CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia’s Amanda Sambach is one of 25 players named to the 2024-25 ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel watch list. The ANNIKA Award is presented annually to the nation’s most outstanding female collegiate golfer.
Last season, Sambach was named a finalist for the award for the second consecutive year as she picked up second team All-America honors from NGCA and Golfweek. She tied for runner-up at the ACC Championships shooting 7-under 209 becoming the first UVA player to post three consecutive top-three finishes at the ACC Championships (2nd 2024, 1st 2023, 3rd 2022). She ranked No. 11 in the final NCAA individual rankings.
Sambach’s 71.45 stroke average in 2023-24 ranks No. 2 in Cavalier history trailing only her mark of 71.31 in 2022-23. Her 23 rounds of par or better set a Virginia record.
Sambach also helped Team USA to the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup title for the second consecutive year.
The ANNIKA Award is named for former LPGA champion Annika Sorenstam, who won 89 professional events and 10 major titles during her 15 years as a professional.
Sorenstam enrolled at the University of Arizona in the fall of 1990 and won seven titles during her collegiate career. She was the first foreign-born player and first freshman to win the individual NCAA Championship. She also won the 1991 National Co-Player of the Year Award, was the 1992 Pac-10 Champion and was named to the 1991-1992 All-American team. In 1992, Annika was a runner-up for the National Player of the Year Award and finished second to Vicki Goetze at the United States Women’s Amateur Golf Championship.
2024-2025 Preseason ANNIKA Award Watch List (listed alphabetically):
Emma Bunch, New Mexico State
Zoe Campos, UCLA
Adela Cernousek, Texas A&M
Carolina Chacarra, Wake Forest
Hannah Darling, South Carolina
Anna Davis, Auburn
Savannah de Bock, Eastern Michigan
Francesca Fiorellini, UCLA
Lauren Kim, Texas
Jasmine Koo, Southern Cal
Maria Jose Marin, Arkansas
Farah O’Keefe, Texas
Meja Ortengren, Stanford
Catherine Park, Southern California
Julia Lopez Ramirez, Mississippi State
Andrea Revuelta, Stanford
Kiara Romero, Oregon
Louise Rydqvist, South Carolina
Amanda Sambach, Virginia
Paula Martin Sampedro, Stanford
Bailey Shoemaker, Southern Cal
Rocio Tejedo, LSU
Lottie Woad, Florida State
Jeneath Wong, Pepperdine
Kelly Xu, Stanford
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