The Diamond Resorts ANNIKA Invitational presented by Rolex returns for the 13th year on the AJGA schedule. The 54-hole stroke-play competition in St. Augustine, Florida, begins Saturday, January 16th. The 78-player field features 10 of the top-25 girls in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
About the Field
- 32 college commitments
- 44 champions in the field
- 23 states represented
- Eight countries represented
- 22 - 2020 Rolex Junior All-Americans in the field
About the Course
The Slammer & Squire course designed by architect Bobby Weed along with World Golf Hall of Fame Members, Sam Snead (the “Slammer”) and Gene Sarazen (the “Squire”) officially opened to the public in 1998. The 18-hole course overlooks the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Future College Teammates
As a part of the 32 total players committed to play college golf, four sets of future college teammates are in the field:
- University of Arkansas – Giovanna Fernandez of Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, and Reagan Zibilski of Springfield, Missouri
- University of Virginia – Megan Propeck of Leawood, Kansas, and Amanda Sambach of Charlotte, North Carolina
- Clemson University – Melena Barrientos of Plano, Texas, and Katherine Schuster of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
- University of Southern California – Xin (Cindy) Kou of Whittier, California, and Bailey Shoemaker of West Edmeston, New York
AJGA Champion Highlights
Of the 44 AJGA champions in the field, a few highlights:
- Xin (Cindy) Kou of Whittier, California, is an 11-time AJGA champion. As of October 2020, Kou is T7 on the all-time AJGA wins list.
- 2020 AJGA Player Representative to the Board of Directors Amanda Sambach of Davidson, North Carolina, captured her first invitational title in 2019 at the season ending Rolex Tournament of Champions.
- Kaitlyn Schroeder of Jacksonville, Florida, took home two AJGA titles in 2020. The first at the AJGA Dana Incorporated Junior Open and the second at the AJGA Junior at Innisbrook.
- Melena Barrientos of Plano, Texas, also took home two AJGA titles in 2020. The Clemson University verbal commit won the GreatLIFE Junior Challenge and Coca-Cola Junior Championship at Sugarloaf presented by Junior Golf Hub.
Tournament History
The Diamond Resorts ANNIKA Invitational presented by Rolex has occurred annually since 2009. The ANNIKA Invitational was hosted at Reunion Resort on the Watson Course from 2009 to 2017 before finding its current home at World Golf Village on the Slammer and Squire Course.
Notable past champions include:
- LPGA Professional Alison Lee (2012)
- Only two-time champion Bethany Wu (2013, 2014)
- Stanford Women’s Golf standouts Brooke Seay (2017) and Angelina Ye (2018)
10 of the Top 25 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings
2 Xin (Cindy) Kou of Whittier, California
4 Megha Ganne of Holmdel, New Jersey
7 Alexa Pano of Lake Worth, Florida
10 Lynn Lim of Gallatin, Tennessee
13 Grace Summerhays of Scottsdale, Arizona
13 Kaitlyn Schroeder of Jacksonville, Floriday
19 Jasmine Koo of Cerritos, California
21 Paris Hillinski of Los Angeles, California
22 Bailey Shoemaker of West Edmeston, New York
23 Jaclyn LaHa of Pleasanton, California
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