Tag: ANNIKA Foundation

Annika Foundation announces More Than Golf Invitational featuring mid-major conference champions

The tournament course, Old Barnwell Golf Club, is also the site of the Annika Development Program.

The Annika Foundation announced a new women’s college golf tournament for mid-major programs, the More Than Golf Invitational, co-hosted by Augusta University and Columbia University. The event will take place March 27-30, 2025, at Old Barnwell Golf Club in Aiken, South Carolina.

The individual medalist will receive up to three complimentary starts on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour throughout the summer.

“The More Than Golf Invitational speaks to the heart of our mission — to develop, empower and advance young women through golf and in life — and we are very excited to kick things off next year at Old Barnwell,” said Annika Sorenstam. “We’re grateful to our partners at Old Barnwell and our host universities, Augusta and Columbia, for helping us make this dream a reality. This tournament will give the student-athletes a chance to test themselves at a premier golf venue, while providing memorable experiences, life, and career advice.”

Planned programming at the More Than Golf Invitational will include relationship building opportunities through a college-am to be held before the tournament, as well as an executive women’s reception and dinner where players will have the chance to meet and develop relationships with successful women across a variety of industries.

The More Than Golf Invitational will host 12 teams, including those from Augusta and Columbia. Each year, 10 conference champions from selected mid-major conferences will receive invitations to participate. The following year, 10 other mid-major conferences will receive invitations to play. The 2024 team champions from the following conferences will receive invitations to play in the inaugural More Than Golf Invitational: ASUN, Big East, Big Sky, Conference USA, Horizon League, Metro Atlantic Athletic, Mountain West, Patriot League, Southern and Summit League.

“The missions of The Annika Foundation and Old Barnwell synergize perfectly with the More Than Golf Invitational — creating a once in a lifetime competitive experience that hopefully impacts its participants far beyond the course of play,” said Augusta coach Caroline Haase-Hegg. “We’re thrilled to co-host this event with Columbia University and create a deserved opportunity for these student athletes to take center stage.”

The tournament course, Old Barnwell Golf Club, is also the site of the Annika Development Program, which launched in 2023. Through the program, the Annika Foundation provides four ambassadors each year with the opportunity to continue their pursuit of a professional golf career. Old Barnwell, which opened in 2023, is a mission-driven club focused on bringing people together through golf.

Rachel Heck caps magical freshman season with ANNIKA Award

Rachel Heck won six times, including at the NCAA Championship, in an incredible freshman season.

Rachel Heck arrived on campus at Stanford 101 days ago. For a while there, she wondered if the day would ever come. Like so many, she’d been a remote college freshman since the fall, studying and practicing on her own back home in Memphis.

A happy Heck couldn’t wait to put on a Stanford uniform, live beside her teammates and create hype lists for the van. The Cardinal fell short of the ultimate goal, a team title, when they lost to Arizona in overtime on a heartbreaking putt in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. But Heck put together a season the golf world won’t soon forget.

“I don’t really think that any of us can wrap our arms around it,” said Stanford coach Anne Walker.

On Monday, Heck was crowned NCAA individual champion. Now she’s the 2021 ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel winner, given to the best player in Division I golf based on a vote by her peers, plus coaches, golf media and SIDs. The honor also comes with an exemption into the Amundi Evian Championship, an LPGA major.

Heck remembers being a junior player, excitedly running to her mother to share the news that the ANNIKA Award’s Instagram account had followed her personal account.

“I thought it was the coolest thing ever,” she said. “I thought maybe one day I could crack the list possibly. To actually be on the list and then actually win the award.”

Heck won six times over the course of nine starts, becoming only the third player in history to sweep the postseason by winning conference, regionals and nationals. Annie Park did the same at USC in 2013 as a freshman. Arizona’s Marisa Baena became the first player to do it in 1996, also as a freshman. Both Heck and Park pulled off the trifecta in their first semester in school.

Anne Walker, Rachel Heck

Heck, who next week competes in the U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic, competed in the 2018 Evian Championship, an LPGA major, and finished tied for 44th, calling it one of the best weeks of her life.

“I can’t wait for another family trip to France,” she said.

Heck won her last five consecutive events in college and had 12 consecutive rounds in the 60s, including a 66 at Olympic from tees that are longer than the USWO setup and from Sunday hole locations used at the 2012 U.S. Open. Her closing 74 at the NCAA Championship was her first over-par round since mid-March.

She ended the season ranked No. 1 by Golfweek and boasts the lowest scoring average in NCAA history, putting up a 69.72 average in 25 rounds. Alabama’s Lauren Stephenson set the previous record of 69.76 in 2018.

Heck’s parents came out to watch at Grayhawk as did Nora Tyson, the retired Navy vice admiral who helped inspire Heck to join the ROTC at Stanford in hopes of serving in the Air Force Reserve after she graduates.

“I think on the outside I looked OK,” said Robert Heck after watching his daughter battle down the stretch for the NCAA title. “On the inside, I’m amazed I was able to stay on my feet.”

Heck suffered a back injury in the summer between her sophomore and junior year of high school that put her in pain for the better part of 18 months. She went through several rounds of injections and dutifully did 90 minutes of therapy with her mother daily.

She was miserable on the golf course, her father said. Heck said she was drowning in self-afflicted pressure. It was during that time period that she started to explore the idea of the military. When she came back to golf after the injury and the pandemic, Heck reemerged with a new perspective.

“Her day and her mood is not defined by score,” said Robert, “and that has freed her up.”

For Heck, the fact that her peers play a role in the award is especially meaningful.

“They’re the reason I play golf,” she said, “the reason I look forward to these tournaments … of course I love golf, but I was just so excited to hang out with my friends and have ping pong and putting contests.”

STANFORD, CA – MAY 12: Rachel Heck during the final round of the NCAA Stanford Regional at Stanford Golf Course on May 12, 2021 in Stanford, California.

List of ANNIKA Award winners

2020 – Natalie Srinivasan, Furman

2019 – Maria Fassi, Arkansas

2018 – Maria Fassi, Arkansas

2017 – Leona Maguire, Duke

2016 – Bronte Law, UCLA

2015 – Leona Maguire, Duke

2014 – Alison Lee, UCLA

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R&A, ANNIKA Foundation to launch Women’s Amateur Latin America in Argentina

The Women’s Latin America Amateur presented by the R&A and ANNIKA Foundation will first be played at Pilar Golf in Buenos Aires.

Grow-the-game initiatives have been popping up around the globe for male amateurs for the past decade, but now women’s opportunities are catching up, too. On Monday, the R&A, together with the ANNIKA Foundation, announced the creation of the first Women’s Amateur Latin America.

The event mirrors the Latin America Amateur Championship created for men in 2015. That event debuted at Pilar Golf in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the women’s version will, too. The inaugural event will take place Sept. 3-6, 2020.

A 60-woman field will compete over four days and 72 holes of stroke play. Players will be invited based on their position in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Two players, Texas Tech junior Sofia Garcia of Paraguay and Agustina Zeballos, 16, of Argentina, are currently ranked among the top 20 in the WAGR. Both have secured invitations to the upcoming Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Zeballos won last year’s ANNIKA Invitational Latin America.

A spot in the AIG Women’s British Open is on the line at the Women’s Amateur Latin America. Sorenstam, whose foundation puts on five invitationals around the globe for junior girls, called it a major milestone for that global circuit of women’s golf events.

“Not only are we furthering our influence in a region that we feel holds great promise for growth, but offering the winner a place in the AIG Women’s British Open speaks to the great strides we’ve made since our first ANNIKA Invitational Latin America in 2016,” she said. “This is a big day for golf in Latin America and we’re honored to be a part of it.”

The Women’s Amateur Latin America is a similar initiative to the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific, which was to be played later this month for the second time. Due to concerns over coronavirus in the region, the event in Thailand has been postponed.

“It is important for us to provide the very best women’s amateur golfers in Latin America with opportunities to compete and excel at the very highest level as part of our drive to grow and develop golf in key regions around the world,” Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said.

“We have seen how the Latin America Amateur Championship has unearthed talents such as Abel Gallegos, Joaquin Niemann and Alvaro Ortiz and so we look forward to working with the ANNIKA Foundation to replicating this success and identifying the next generation of golfers in the women’s game in the years to come.”

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Golf has reason to celebrate on National Girls and Women in Sports Day

On National Girls and Women in Sports Day, take a look at climbing participation numbers and increased opportunity for women’s golfers.

On National Girls and Women in Sports Day, women’s golf has much to celebrate. The statistics and shout-outs rolled in Wednesday on social media, painting a picture of a growing segment of the game.

Women and girls across all sports are recognized in this way annually on a day powered by the Women’s Sports Foundation, an organization that funds research, educates and advocates for women in athletics.

In the golf world, many of the competition opportunities for women are afforded through through LPGA and USGA Girls Golf, a national junior golf program that provides opportunities for girls to learn the game.

The USGA annually hosts five amateur championships for women at all ages, and participation has climbed noticeably there, too. The USGA reported receiving 189 entries for the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 1989, and a record 1,606 entries in 2018. The U.S. Women’s Amateur also hit its record entry number (1,468) in 2018.

The ANNIKA Foundation also creates playing opportunities for young women and does it all around the world. According to the foundation’s 2018 annual report, 550 girls from 60-plus countries participated in one of the foundation’s events last season. More than 600 ANNIKA competitors have played golf at the collegiate level, with 45 earning LPGA Tour cards.

More: Annika Foundation gives back to golf on global scale

At the college level, recent research compiled by the NCAA reveals a major participation jump in women’s college golf. The sport gained 157 new teams – across all three NCAA divisions – since 2008, which accounts for the largest growth among all women’s sports except lacrosse and track and field.

Women’s college golf grew at more than triple the rate that men’s golf did, though men’s numbers are also up in the last decade. The NCAA reports a net gain of 46 men’s golf teams across all divisions.

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Seven of nation’s top 10 teams highlight field at 2020 ANNIKA Intercollegiate

The ANNIKA Foundation announced the first 11 teams in the field for the 2020 ANNIKA Intercollegiate, with a 12th team to be announced later.

The ANNIKA Intercollegiate Presented by 3M boasts the most competitive field in women’s collegiate golf, and the 2020 event will be no different.

The ANNIKA Foundation announced on Thursday the first 11 teams who will be competing for the title Sept. 13-16 at Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.

Seven of the top 10 teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings are in the field, including No. 1 Texas, 2019 champion Wake Forest, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 3 Arizona, No. 4 USC, No. 9 South Carolina and No. 10 Duke. Also in the field is 2018 ANNIKA Intercollegiate champion Alabama, UCLA, Vanderbilt and host Minnesota.

The 12th and final team will be announced following the 2020 NCAA Championship in May.

“For the seventh-consecutive year, we’re honored to welcome a collection of women’s golf’s most-powerful and storied programs,” said LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam. “Royal Golf Club has proven to be a great host venue for the last two editions, and we look forward to returning to Minnesota during an ideal time of year for weather and course conditions.”

To find out more about the work the ANNIKA Foundation does for women’s golf, go to annikafoundation.org.