Girls Golf Event at Sawgrass Country Club First of Six Scheduled Nationwide
(ORLANDO, Fla.) – The ANNIKA Foundation – golf Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam’s charitable organization – will begin its 2023 “Share My Passion” clinic series on March 8, the Wednesday of THE PLAYERS week, at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
With the help of The First Tee of Northern Florida and The North Florida Junior Golf Foundation, the Foundation will invite 50 girls between the ages of six and 14 to participate in a special afternoon with Annika. It will begin with a clinic with Annika, followed by a photo and autograph session. Then, the groups will rotate through stations taught by local instructors covering the fundamentals of driving, putting and the importance of fitness with Annika participating in each. Throughout the afternoon, Annika will engage with the girls sharing tips and stories from her career and share her love for the game.
“I really enjoy the Share My Passion clinics as they give me an opportunity to interact with girls who may never play in one of our Foundation tournaments, or any golf tournament for that matter, but still love the game,” says Annika. “Now in their sixth year, the clinics have become an important pillar of our Foundation offerings thanks to the continued support of Toro, Mastercard, AHEAD, and Dan and Sallie Dutton.”
“We are proud to partner with the ANNIKA Foundation to encourage and engage young girls in the game of golf,” says Heather Hille, Managing Director, Corporate Affairs at The Toro Company. “The Share My Passion clinics offer instructional lessons from Annika for aspiring golfers to improve their game while, more importantly, inspiring young girls to be powerful women on and off the course.”
Five additional Share My Passion clinics are scheduled for 2023 (exact dates for several still TBD):
- April 30 – Insperity Invitational, The Woodland Country Club, The Woodlands, Tex.
- Fall – Southern Highlands Golf Club, Las Vegas
- October 24 – The Country Club of Columbus, Columbus, Ga.
- November – The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, Pelican Golf Club, Belleair, Fla.
- December – PNC Championship, Ritz Carlton Country Club, Orlando, Fla.
To participate, girls between the ages of six and 14 who live near the host sites are typically invited to write an open letter to Annika telling her why they love golf, and why other girls should learn how to play. Annika and her team will then invite the authors of the most-compelling notes to attend the clinic.
The ANNIKA Foundation is devoted to growing the game of golf around the world. Complementing the Share My Passion series are a global circuit of six girls-only tournaments: the Hilton Grand Vacations ANNIKA Invitational presented by Rolex (United States), the ANNIKA Invitational Europe and ANNIKA Cup (Sweden), ANNIKA Invitational Mission Hills (China), ANNIKA Invitational Australasia (New Zealand) and the Women’s Amateur Latin America Championship presented by The R&A and ANNIKA Foundation (Argentina).
The Foundation’s involvement in the women’s game extends to the ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M, a 12-team college tournament, and the ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel, which is annually bestowed to the most outstanding female NCAA Division I golfer. The Foundation will also be the main beneficiary of The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, a new tournament tradition that will begin on the LPGA Tour November 6-12, 2023.
Since the inaugural Foundation tournament – the 2009 ANNIKA Invitational USA – 102 ANNIKA event alumnae have earned LPGA cards. Three of the five 2021 major champions – Patty Tavatanakit, Yuka Saso and Nelly Korda – are ANNIKA alumnae. Many other alumnae are taking lessons learned from their years on the course and making an impact across a wide spectrum of professions including the financial services, aerospace and entertainment industries.
About the ANNIKA Foundation
Annika created the ANNIKA Foundation to provide opportunities in women’s golf at the junior, collegiate and professional levels while teaching young people the importance of living a healthy, active lifestyle through fitness and nutrition. Since its establishment, the Foundation has given back $8 million to junior golf and more than 650 of its alumnae have played NCAA Division I golf.
For more information, please visit www.annikafoundation.org, @ANNIKA_Fdn & ANNIKA59 (Twitter), and @ANNIKA_Fdn & annikas59 (Instagram).
