ANNIKA Blog

Countdown to the Solheim Cup

The countdown is ticking! We are now four weeks (29 days to be exact!) away from the Solheim Cup. Thank you for your input on who you would chose for the US Team and as you may have seen, the US team has now officially been chosen. In a surprise move, Captain Rosie Jones selected two rookies to bring the team to 12 players. The newest, and final, additions to the team are: Vicky Hurst and Ryann O’Toole. Congratulations Vicky and Ryann! The U.S. Team will feature nine players returning from the winning 2009 team including Cristie Kerr and Solheim Cup veteran and assistant captain Juli Inkster. Good luck, ladies!

Alison Nicholas will select the European team on Monday of next week. Melissa Reid, Laura Davies, Suzann Pettersen and Solheim rookie Christel Boeljon have already secured spots on the team through the LET (Ladies European Tour) point standings and automatic picks will be made from the Rolex World ranking for four additional spots. I am excited to see who those additions and the Captain picks will be!

This brings us to another poll.

  

Be sure to visit my blog again next week after the European team is selected. There will be a lot to discuss!

 

Introducing the new ANNIKA Foundation Blog!

Hello! I am excited to share with you that the ANNIKA Foundation now has its own blog, AnnikaFoundation.blogspot.com ! The blog will be updated regularly to keep you informed of all Foundation-related news and events, as well as other relevant news stories and tips on staying active and healthy. Thanks to you and your dedication to helping us with our mission, the Foundation continues to grow and we are thrilled about having another outlet to spread our message. As some of you know, the Foundation already is active on Twitter (@ANNIKA_Fdn) and Facebook and we will treat the blog as an avenue to give you more in-depth information.

I can’t wait to hear what you think! Please visit AnnikaFoundation.blogspot.com to check out our latest post and leave a comment letting us know your thoughts.

Second Annual Junior Day in Memory of Holly Baxter

Hello! I hope everybody is having a great week. We have made it safe and sound out West and are already enjoying the cooler weather. Before we made the journey out here, we had a wonderful event at the ANNIKA Academy earlier in the week, ANNIKA Junior Day in Memory of Holly Baxter. My Foundation hosted 80 kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida and the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association (OMYGA) for a day of exercise and fun, where the Academy team and I taught them the fundamentals of golf and the importance of fitness. The children learned about putting, chipping, swing and fitness. It was a great day, full of excitement and positivity all-around. The weather didn’t even damper the spirits of all of the kids; they were excited to play, rain or shine!

Junior Day is an initiative of the ANNIKA Foundation and was created in memory of Holly Baxter, a loving mother and golfer who passed away in 2007. Holly’s family asked that an event be created to promote junior golf to under-served children. The day was funded by a generous donation from the Baxter family and supported by the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation. Holly’s daughter, Kelly, was in attendance on Tuesday and was thrilled to be there to see first-hand how the ANNIKA Foundation and Junior Day, in particular, impacted local kids and taught them the game her Mother loved.

We already can’t wait to work with the kids again next year for the third annual Junior Day! Here are some of the photos from the day; enjoy!

Click here for more information on the ANNIKA Foundation and Junior Day in Memory of Holly Baxter.

Countdown to the Solheim Cup!

It’s now the second week of August and six weeks away from September 23rd. What does this mean? It means the countdown for the Solheim Cup is officially underway! As you know, I am the Vice-Captain for the European Team and am very much looking-forward to it! The 12th Solheim Cup will be held at Killeen Castle in Ireland where the best US-born players from the LPGA will battle head-to-head with the best European members from the LET. The US team has a better track-record at the Solheim Cup, having won 8 times, but will they continue to dominate or will the Europeans break their winning-streak? We will soon find out!
 
Rosie Jones is the Captain of the star-studded US Team, which is comprised of the 10 ladies who earned points for wins and top 20 finishes over the past two years. The official team will be announced on Monday, August 29 but as of now the current standing of the US roster is: Christie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Stacy Lewis, Angela Standford, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, Brittany Linciome, Brittany Lang, Juli Inkster and Christina Kim. Rosie will select two players to bring the total to 12 players.
The European Team is selected slightly different; it is comprised of the top four players from the LET points rankings, followed by the next four LET members on the Rolex Rankings. The current standings for the European team is: Melissa Reid, Laura Davies, Suzann Pettersen, Christel Boeljon, Maria Hjorth, Anna Nordqvist, Catriona Matthew and Sophie Gustafson. The Captain, Alison Nicholas, will select the remaining four members to bring the team to a total of 12.

Stay tuned to keep up with the Solheim Cup countdown and for the European Captains pick in our next poll!

Check out my secret to early moring tee times!

All too often we find that people are not prepared for their early morning tee times...