The Bell-Wether Of Pine Needles

Resort’s Matriarch Still Going Strong At 85

Southern Pines, N.C. - Peggy Kirk Bell now goes about 85.

That is, she goes 85 years of age and 85 miles per hour. She is the embodiment of golf passion and fast pace. If the game had an Energizer Bunny, it would have to look like Bell.

"I can’t slow down," said Bell. "I have to go."

The patriarch of Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club and one of the enduring names in golf, Bell is in her element this week, playing host to the U.S. Women’s Open for the third time in 12 years, soaking up each moment, each conversation.

She founded this place more than 50 years ago, nurtured it with her husband Warren "Bullet" Bell and their family. It remains a family-run golf sanctuary, and she remains its most visible and vibrant piece.

"She’s everywhere," said Holly Bell, a daughter in law. "She is very hard to pin down. She just loves this. People try to tell her she needs to slow down, but she never does."

Peggy Kirk Bell takes part in her own golf exhibition earlier this week at Pine Needles. (John Mummert/USGA)

One moment, Peggy Kirk Bell is having a conversation with John Fought, the golf architect and 1977 U.S. Amateur champion who oversaw the renovations at Pine Needles that prepared the venerable Donald Ross layout for this championship.

"Why did they cut the rough down?" Bell wanted to know. "They cut it to two inches. They’re going to tear this place up. I could get out of that rough."

Then she looked at a reporter and added with a wink and an infectious smile: "I want them to have hard time. They’re not supposed to tear it up in this tournament. This is the biggest championship of them all."

In another moment, Bell is talking to 17-year-old phenom Michelle Wie, imparting some of the knowledge one accumulates in life as a world-class amateur and founding member of the LPGA.

"She hasn’t been playing well, but I thought she made a mistake spending all the time on the men’s tour," said Bell. "You know, shooting an 80 and then saying, ‘I played well,’ how do you do that?

"She’s got a great swing and I guess her wrists are injured. She told me both of her wrists now, but she said she’s OK.

"You know, Tiger said, Tiger said anybody 15 or 16 years old, any woman just isn’t strong enough yet to punch the ball," Bell said. "She’s been punching the ball, stopping her swing short, and hooking the heck out of it. When she just swung it, she flew it out in the center … I don’t know. I watched her yesterday and she was just swinging it, she looked good."

In another moment, Bell is speaking with Judy Rankin, showing her how to grip the club to make her right hand stronger, telling her how much she enjoys Rankin’s commentating work on ESPN television.

"She’s just wonderful," said Rankin, the 2002 USGA Bob Jones Award recipient. "I love talking with her. She loves to talk about golf. I learn something every time I see her."

Bell instructs, intrigues and enchants everyone she meets. She has been a fixture in American golf and the growth of the game. Last month she received the PGA First Lady of Golf Award, given by the PGA of America to the women who make significant contributions to the promotion of the game. It will go on a mantelpiece chock full of national awards and recognition. In 1990, the USGA bestowed its Bob Jones Award on Bell, the highest honor given by the Association.

Or perhaps it will be displayed in the Pine Needles clubhouse, where the wood paneled walls are covered with photos, old and new; pictures of Bell with Babe Zaharias, or Arnold Palmer, or Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods.

The contributions have never stopped. Bell is still heavily involved in the resort and teaching. "We just had six schools right up to Friday before this started, and of course, I see everybody," she said.

When she saw Lorena Ochoa at the recent LPGA event in Charleston, S.C., Ochoa walked up and asked for an autograph. "Can you imagine that? That cute little girl came over to me and wanted my autograph," Bell said. "And I said, ‘Oh no, I want your autograph. You’re the leader.’

"But, I just watched her tee off. I love her golf swing; I love her attitude. She appreciates the game of golf, that’s what I like."

The appreciation of the game is what this week is about for Bell, what every week is about. It is what drives her to play host to this USGA extravaganza, what fuels her thoughts and actions. It is what keeps her moving.

"This is wonderful," she said. "I have a lot of old friends here and just the fact that USGA people are here, I know so many of them and they’ve been so good to us.

"I was kidding them and I said, ‘If you don’t have anyone for 2012 yet, we’ll take it.’ It’s such a boost for the whole community and the state. It’s just a wonderful week, I can’t think of anything I could enjoy more."

Peggy Kirk Bell will turn 86 years in late October. But you’re going to need to go at least that fast to keep up with her.