Peggy Kirk Bell

Margaret Anne "Peggy" Kirk Bell (October 28, 1921 – November 23, 2016) was an American professional golfer and golf instructor known for her strong advocacy of women's golf. She was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, class of 2019, in the lifetime achievement category.[1]

Peggy Kirk Bell
Personal information
Full nameMargaret Anne Kirk Bell
NicknamePeggy
Born(1921-10-28)October 28, 1921
Findlay, Ohio, U. S.
DiedNovember 23, 2016(2016-11-23) (aged 95)
Southern Pines, North Carolina, U.S.
Height5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m)
Nationality United States
ResidenceSouthern Pines, North Carolina
SpouseWarren "Bullet" Bell
Career
CollegeRollins College
Turned professional1950
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 1)
Western Open2nd: 1950
Titleholders C'shipWon: 1949
Women's PGA C'shipT3: 1958
U.S. Women's OpenT5: 1952
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame2019 (member page)
Bob Jones Award1990
LPGA Patty Berg Award2013

Born in Findlay, Ohio, Peggy started playing golf at age 17. She took to the game immediately and quickly won a number of titles. She played college golf at Rollins College.[2] She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She played the ladies amateur tour in the 1940s before the development of a professional tour, winning three Ohio Amateurs and the 1949 Titleholders Championship and North and South Women's Amateur. She was also a member of the 1950 U.S. Curtis Cup team.

At that time she competed as Peggy Kirk, and in 1953 she married her high school sweetheart, Warren "Bullet" Bell, who had played professional basketball with the Fort Wayne Pistons before turning to business. Warren died in 1984.

In 1990, she was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. She became the first woman voted into the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame in 2002.

Bell owned the Pines Needles Resort in Southern Pines, North Carolina.[3] Her older daughter, Bonnie, is married to former PGA Tour member Pat McGowan. She died there in November 2016 at the age of 95.[4][5]

Major championships

Wins (1)
YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunners-up
1949Titleholders Championship−1 (76-75-76-72=299)2 strokes Patty Berg, Dorothy Kirby (a)

Team appearances

Amateur

  • Curtis Cup (representing the United States): 1950 (winners)

References
  1. "World Golf Hall of Fame introduces the Class of 2019: Peggy Kirk Bell, Retief Goosen, Billy Payne, Jan Stephenson and Dennis Walters to be enshrined into the World Golf Hall of Fame on June 10, 2019 in Pebble Beach". PGA Tour. October 10, 2018.
  2. Rollins women's golf history Archived April 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Peggy Kirk Bell - North Carolina's First Lady of Golf Archived August 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. DeCock, Luke (November 24, 2016). "A titan of the Sandhills, Peggy Kirk Bell was a golf original". The News & Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina.
  5. "Longtime top amateur Peggy Kirk Bell, a proponent for women's golf, dies at 95". ESPN. Associated Press. November 24, 2016.
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