Peggy Kirk Bell

Peggy Kirk Bell
Personal information
Full name Margaret Anne Kirk Bell
Nickname Peggy
Born October 28, 1921 (1921-10-28) (age 90)
Findlay, Ohio
Height 5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m)
Nationality  United States
Residence Southern Pines, North Carolina
Spouse Warren "Bullet" Bell
Career
Turned professional 1950
Former tour(s) LPGA Tour
Best results in LPGA Major Championships
(Wins: 1)
Western Open 2nd: 1950
Titleholders C'ship Won: 1949
LPGA Championship T3: 1958
U.S. Women's Open T5: 1952
Achievements and awards
Bob Jones Award 1990

Margaret Anne "Peggy" Kirk Bell (born October 28, 1921) is a former American professional golfer and golf instructor and is a strong advocate of women's golf.

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.[1] 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 currently plays golf at the Pines Needles Resort in Southern Pines, North Carolina.[2] Her older daughter, Bonnie, is married to former PGA Tour member Pat McGowan.

Contents

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship Winning Score Margin Runners-up
1949 Titleholders Championship -1 (76-75-76-72=299) 2 strokes Patty Berg, Dorothy Kirby (a)

References

  1. ^ Rollins women's golf history
  2. ^ Peggy Kirk Bell - North Carolina's First Lady of Golf

External links

1937 Patty Berg • 1938 Patty Berg • 1939 Patty Berg 1940 Helen Hicks • 1941 Dorothy Kirby • 1942 Dorothy Kirby • 1943-45 No Tournament • 1946 Louise Suggs • 1947 Babe Zaharias • 1948 Patty Berg • 1949 Peggy Kirk# • 1950 Babe Zaharias • 1951 Pat O'Sullivan# • 1952 Babe Zaharias • 1953 Patty Berg • 1954 Louise Suggs • 1955 Patty Berg • 1956 Louise Suggs • 1957 Patty Berg • 1958 Beverly Hanson • 1959 Louise Suggs • 1960 Fay Crocker • 1961 Mickey Wright • 1962 Mickey Wright† • 1963 Marilynn Smith† • 1964 Marilynn Smith • 1965 Kathy Whitworth • 1966 Kathy Whitworth • 1967-71 No Tournament • 1972 Sandra Palmer
† indicates the event was won in a playoff # indicates the event was won by an amateur