04/08/2024
So many great stories about our alum Peggy Kirk Bell. The OG of our supersTAR alumnae!
Margaret Ann “Peggy” was born in Findlay, Ohio, Oct. 1921 to Grace and Robert Kirk. She took up golf as a teenager and was a protégé of Leonard Schmutte, the golf pro at the Findlay Country Club. As an amateur golfer in the 1940s, she was one of the nation’s top players. Peggy won the Ohio Women’s Amateur championship three times along with the famed North and South Amateur in Pinehurst. Other major titles were the Eastern Amateur and the Augusta Titleholders.
Peggy attended Boston University’s Sargent College of Physical Education from 1939 to 1941, but transferred to Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where she graduated in 1943 with a degree in Education. She became a legend at Rollins and the school holds an annual tournament named for her. As an amateur in 1947, she teamed with Babe Zaharias to win the International Four Ball Championship. She was a member of the USGA’s Curtis Cup team in 1950 and turned professional the same year. She signed a promotional contract with Spalding Sporting Goods Co. and played on the first professional Weathervane Team in 1952.
Peggy married Warren (Bullet) Bell of Findlay in 1953. He was a former college and professional basketball player with the Ft. Wayne Pistons. This athletic couple purchased and restored the Pine Needles golf course in Southern Pines in their first year of marriage. After turning the course into a resort, the Bells began one of the country’s first golf schools, with Mrs. Bell as the featured instructor. The popular schools, known as Golfaris, continue today.
Mrs. Bell was a charter member and avid leader of the Ladies Professional Golf Association. An avid pilot, Peggy traveled the early years of the LPGA Tour flying her plane to play in tournaments and promote the LPGA.
Throughout her career as a player, teacher and resort owner, Mrs. Bell was a tireless contributor to the game of golf. For her many outstanding contributions, she was a recipient of numerous prestigious honors and awards, including the USGA’s Bobby Jones award, the Golf Writers Association’s William Richardson Award, the LPGA’s Ellen Griffin Rolex Award. The National Golf Foundation’s Joe Graffis Award, and the National Golf Course Owners Order of Merit.
She was a member of several Halls of Fame, including the Ohio sports, the North Carolina Sports, North Carolina Business, the LPGA teaching division, the Hancock Sports Hall of Fame, and the first woman to be inducted to the PGA Golf Instructors Hall of Fame. Earlier this year (2019), Peggy Kirk Bell was inducted into Golf Hall of Fame.
Peggy died at her home in Southern Pines, North Carolina in November 2016 at the age of 95.
📸 Peggy Kirk Bell with Leonard Schmutte