Yermish struggles at Pine Needles, but finishes in a tie for second in Peggy Kirk Bell Junior

    Lower Merion sophomore Sydney Yermish struggled on the back nine of the Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club layout, but still held onto a share of second place as the Peggy Kirk Bell Junior concluded Tuesday in Southern Pines, N.C.

   Morgan Ketchum, the reigning North Carolina Junior Girls’ Championship winner from Winston-Salem, N.C., had the best round of the day on a tough Pine Needles layout, a 4-over-par 76, and cruised to a seven-shot victory. Ketchum led Yermish by two shots after matching par on a Pine Needles layout that measures 6,050 yards from the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour (PKBGT) tees with a 72 in Monday’s opening round.

   Pine Needles will play host to the U.S. Women’s Open in 2022 for the fourth time. It sounds like they might have pulled some of the USGA’s favorite pin placements from the previous three U.S. Women’s Opens as the girls in the Peggy Kirk Bell Junior field were clearly challenged by the layout in Tuesday’s second round.

   Yermish, who plays out of Rolling Green Golf Club, had opened with a 2-over 74, but never could get a birdie out of Pine Needles Tuesday. She made eight pars around a bogey at the sixth hole on the front nine and was still very much in the hunt at 3-over for the tournament.

   But four bogeys and two double bogeys on the incoming nine left her with a 9-over 81 for an 11-over 155 total, seven shots behind Ketchum’s 4-over 148 total.

   Ketchum made bogeys at the second and fourth holes but got those two shots back with back-to-back birdies at five and six. Ketchum got on the bogey train on her way to the clubhouse as well, with bogeys at the ninth, 10^th, 13^th, 16^th and 17^th holes, but she finished with a flourish, making the third birdie of her round at the closing hole.

   Yermish shared second place with Grace Lu of Edison, N.J. and Ellen Yu of Greensboro, N.C., each matching Yermish’s 155 total.

   Lu has shown up on some Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour leaderboards, particularly in some of the South Jersey events. Like Yermish, Lu couldn’t get a birdie out of Pine Needles Tuesday. After bogeys at the first, fourth, fifth and sixth holes, though, Lu rattled off nine straight pars.

   Lu had a double bogey at the 16^th hole and a bogey at 17, but she was one of the few players to break 80 with a 79. Combined with her opening-round 76, it gave Lu her share of second place at 155.

   Looks like Yu was the youngest player in the field as she is a Class of 2026 entry, which makes her, what, a seventh-grader. The kid’s 78 matched the second-best score of the day and, combined with her opening-round 77, enabled her to get a share of second place as well.

   Another Jersey girl, Megan Meng of Pennington, followed up an opening-round 76 with an 83 and finished in a tie for 13^th place at 159. Meng, a Class of ’24 entry, was an impressive winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship at Lebanon Country Club last summer. Meng represented Jericho National Golf Club in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls.

   Unionville sophomore Mary Grace Dunigan added an 87 to her opening-round 85 and finished alone in 30^th place at Pine Needes with a 172 total. Dunigan helped Unionville capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown in October at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County.

   Yermish captured the District One Class AAA title and lost in a playoff for the PIAA Class AAA crown as a freshman a year ago. She was unable to defend her district crown this year as the Central League, caught up in the confusion created by the coronavirus pandemic, couldn’t schedule a District One qualifier in time for its players to compete in the PIAA postseason.

   Despite her runnerup finish at Pine Needles, Yermish retained a solid lead in the PKBGT National Division’s Order of Merit. Yermish has piled up 330.5 points to sit atop the standings.

   Ketchum’s victory moved her into second place in the standings with 287.25 points. I’m not sure if the Order of Merit is just a 2020 race or if the PKBGT National Division has a wraparound schedule.

   Meng’s tie for 13^th place moved her into the top 20 in the Order of Merit, her 187.75 points landing her in 13^th place.