Margaret Anne "Peggy" Kirk Bell (October 28, 1921 – November 23, 2016) was an American professional golfer and golf instructor. She was 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.
Career
Kirk was born in Findlay, Ohio in 1921. She 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. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Kirk 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.
In the 1940s and 1950s, she competed as Peggy Kirk.
Late in her career, Bell owned the Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
Personal life
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. Her older daughter, Bonnie, is married to former PGA Tour member Pat McGowan.
Bell died Southern Pines, North Carolina in November 2016 at the age of 95.
Awards and honors
- 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.
- In 2002, she became the first woman voted into the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame.
- In 2013, she earned the LPGA's Patty Berg Award, bestowed to a individual who exhibits good sportsmanship
- In 2019, she was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in the lifetime achievement category.