cusack (Potomac, MD 2026) at 222 for the three rounds.
We would like to thank the Country Club of Landfall for their incredible hospitality this weekend and helping create an unforgettable tournament experience for our competitors and their families! As the sun sets on the 16th PKBGT Invitational, we would like to congratulate our medalists and all of our competitors for earning a spot in the prestigious event!