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OUR MISSION
- To ensure the future of the game by providing a "Girls Only Tour" that will actively increase participation and interest in girl's golf
- To provide a venue for aspiring collegiate golfers in the Carolina's and beyond to develop, compete and be recognized
- To provide affordable, top-level tournament competition and development
TOUR OVERVIEW
The Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour (PKBGT) is an initiative of the non-profit foundation Girls Golf of America, formerly the Triad Youth Golf Foundation.
The Foundation will provide financial and logistical support to the Tour and work with community and regional leaders to promote girls golf.
Our mission is to create more effective, competitive playing opportunities for girls through the PKBGT Progression Pathway.
The PKBGT, 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.
As the only LPGA Foundation Approved Tour, and working in partnership with LPGA-USGA Girls Golf, we aim to grow this mission across the country to ensure no junior
girl golfer has to play in a boys tournament with a girls field.
PKBGT Alumni currently compete at the highest levels, including current LPGA Tour players Katherine Perry Hamski, Jennifer Chang, Lauren Coughlin and Allison Emrey. Additionally, over 25 alumna
are competing on the LPGA Symetra Tour, the proving ground for those looking to make the LPGA. In the first 14 years of the tour, over 1,400 PKBGT members have gone on to play women's collegaite golf. Through
our RecruitPKB initiative, the PKBGT strives to create exposure and help girls find the right fit for their collegaite experience.
2021-22 will be the 16th season of the Tour which has experienced unprecedented growth. Participation on the tour has grown to over 1,200 members with our multi-day events regularly
featuring between 60 to 90 girls. The tour is divided into three paths, national, regional & the new national championship track. The overall schedule will feature 9, 18, 36 & a 54-hole
tournaments and are open to girls 9-18 with multiple divisions based on yardage. The PKBGT Progression Pathway allows players to compete at yardage
appropriate divisions as their skills progress.
A players tour ranking will be tracked by the PKBGT Performance Index.
In addition, each tour series will feature an Order of Merit Standings LIst which will gauge each player's standing in their given series.
Players will have the opportunity to earn rankings points and tournament exemptions including:
(Click Here to learn which tournaments are eligible)
TOUR DIVISIONS
The PKB Girls' Golf Tour offers over 110 tournaments annually and include 9, 18, 36 and 54 hole events. Events offer different levels of play for juniors ages 9 - 19.
TOUR STAFF
The Peggy Kirk Bell Tour staff is a collection of golf professionals who enjoy helping junior golfers move their game to the next level. We will assist the girls to achieve their aspirations and goals.
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GIRLS GOLF OF AMERICA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / PKBGT TOUR DIRECTOR - Mike Parker
As a Co-Founder and Tour Director since the inception of the PKBGT, Mike brings over 20+ years tournament
operation experience. Mike serves as the Executive Director of Girls Golf of America foundation, operator of the PKBGT, and is responsbile for all
aspects of the operation and development of the PKBGT.
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ASSOCIATE TOUR DIRECTOR - Kevin Hamski
Kevin is a native of Jefferson, Ohio and a graduate of the Professional Golf Management Program at Campbell University. With over twenty years of experience in all facets of the golf
industry including time spent as a General Manager, Head Golf Professional and caddie on the LPGA Tour, Kevin is excited to join the PKBGT!
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NATIONAL TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR - Ellen Lavoie
Ellen grew up in Indiana and played collegiately at DePauw University while earning her BA in Communication. She has been a member of the LPGA Teaching & Club Professional Division for 25 years and served as an LPGA/USGA Site Director, teaching professional, UNCG Women’s Golf Coach and Senior Program Director at First Tee Central Carolina. Ellen is happy to be back with the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour as she assisted in PKBGT tournaments in its infancy from 2007-2009.
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TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR / REGIONAL SERIES MANAGER - Erika Proulx
Erika is a native of Clovis, California, and a graduate of Methodist University, where she received her degree in Business Administration with a PGA Golf Management concentration.
A member of the Methodist Women’s Golf & PGM Program, Erika spent her PGA internships as an assistant golf professional at Silverado Resort & Spa, Raintree CC, and Charlotte CC. Hallmark interned previously with
the Middle Atlantic PGA Section and serves as Vice President of the nonprofit organization Parent Advocates 4 Youth Sports.
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MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER - Jeff Stewart
Jeff grew up in Cary, North Carolina and is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio where he received his degree in Marketing and minored in Sport Management. For three years, he interned with Miami's Athletic Communications, Marketing, & Broadcasting department assisting with event promotion and operation for Miami athletic events. He has also spent time as a golf camp counselor at NC State's University Club and as an Athletic Director Intern at Green Hope High School.
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TOURNAMENT COORDINATOR - Jessica Proulx
Jessica grew up in Vale, North Carolina, and is a gradaute of the University of South Carolina with a degree in English with a minor in Advertising and Public Relations. Jess interned with the PKBGT for multiple summers and is excited to work full time with girls in her new role on the tournament team!
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REGIONAL TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS
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MIDDLE ATLANTIC TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR - Sarah Spicer-Baldwin
Sarah grew up in North Carolina and was first introduced to the game of golf by her dad at the age of 7. She, alongside her twin sister, Jessica, quickly fell in love with the game and soon became a regular on the PKB Tour before playing collegiately at Virginia Tech. Sarah now works as a Data Analyst, but still loves the game and enjoys playing or being involved as often as possible.
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DELAWARE VALLEY TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR - Laura Hammond
Laura is the Executive Director of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia (WGAP). Laura is looking forward to leading tournament operations for the PKBGT Delaware Valley Regional Series.
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CAROLINAS TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR - Megan Burnham
A PKBGT alumna, Megan Burnham is the Business Administration Manager at GolfForever, where she oversees operational, financial, and administrative functions. A Gastonia, N.C., native and PKBGT Alumna, she attended UNC-Wilmington and played golf for the Seahawks all four years, earning a Top-10 finish at the CAA Women’s Golf Championship during her junior year. Megan graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Criminology.
She will serve as a regional tournament director in the North & South Carolina Series.
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TOUR DEVELOPMENT
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DIRECTOR, FOUNDATION - Sue Bower
Sue played collegiate golf at Dartmouth College from 1981-85 and majored in Psychology. While there, she earned an Honorable Mention All-American in 1985 (first-ever female Ivy League golfer named to an All American team). Post college, she played on the LPGA Futures Tour (now Symetra) from 1985-1988, finishing 18th on the money list in 1987. From 1992-2006 she served as the Head Women’s Golf Coach at Tulane University (New Orleans, La.), and then served on the Tulane University Athletic Department executive team from 2006-2016 after the women’s golf program was disbanded following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast. She was inducted into the Tulane Sports Hall of Fame in 2025. Most recently, she has served as the Director of Athletics at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., and has been a PGA Class A Member since 1992.
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DEVELOPMENT MANAGER - Christian Johnston
Christian "CJ" Johnston joins us with a background of sports, development, and relationship management experience. CJ, a native to Wisconsin, came to North Carolina to attend Elon University and graduated in 2017 with a Sports & Event Management degree. At Elon, CJ was the President of She's the First, progressing girls' education in developing countries. Now, CJ looks to promote girls' golf development with our team.
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TOUR FOUNDER - Robert Linville
A Carolina's PGA Teacher of the Year and Two-time Division III National Coach of the Year, Robert brings
over 45 years of professional golf experience to the Tour. As Founder and the Director of Instruction for Robert
Linville's Precision Golf School & the Co-Founder of the Triad Youth Golf Foundation (now Girls Golf of America), Robert continues
to be a leader in junior golf development in the Carolina's.
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GIRLS GOLF OF AMERICA PRESIDENT - Chris Haarlow
A Carolina's PGA Junior Golf Leader Award winner, Chris Haarlow is the President of GGA, the non-profit foundation he and Robert founded in 1999 as the Triad Youth Golf Foundation.
Chris is the Director Instructor and Director of Junior Programming for Precision Golf School. In recognition of his
work with the award winning Precision Golf Junior Academy, Chris was named a Top-50 MASTER Kids Teacher in America by
US Kids Golf Inc. in its inaugural class.
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Our Mission
