To Sweden!

The ANNIKA Invitational, our award-winning junior golf tournament, is heading to Europe in 2012!

ANNIKA Invitational Europe will be played for the first time in Sweden in late summer of next year. The tournament will be held Aug. 31 – Sept. 2, 2012 at Linkopings Golf Club in Annika’s native country of Sweden. The 54-hole stroke play competition, modeled after the ANNIKA Invitational in the United States, will feature 78 of the best junior girl golfers from European countries. Annika will also host a number of activities, including skills clinics and educational sessions for the participants.

"Expanding our ANNIKA Invitational series to Europe has been a dream of mine,” said Annika.  “I want to continue to inspire young girls to focus on golf and being active while teaching them life lessons along the way.  This will give my Foundation three world-class junior tournaments in different regions of the world. Bringing this tournament to my native country, Sweden, was an obvious choice.”

The three top finishers in ANNIKA Invitational Europe will win coveted berths to the ANNIKA Invitational in the United States. Started by the ANNIKA Foundation, the ANNIKA Invitational is an official American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) tournament in Orlando, Fla. The AJGA is widely regarded as the best junior golf circuit in the world, and has awarded the ANNIKA Invitational in Orlando two national awards, including “Best Invitational” for girls.

The ANNIKA Invitational began in partnership with the AJGA in the United States in 2009 and expanded to Mission Hills, China in 2011. We had a great time over there! Read about all three days of the ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills right here on our blog! Day 1 starts here.

The ANNIKA Cup, which invites younger top junior girls, will continue to be played each year immediately preceding or after the ANNIKA Invitational Europe at Annika’s childhood course, Bro Balsta Golf Club, near Stockholm. You can read more about the 2011 ANNIKA Cup here.

"We are thrilled that the ANNIKA Invitational Europe will bring greater attention to Swedish girls' golf,” said Magnus Grankvist, head of the junior golf at the Swedish Golf Federation.  “We are proud to be linked with Annika and the Foundation partners, including the AJGA.  It is wonderful that the top juniors from Europe will have the opportunity to play in the AJGA version in the United States.”

We're so excited to expand this opportunity to some of Europe's best junior players. Annika started the ANNIKA Foundation with a goal: to create great opportunities for junior golfers, nationally and globally, to pursue their dreams. With our earlier expansion to China and now to Sweden, it looks like we're right on track.

- AF

Annika Sorenstam: Another one for the record books.

2001: Sets the record for lowest score ever recorded on the LPGA with a blazing 59.

2003: Challenges the men, becoming first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since 1945. Inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame.

2008: Steps away from golf with a record-shattering 89 professional wins to her name, including 72 LPGA victories and 10 major championships.

2011: Sets the record for most Congressional leaders met in one day on Capitol Hill – 40.

Even outside of golf, she's still making history. Annika and the ANNIKA Foundation team spent the day Wednesday in Washington D.C., meeting with business and Congressional leaders to discuss the work of the ANNIKA Foundation and to ask them for their help.

The veteran legislative staffers and Congressmen/women said they had never witnessed such a great turnout to meet a legendary athlete on one of the busiest days on the Hill this year.

After a great luncheon with about 30 business leaders, hosted by Susan Neely of the American Beverage Association and The Bockorny Group, we met with some distinguished leaders from both the House and Senate – both Republican and Democrat – to discuss ways to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic. 

Annika talks to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) about the health and wellness challenges faced by young kids today.

Our meetings were very productive and informative. Amid all the political rhetoric in the media, sometimes it’s hard to see how dedicated, determined and sincere our Congressional leaders truly are. We came away from the day very inspired to continue our work with their help.

Members of Congress continued to stop by between ongoing voting sessions and each one got to spend valuable one-on-one time with Annika and our team.

Annika and Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) discuss the importance of sports and physical activity for our youth.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer gives Annika a history lesson. Possibly trading for a golf lesson?

It was an absolutely amazing day filled with great ideas and tremendous offers to help the Foundation and expand the work our mission aims to do. Many thanks to The Bockorny Group team for organizing our maiden voyage to Capitol Hill for the Foundation! We had a great time.

No-blog-vember.

November was such a whirlwind month here at the ANNIKA Foundation. Sorry for the lack of blog posts! The last few weeks have been pretty crazy, but in a good way. Let's just get caught up with a summary of what November was like around the ANNIKA Foundation office. We have so much great news we want to share with you!

On November 1st, our ANNIKA & Friends at Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort event microsite launched! Thanks to Dashboard Digital who generously donated the website and their time to the ANNIKA Foundation. You can now visit the ANNIKA & Friends site at www.annikaandfriends.com to learn more about this exciting celebrity event coming up in May 2012. We're updating the website daily with new information about the event, our sponsors, confirmed celebrities and more.

Our staff attended National Philanthropy Day in Orlando on November 18th, complete with a fabulous breakfast and awards ceremony with some of the best fundraisers in town. It was fun to mingle with some very influential people in Central Florida. It was also nice to sit down for a hearty breakfast before a big day of work. Congrats to all the winners and to the event coordinators for a job well done. We look forward to next year's celebration.

Our offices were closed on November 24th and 25th for the Thanksgiving holiday, but you better believe we were still working......well, working out. Had to exercise off all that turkey. So worth it.

We learned this month that our great part-time intern, Jeremy, has accepted a position with Folds of Honor in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We wish him the best of luck upon his graduation from University of Central Florida graduate school and in his future career. 

In the last few days of November, we prepared for Darius Rucker tickets to go on sale on December 1. Darius' live concert will be the big finale of ANNIKA & Friends at Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort, and proceeds from ticket sales will help the ANNIKA Foundation implement SPARK, a fantastic PE program for children, in NW Florida schools. We're excited to have Darius and even more excited that his concert will be helping children be healthy and active. Our ticket vendor, Xorbia, is now selling tickets here for the concert. Tickets are $59, which includes all fees. $59...That number sounds familiar. :)

And now December is officially here. Time seriously flies, doesn't it? We know it's technically a little late for Thanksgiving, but never too late to give thanks. To everyone who supports the ANNIKA Foundation, thank you. You are all making a difference in children's lives, and that is something for which we are truly grateful.

- AF Team