September 1, 2025 • by David Tenneson / Images courtesy of the ANNIKA Foundation
There is perhaps no bigger name in collegiate golf than ANNIKA. Like Tiger, she is a mononym mega star of the golf world, however the all-caps signifies something more. The ANNIKA Foundation, along with presenting sponsor 3M and other key partners, has cultivated one of the premier NCAA Division I women’s events. Join us for a quick stroll around the Queen’s Nine.
Annika was a shy teenager representing the Swedish National Team at a tournament in Japan when she had a chance encounter with University of Arizona Head Coach Kim Haddow. In her two years as a Wildcat, Annika won an NCAA individual title (1991), co-Player of the Year Award (1991), a Pac-10 individual title (1992), a Pac-10 team title (1992), an NCAA individual runner-up finish (1992), and an NCAA team runner-up finish (1992), along with several other medalist finishes.
What makes Annika so special is how she far out-drives her Hall of Fame playing career with what she gives back to the game. The foundation that bears her name – with all caps – invests a considerable amount of time, money and resources into bettering the community using the game of golf. “The ANNIKA Foundation aims to develop, empower and advance young women around the world through golf and in life,” reads the company mission statement. “More specifically, we provide opportunities in women’s golf at the junior, collegiate and professional levels while teaching young people the importance of personal development, including living a healthy, active lifestyle through fitness and nutrition.”
Two ANNIKA traditions were born in the Fall of 2014 at the Reunion Resort in Florida, home to the Foundation’s golf academy. First, Annika presented the newly-established ANNIKA Award to Alison Lee (UCLA) who had been voted as the best female player of the 2013-14 NCAA D1 season. The gala where this was awarded marked the official beginning of the Foundation’s first collegiate tournament, and added to the portfolio of junior tournaments such as the AJGA ANNIKA Invitational, which Lee had won in 2012 at that very same course.
South Carolina pulled away from Sorenstam’s Arizona Wildcats in the final round to win the inaugural event where all 12 teams were ranked inside the top 20 in the country. The Gamecocks were led by medalist Justine Dreher who held off Duke’s Leona Maguire by a single shot.
That very first season, the eventual ANNIKA Award winner (Leona Maguire, Duke) and NCAA individual champion (Emma Talley, Alabama) placed in the top 10 of the ANNIKA Intercollegiate. Maguire again won the ANNIKA Award for the 2016-17 season which she started by finishing T3 in the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, behind Arkansas legend Maria Fassi, and ended as runner-up in the NCAA championship.
Fassi repeated as the ANNIKA Intercollegiate champion the following season, the same year she won the ANNIKA Award. Although she failed to secure the Intercollegiate three-peat in 2018, Fassi did repeat as ANNIKA Award winner after capturing the 2018-19 NCAA championship.
In 2018, the ANNIKA Intercollegiate moved venues to the Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Why here? The course design arm of the Foundation partnered with Arnold Palmer’s design company to create a challenge fit for golfing royalty, comprising of the “Queen” and “King” 9-hole halves.
Something about the new place apparently resonates with universities from North and South Carolina. Since the change of venue, Wake Forest and South Carolina have traded team titles; the Demon Deacons winning in 2019 and 2022, and the Gamecocks dominating in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Wake Forest legend Rachel Kuehn (above) secured her first medalist honors at this event in 2019. The same thing happened to South Carolina’s Louise Rydqvist in 2023 when she was co-medalist along with Phoebe Brinker (Duke), Lottie Woad (Florida State), and Kiara Romero (Oregon).
In last year’s event, Rydqvist finished runner-up to teammate Hannah Darling (above), who set the individual tournament record at 202 (-14). The pair helped South Carolina to set a new team scoring record of 31 under par to secure a 27-stroke victory over Oregon and Wake Forest.
Beginning in 2023, the ANNIKA Foundation and 3M raised the stakes when they announced an exemption to their LPGA event, The ANNIKA Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. The exemption is given automatically to the medalist but to the winning team, which then decides which of its players will participate in the Florida event two months later. South Carolina has earned this opportunity both times, and twice elected to send Louise Rydqvist.
The ANNIKA Intercollegiate returns for the 11th playing this month, with a typically strong field. Half of the teams to make the match play portion of the 2025 NCAA Championship, including the champion Northwestern Wildcats, will be in attendance. South Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Wake Forest, Arizona State, and Southern Cal were all ranked inside the top 10 nationally going into last year’s championship, and look to be competitive again this season. Other highly ranked teams looking to make a statement early include Duke, Cal, San Jose State, Pepperdine, and Minnesota to round out the tournament field.
Curiously, the eventual ANNIKA Award winner has not been among this tournament field since the 2018-19 season. That could certainly change this year as 11 of the 25 players named to the 2025-26 Preseason Watch List will be teeing it up this September, including Kiara Romero of Oregon (above) and Farah O’Keefe of Texas, who will represent Team USA at the upcoming World Amateur Team Championship in Singapore, an event that Annika oversees as President of the International Golf Federation.
Others include first year phenoms Arianna Lau (Northwestern) and Rianne Malixi (Duke), as well as second year stars Suvichaya Vinijchaitham (Oregon), Eunseo Choi (Pepperdine), Eila Galitsky (South Carolina, above), and Jasmine Koo (USC). The third year threats include ASU's Patience Rhodes and Lauren Kim (Texas). The solo senior, Catherine Park of USC, is no stranger to success and will be looking to add her name to both of ANNIKA’s trophies this season.