ANNIKA Blog

Don Ochsenreiter Named President Of ANNIKA Foundation

Don Ochsenreiter has been named President of the ANNIKA Foundation, Hall of Fame golfer Annika Sorenstam’s philanthropic organization.  Ochsenreiter joins the Foundation with a wealth of business experience, including more than 14 years in the golf industry as President & CEO of Burton Golf.  He also served on the Board of Governors of the National Golf Foundation and was actively involved with several key industry growth initiatives, including Golf 20/20 and the First Tee’s National School Program. 

“I am very pleased to have Don on board as our President,” said Annika.  “We have only scratched the surface in terms of our outreach and we’ll look to Don to help us develop and implement programs that will inspire children to follow their dreams and live healthier lives for many years to come.”

As president of the Foundation, Ochsenreiter, 51, will be responsible for the successful leadership, management and growth of the organization as well as the consistent achievement of its mission and financial objectives.  He will provide leadership and management of Foundation programs, including the ANNIKA Invitational, a junior golf tournament Annika hosts in partnership with the American Junior Golf Association; the ANNIKA Cup, a match-play tournament Annika hosts in Sweden for top juniors; the collegiate golf experience, a program that shows young Swedish golfers the opportunities to play collegiate golf in America; and the Foundation’s college scholarship programs.

In his new role, Ochsenreiter will also be charged with building new strategies, programs and fundraising plans to guide the Foundation.  While the Foundation will continue to help grow the game of golf, a primary focus for the ANNIKA Foundation in 2009 will be to identify the greatest needs and opportunities to make an impact through the development of sports and physical fitness programs for children to learn to live a healthy, active lifestyle. 

“This is a wonderful opportunity for me to leverage my business and golf experiences to help Annika achieve her life-long dreams for the Foundation,” said Ochsenreiter.  “Annika and I share the same passion for youth sports and children’s fitness.  The Foundation’s programs in junior golf and in fitness and nutrition will make a significant impact on thousands of kids’ lives.”

Under Ochsenreiter’s leadership, Burton, the oldest golf brand in the United States (102 years), grew to be the leading custom golf bag and number one market share brand at on-course golf shops.  Prior to joining the golf industry in 1994, Ochsenreiter was an associate partner and manager in two leading strategy consulting firms: Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and McKinsey & Company. 

Ochsenreiter attended the University of North Carolina and graduated with honors in economics and statistics.  He received his MBA from the University of Texas in operations and finance.  Ochsenreiter and his wife of 23 years, Kelly, have four children. 

Official ANNIKA Invitational Photo Gallery

Here is the official ANNIKA Invitational Photo Gallery. There's 15 new photos toward the end of the slideshow. Enjoy!

Checking in....

Hello everyone. This is Mike and I thought I would check in. This is a busy week for us as the PGA Merchandise Show is in town.  It is the biggest get together in the golf industry as everyone unveils their new products.  Annika is at a cooking event tonight with Cutter & Buck and I'm home alone with the cats....unfortunately, they don't cook as well as their mama!  Not being too handy in the kitchen means leftover pasta.  Tomorrow night we have a dinner with Callaway. Then Thursday we'll be at the show with meetings and Annika's sponsor appearances most of the day. We have the AJGA, Callaway, the Golf Channel, Cutter & Buck, and then another dinner lined up. More of the same on Friday.  It's good we're busy, so I won't get butterflies in my stomach for the Steelers until Saturday afternoon!  Good night!

PS....this photo is the pizza I made at the US Women's Open last summer.

Question And Answer With Annika (W/E 2-1-09)

Is there something you'd like to know about Annika?  Got a burning question that you'd like answered?

Here's your chance to get the scoop straight from Annika herself!  Each Monday, we'll place a new version of this post on the blog.  During that week, you're welcome to leave questions for Annika in the comments section.  At the end of each week, we'll collect those questions and Annika will offer answers to selected ones.  Those questions and answers will appear in a section on the left sidebar entitled "Annika Q&A".

What a week....

Good evening everyone.  The first annual ANNIKA Invitational is complete and Simin Feng is the champion as she outlasted a stellar field at Ginn Reunion Resort. The ANNIKA Foundation hosted the event in conjunction with the AJGA, and it was a spectacular week!  Many thanks to Annika, the staff of the AJGA, the volunteers, and Selena Nobilo for your hard work!  We would like to also extend a huge THANK YOU to Rolex, Callaway Golf, The LPGA Foundation, Stanford Financial, and our other sponsors.  Instead of me gushing about how gracious Annika was with her time....which she was, I'll let you click on the following links to see what others wrote.  We'll have some more photos posted tomorrow.  Good night!

AJGA Blog

GolfWeek

The Golf Channel

ANNIKA Invitational....Round two in the books

Greetings.  Round two of the ANNIKA Invitational is finished after another frost delay this morning.  Scotland’s Sally Watson lead after round one as she posted a two under 70, ironically on the Watson Course. Today, she fell back and Cindy Feng has a one shot lead over Simin Feng (no relation).  They are at two over and three over respectively.

After the round yesterday, I gave a clinic at the Academy that was sponsored by Rolex.  Henri spoke about some of the swing fundamentals which he still reinforces to me to this day.  Terry Mac came and caught some of my wedges, which the girls thought was funny.  After dinner, Terry and I answered questions about our experiences together.  We talked about Colonial, the 59, our first victory together, and lots of other great memories.  I think the girls appreciated hearing things from his perspective as well. After today’s round, we had another educational activity.

Kai Fusser, my trainer and the Director of Fitness at the Academy talked to the girls about the importance of health and nutrition.  Kai spoke to the parents as well since they are responsible for most of the meals.  After that, Liz Benz of Brener Zwikel and Associates and I went over some media training tips.  I think it is very important as these girls progress through college and hopefully the professional ranks that they conduct themselves well in interviews.  Being a shy person back when I was younger, I know how difficult it can be!  Then I spoke about the LPGA’s Five Points of Celebrity….which are Performance, Approachability, Passion, Appearance, and Relevance. Again, these are all very important for young players and their future sponsors!  The LPGA Foundation sponsored today’s activities.  We’ll check in later with more photos.

For Mike’s case….GO STEELERS!! UPDATE: We have new photos (they appear at the end of the slideshow)

ANNIKA Invitational Is Underway!

The ANNIKA Invitational is off and running.  The current leader, Sally Watson, is 4 under for the day after 15 holes.  You can view the live scoring here and, because photos tell a thousand words, here's some for your viewing pleasure (the latest ones appear at the end).

An Update From Annika

Hello,

It is time to check in again.

Last time I blogged I was Annika Sorenstam, now I am Mrs. Mike McGee. Both Mike and I are still on cloud nine as our wedding was a wonderful experience and a celebration of love with family and friends.

We are back to work and this week is special. The inaugural ANNIKA Invitational is upon us. This is a junior event that my Foundation has created together with the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and includes the top 60 female U.S. and International junior golfers. The tournament will provide the opportunity for the players to compete against world class competition. In addition, participants will experience the “off-course” elements of playing collegiate and professional golf such as media training and the importance of health and nutrition. A portion of the proceeds from the event will support the AJGA's ACE Grant Program which provides top-flight golf opportunities to young golfers regardless of financial resources. I am proud to say that this event will not only feature tough competition, and a fine venue in the Independence Course at Reunion, but also the Callaway Junior Am tomorrow, a clinic I will do that is presented by Rolex, and the opportunity to meet our team by using the Academy. 

On another note, I would like to extend a special thanks to Selena Nobilo for all of her help with both our wedding and this tournament….not to mention her participation as a bridesmaid!

Also, I would like to congratulate a previous ANNIKA scholarship winner Anna Nordqvist on her triumph at the LET qualifying school.

Annika And Mike's Wedding

Greetings Everyone -

Here are the details of Annika and Mike's wedding on Saturday, January 10th, 2009.  Photos are coming soon and as soon as we receive them, I'll get them posted so keep checking back.     -Webmaster Greg

Update - Pics are here! (all photographs courtesy of Lena Hyde Photography)

LPGA Hall of Fame golfer Annika Sorenstam and her boyfriend of three years, Mike McGee, were married on Saturday near their home in Orlando, Florida. 

The 125 guests attended an afternoon ceremony and evening reception at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.  Travis Wilhelm officiated the ceremony.  Wilhelm is minister at Christian Campus House at Trine University (Angola, IN). 

Annika’s maid of honor was her best friend from Stockholm, Sweden, Maria Bertilskold and Mike’s best man was Stan McCamon from East Palestine, OH.

McGee, the son of former PGA TOUR and CHAMPIONS TOUR golfer Jerry McGee, has served as Managing Director for the ANNIKA brand of businesses since Dec. 2006, when he relocated to Orlando.

The couple will be busy over the next two weeks prior to their honeymoon ski trip.  Annika will be hosting the first major initiative of her foundation, the ANNIKA Invitational, an AJGA event featuring 60 of the top female juniors from around the world.  The event will be held at her academy at the Ginn Reunion Resort next weekend.

Following the ANNIKA Invitational, Annika will appear at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando and then she will be honored at the ANNIKA Celebration on Feb.1-2-3 at Ginn Reunion Resort.    The ANNIKA Celebration will feature a skins game between Annika, Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis.

Photo Shoot at Annika Academy

Hi everyone!  What away to start the new year! It was a crazy day for me but we got a lot accomplished and I think the photos are going to look great.

I will keep you posted

-Annika