The ANNIKA Foundation – golf Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam’s charitable organization – will host the seventh-annual ANNIKA Invitational Europe, June 18-21, at Royal Drottningholm Golf Club in Stockholm, Sweden.
Seventy-eight of the continent’s top girls ages 13-18 will battle for the title. In the spirit of the ANNIKA Foundation’s “More Than Golf” mantra, tournament play will be complemented by a clinic from Annika, gala dinner and expert-led seminars covering U.S. college life and nutrition. Royal Drottningholm is located adjacent to Drottningholm Palace, which was built in the late 16th century and is one of Sweden’s Royal Palaces.
“Returning to Sweden every summer for the ANNIKA Invitational Europe has become a welcome family tradition,” says Annika. “We’ll once again host one of the strongest fields in European junior golf and are excited to present a wonderful learning experience for the girls both on and off the course.”
The ANNIKA Invitational Europe’s sister event, the ANNIKA Cup, will also be held at Royal Drottningholm June 17-19. Founded in 2008, the ANNIKA Cup is a team competition featuring 12 of Sweden’s top female juniors.
Past winners of the ANNIKA Invitational Europe are Amanda Linner (2017, Sweden), Beatrice 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 to play college golf.
Players scheduled to compete include defending champion Linner, who will be entering her fifth ANNIKA Invitational Europe and seventh ANNIKA Invitational tournament. Austria’s Isabella Holpfer will participate in her fourth ANNIKA Invitational Europe. Argentina’s Ela Belen Anacona, last year’s runner up in the ANNIKA Invitational Latin America, will also tee it up, making her only the second player in ANNIKA Invitational history to participate in three different ANNIKA junior events.
Beyond the ANNIKA Invitational Europe and ANNIKA Cup, the ANNIKA Foundation manages three additional junior tournaments – the ANNIKA Invitational USA in St. Augustine, Fla.; ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills in China; and, in association with The R&A, the ANNIKA Invitational Latin America in Argentina. It also runs the ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M and bestows the prestigious ANNIKA Award to the NCAA Division I’s best female golfer.
Since the inaugural Foundation tournament – the 2009 ANNIKA Invitational USA – 32 ANNIKA event alumnae have earned LPGA cards. Twenty-four alumnae competed in the 2018 ANA Inspiration.
Click here for round one tee times.