Preview: PKBGT OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP at Country Club of Salisbury

On Saturday-Monday, May 26-28, the 2018 Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour plays the PKBGT  OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP at Country Club of Salisbury in Salisbury, North Carolina. Salisbury, home of the Catawba College women’s golf team, has been a host course for the PKBGT since 2007. The PKBGT Open Championship is one of the longest running Championship events in PKB history, going on its 10th year at the Country Club of Salisbury. The event features a strong field of 90 players from Bell National and Futures National Series of the PKB Girls’ Golf Tour, the nation’s largest “girls’ only” junior tour. The event, ranked by the GolfWeek/Titliest national rankings, is the fifth championship tournament of the 2018 season. 

The Bell National field features 61 golfers, highlighted by 11 of the top-25 players on the PKBGT Performance Index and 7 of the top-200 players on Golfweek National rankings, including: the top ranked player on the Performance Index, Amanda Sambach (Davidson, NC 2021) ranked 51 by Golfweek, who also participated in the LPGA Symetra Tour’s Symetra Classic on a sponsor’s exemption this past weekend.

Sambach is joined by Katherine Schuster (Kill Devil Hills, NC 2021) ranked 5th on the Performance Index and 197th by Golfweek and Emily Hawkins (Lexington, NC 2018) ranked 6th on the Performance Index and 192nd by Golfweek.

In addition, other players to watch include Nicole Adam (Pinehurst, NC 2020) ranked 8th on the Performance Index and 131st by Golfweek, Rebecca DiNunzio (Norfolk, VA 2019) ranked 12th on the Performance Index and 176th by Golfweek, Kendall Turner (Chesapeake, VA 2019) ranked 13th on the Performance Index,  Sasha Hayes (Winston-Salem, NC 2020) ranked 18th on the Performance Index, Anna McDonald (Hickory, NC 2019) ranked 20th on the Performance Index and Holly McCann (Raleigh, NC 2019) ranked 23rd on the Performance Index and 155th by Golfweek. 

The Futures National field features 29 golfers, highlighted by 10 of the top 15 players on the PKBGT Futures National Order of Merit, including: the top ranked player on the Futures National Order of Merit, Amber Mackiewicz (Virginia Beach, VA 2023), Abby Hunter (Blacksburg, VA 2021) ranked 2nd, Macy Pate (Boone, NC 2023) ranked 5th, Amber Capote (Waxhaw, NC 2020) ranked 8th, Megan Morris (Cary, NC 2021) ranked 9th, Kalina Siehl (Fort Mill, SC 2021) ranked 10th, Annabelle Millard (Indian Trail, NC 2022) ranked 11th, McKenzie Daffin (Fort Bragg, NC 2021) ranked 12th, Averi Cline (Suwanee, GA 2022) ranked 13th and Amelia Cho (Ashburn, VA 2024) ranked 14th.

In all, the field includes 17 players who have signed or committed to play college golf in the coming years.  They include:

Adam, Nicole (Pinehurst, NC 2020) – UNC Chapel Hill

Battle, Mackenzie (Aberdeen, NC 2018) – Citadel

Cherry, Jacqueline (Ellicott City, MD 2018) – U.S. Naval Academy

DiNunzio, Rebecca (Norfolk, VA 2019) – Virginia Tech

Dunlap, Emily (Greenville, SC 2019) – College of Charleston

Garnett, Channing (Wake Forest, NC 2018) UNC Wilmington

Harn, Michelle (Charlotte, NC 2019) – High Point

Havmoeller, Emma (Charlotte, NC 2018) – Appalachian State

Hawkins, Emily (Lexington, NC 2018) – Campbell

Hodges, Charleigh (Mooresville, NC 2018) – Queens

John, Olivia (Summerfield, NC 2018) – Western Carolina

Kuehn, Rachel (Asheville, NC 2019) – Wake Forest

Raines, Leila (Galena, OH 2020) – Michigan State

Sambach, Amanda (Davidson, NC 2021) – Virginia

Sload, Skylar (Ashburn, VA 2018) – Virginia

Turner, Kendall (Chesapeake, VA 2019) – James Madison

Uppal, Muskan (Cornelius, NC 2019) – Richmond

The PKBGT OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP at Country Club of Salisbury brings together players from Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. We look forward to a great tournament! Who will be golden?

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 450 members in 2015 and 450 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.