R.I.P. Peggy Kirk Bell

Laura Douglass and David Sinclair of The Pilot pen a nice remembrance of a true golf pioneer, who passed away at 95 Wednesday night in Southern Pines.

Great lede:

Bing Crosby serenaded her in the Pine Needles bar. Perry Como played her course. Jimmy Carter stayed at the lodge during the National Governors’ Convention. Rudy Vallee was a guest and she played with Jackie Gleason, Michael Jordan and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

This characterization from Jim Dodson is superb:

Jim Dodson, editor of PineStraw Magazine and one of the foremost writers on golf in America, called Mrs. Bell the female Arnold Palmer for her impact both as a competitor and teacher. She was at the vanguard of women’s golf whose career predated the LPGA. Together with her husband Warren, the Bells bought the Donald Ross-designed Pine Needles Resort and Golf Course. Together they raised a family amid its lush-green grounds and comfortable familiar environs that today still draws thousands of golfers each year, including hundreds of women who regularly attend the “Golfaris” that Bell started and continued to participate in up until a couple years ago.

Andrew Barksdale in the Observer talks to her son Kirk also noted her role in Southern Pines' development as a golf community.

David McNeill, the 62-year-old mayor of Southern Pines where Mrs. Bell called home, said she was a resident celebrity who elevated the game of golf for many people.

"She would light up a room when she walked in," Mr. McNeill said, "and in short time would be seen giving a golf tip."

"She solidified Southern Pines as a golfing destination," Mr. McNeill said. "Golfers from around the world return each year to Pine Needles and Mid Pines, because Ms. Bell treated everyone like royalty and made golf fun."