Annika arrived in Hong Kong, China for the second annual ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills on Wednesday Aug. 22 after a long 13 hour flight, with her total travel time that day totaling over 24 hours. She was happy to get settled into her hotel and get a good night’s rest before heading out to the Invitational in Shenzhen the next morning.

DAY 1 at the ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills:

The day started early with the first tee time at 7:30am on the “Annika course.”  Annika left her hotel just after 8am in Hong Kong and made the 1.5 hour drive to Shenzhen and the Mission Hills Golf Club. Upon arrival, she had interviews with local media outlets as well as for Golf Digest. The interviews went well and after wrapping, she made her way out to the academy. The weather was humid and about 90 degrees making it feel very much like home. Lunch time came at 12:30pm and Annika sat down with the Chairman of Mission Hills Golf club and friend, Tenniel Chu, as well as China Golf Association officials and tournaments staff. The restaurant was a traditional Chinese restaurant complete with a 10-course meal! While still feeling full but very satisfied from the delicious lunch, Annika headed out to the course for a clinic and photo session with Mission Hills members.

In the late afternoon after a break and a little time to freshen up in her Mission Hills hotel room, Annika met with the almost 80 players participating in the 2nd Annual ANNIKA Invitational. She gave a demonstration, shared her experiences, and gave the young golfers advice on golf, life and how to make a decision and commit to it. It was a great session allowing Annika’s main mission of “sharing her passion” for all aspects of life to be lived out. She also signed autographs for the players which they especially enjoyed.

Then… it was dinner time, and this was no ordinary tournament dinner. Players performed, some sang, some danced and others played instruments. Games were played including cake decorating and a game where you had to move a golf ball with chop sticks. It was the perfect way to end the first day of the tournament and fun was had by all, including Annika.

Back up in her room after dinner, Annika was able to get a quick massage and then spend some time on Skype with Mike and her kids, Ava and Will, before bed. It was a long day but one to be remembered. Annika and the ANNIKA Foundation are proud to be back at Mission Hills and are happy to see the tournament have so much success in only its second year. Many more to come!

Check back tomorrow for Day 2 at Mission Hills and the ANNIKA Invitational.