ANNIKA Invitational Europe, ANNIKA Cup to be Played at Sweden’s Halmstad Golf Club
The ANNIKA Foundation – golf Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam’s charitable organization – is preparing to return to Sweden for the European portion of its junior golf tournament schedule.
The sixth-annual ANNIKA Invitational Europe will take place June 19-22 at Halmstad Golf Club, host of the 2007 Solheim Cup. Defending champion Beatrice Wallin will return to battle 78 top junior girls hailing from 20 different countries – a tournament record. The field will feature the 10 leaders in PING Jr. Solheim Cup points. This group includes 2016 Ladies’ British Open Amateur champion, Julia Engstrom; Linn Grant, who currently leads the PING Jr. Solheim Cup standings; and Frida Kinhult, winner of the 2017 Spanish Ladies’ Amateur Championship.
The ANNIKA Cup will also be held at Halmstad from June 18-20. The team match play event features 12 of Sweden’s top amateur girls ages 13-15. For many, the ANNIKA Cup serves as a stepping stone to future play in the ANNIKA Invitational Europe.
Exemplifying the Foundation’s “More than Golf” mantra, on-course competition will be complemented by off-course seminars about fitness, nutrition, the mental game and more. Annika will be onsite for both events, taking in play and helping to lead these sessions.
“The Foundation team and Swedish Golf Federation continue to do an exceptional job growing the ANNIKA Invitational Europe into one of the continent’s ‘must play’ junior tournaments for girls,” says Annika, the 2017 Solheim Cup captain for Team Europe. “There’s no doubt in my mind that there are competitors in this year’s event who will form the backbone of future Solheim Cup teams.”
Past winners of the ANNIKA Invitational Europe are Wallin (2016, Sweden), Ana Pelaez (2015, Spain), Marion Veysseyre (2014, France), Marlene Krobell Hansen (2013, Denmark) and Linnea Strom (2012, Sweden). All were heavily recruited by American universities, with Palaez (South Carolina), Veysseyre (South Carolina), Krobell Hansen (Coastal Carolina) and Strom (Arizona State) playing in the U.S.
Click here for the complete tournament field.
