ANNIKA Award: Final watch list for 2021-22 women’s college golf season

May 16, 2022

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The postseason is underway in women’s golf, and after last week’s NCAA Regionals, the NCAA Div. I Women’s Golf Championship field is set for May 20-25 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

With the championship field set, the race for the ANNIKA Award is starting to heat up. A handful of players have made their case throughout the season as front-runners for the ANNIKA Award, which honors the player of the year in women’s college golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media.

The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the ANNIKA Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel writers.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual

The spring-semester freshman from Riverside, California, finished sixth at the Lamkin Invitational in her USC debut, then won her next two starts at the ICON Invitational and the Gold Rush. Current LPGA player and former Trojan Annie Park ended her first semester at USC with a postseason sweep and Avery already claimed medalist honors at the Stanford regional.

Amari Avery of the United States plays her stroke from the No. 1 tee during a practice round for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club, Friday, April 1, 2022. (Photo: Augusta National Women’s Amateur)

Another freshman cracks the top 10. The freshman from Spain opened the Spring with a win at the UCF Challenge at 19 under. At the next tournament, the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, she was back at the top and picked up her second individual title. Chacarra finished T-2 at the Franklin regional and has five top-10 finishes in 10 starts.

Carolina Lopez-Chacarra at the Bryan National Collegiate at the Bryan Park Champions Course on Monday, September 27, 2021 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Wake Forest Athletic Communications)

Made an immediate impact for the Gamecocks by opening the ANNIKA Intercollegiate in September with a bogey-free round of 66 and then going on to finish second at that event. The freshman from Scotland was named First Team All-SEC with five top-five finishes in 10 starts (eight in the top 20).

South Carolina’s Hannah Darling. (Photo: South Carolina Athletics)

The Sun Devil senior is making the most of her last year in the desert, having finished inside the top 10 in three of four spring starts. Forsterling ended the regular season with medalist honors at the Ping/ASU Invitational and has not finished lower than 22nd in any of her 10 tournaments. Finished T-5 at the Stillwater regional.

Alexandra Forsterling, Arizona State (ASU Athletics)

The junior got back in the winner’s circle at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in California, which featured a deep field of talent from both sides of the country. That was career title No. 4 for Kuehn, her second of the season. She finished T-2 at the Franklin regional and leads a potent Wake Forest squad into the postseason.

Rachel Kuehn. (Photo: Wake Forest Women’s Golf)

Lindblad is arguably the most consistent player in women’s college golf. The junior from Sweden has won seven times as a Tiger, and in addition to all the individual titles, she has 20 top-10 finishes in 25 starts and has only ever finished outside the top 25 in two starts. Finished fifth at the loaded Stanford regional this year.

Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden reacts on the on the No. 13 green during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club, Saturday, April 2, 2022. (Photo: Augusta National Women’s Amateur)

The All-SEC first teamer played her way onto the list with a four-shot win at the Franklin regional and has 20 rounds of par-or-better with seven top-10 finishes in 10 starts.

Alabama’s Polly Mack. (Photo: Alabama Women’s Golf)

San Jose State has been one of the best stories of the season and the senior has played a key role, with five top-three finishes this spring alone, including two runners-up. Won the Ann Arbor regional by five at 6 under and also took medalist honors at the Mountain West Conference Championship.

Natasha Andrea Oon. (Photo: Terrell Lloyd, San José State Athletics)

A third time watch list member, Spitz recently finished T-3 at the Tallahassee regional. Spitz leads the Bruins with a 72 scoring average and has five top-10 and eight top-20 finishes.

Emma Spitz of Austria plays a stroke during a practice round for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club, Friday, April 1, 2022. (Photo: Augusta National Women’s Amateur)

Zhang is the top-ranked player in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings for a reason. The freshman won her first three starts out of the gate and have been in the mix all spring for the Cardinal while leader and defending ANNIKA Award winner Rachel Heck has struggled. Lost the regional at home to Avery by one shot.