Partnership Includes Event Promotion, Establishing Player Travel Stipend
Beginning in 2014, The R&A will help promote the ANNIKA Invitational Europe across the continent via a variety of platforms. It will also fund a player travel stipend. Other agreement highlights include the top female finisher in the Junior Open Championship earning an exemption into the ANNIKA Invitational Europe each year.
“The R&A is delighted to be supporting the terrific junior work being carried out by Annika Sorenstam and her team,” says Duncan Weir, Executive Director - Working for Golf at The R&A. “Annika is an iconic figure in women's golf whose passion for success will undoubtedly rub off on the boys and girls who compete in her events. We are proud to be involved.”
“We’re honored to partner with The R&A, one of the world’s foremost supporters of junior golf,” says Annika, the 2003 Women’s British Open Champion at Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C. “We share many of the same goals when it comes to growing the game globally and can’t wait to work with The R&A team to bring the ANNIKA Invitational Europe to even greater heights.”
The third-annual ANNIKA Invitational Europe will take place August 4-7, 2014 at Forsgardens Golf Club in Gothenberg, Sweden. Seventy-eight of the best female European golfers will compete over 54 holes for R&A WAGR ranking points, with the winner receiving an invite to the LET’s 2014 Helsingborg Open. The top three finishers will also earn exemptions into the 2015 ANNIKA Invitational USA in Orlando, Fla.
Since 2007 the ANNIKA Foundation has pursued two parallel missions: 1) teaching children the importance of living a healthy, active lifestyle through fitness and nutrition, and 2) offering aspiring junior golfers opportunities to pursue their dreams. It annually hosts ANNIKA Invitational events on three different continents (Europe, Asia and North America).
For more information about the ANNIKA Invitational Europe: http://www.golf.se/annikainvitationaleurope
About The R&A
Based in St. Andrews, The R&A organizes The Open Championship, major amateur events and international matches. Together with the United States Golf Association, The R&A governs the game worldwide, jointly administering the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, Equipment Standards and World Amateur Golf Rankings. The R&A’s working jurisdiction is global, excluding the United States and Mexico.
The R&A is committed to working for golf and supports the growth of the game internationally and the development and management of sustainable golf facilities. The R&A operates with the consent of 149 organizations from the amateur and professional game and on behalf of over 30 million golfers in 135 countries.
About the ANNIKA Foundation
Annika created the ANNIKA Foundation (www.annikafoundation.org) as a way to teach children the importance of living a healthy, active lifestyle through fitness and nutrition, and offer aspiring junior golfers opportunities to pursue their dreams. The Foundation has partnered with key organizations to promote healthy, active lifestyles for children, including SPARK, Florida Hospital for Children in support of its Healthy 100 Kids initiative and The First Tee in development of the Nine Healthy Habits curriculum for children.
It annually conducts four major golf events for aspiring junior girls, including an award-winning AJGA tournament, ANNIKA Invitational at Reunion Resort in Orlando, Fla.; the ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills, the first all-girls junior tournament in China; the ANNIKA Invitational in Europe; and the ANNIKA Cup, a team event for the top juniors in Sweden. The Foundation awards SPARK grants to schools, is a financial supporter of Healthy 100 Kids and has endowed an ACE scholarship with the AJGA. Other key initiatives include ANNIKA Junior Day, the ANNIKA Inspiration Award and scholarships for aspiring Swedish juniors.
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