The 2026-2027 ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel Preseason Watch List has named its 25 golfers. Fairway to Green is honored to have been a Watch List Contributor this year alongside Golf Channel, Golfweek, the Back of the Range and other media companies.
Below, we’ll dive into what the ANNIKA Award is, what the Preseason Watch List means and, of course, who made the list.
What Is the ANNIKA Award?
Named for and presented by Annika Sörenstam, the ANNIKA Award goes to the best female Division 1 golfer each year. This award began in 2014 to match the men’s equivalent – the Haskins Award.
Many of the ANNIKA Award winners go on to have spectacular careers on the LPGA Tour.
ANNIKA Award Winners Since 2014
Recognize any of these names?
2026: Farah O’Keefe (Texas)
2025: Mirabel Ting (Florida State)
2024: Ingrid Lindblad (LSU)
2023: Rose Zhang (Stanford)
2022: Rose Zhang (Stanford)
2021: Rachel Heck (Stanford)
2020: Natalie Srinivasan (Furman)
2019: Maria Fassi (Arkansas)
2018: Maria Fassi (Arkansas)
2017: Leona Maguire (Duke)
2016: Bronte Law (UCLA)
2015: Leona Maguire (Duke)
2014: Alison Lee (UCLA)
How Does the ANNIKA Award Preseason Watch List Work?
Before the ANNIKA Award Preseason Watch List is announced, media companies like Fairway to Green and Golf Channel, form a panel and individually contribute 25 names. The Haskins Foundation, which runs both the ANNIKA and Haskins Awards, has a committee that solidifies the selection and then announces that list. That’s what this article is all about.
From there, college players have an opportunity to still join the watch lists. After the Preseason Watch List, there’s the Fall Watch List, the Spring Watch List and the Postseason Watch List.
This then narrows to the top 10 finalists. They are honored at a ceremony during the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Golf Championship. From there, it’s up to the golf community who wins the ANNIKA Award.
College golfers, coaches and media vote leading up to NCAA Championship, during which the winner is officially announced on Golf Channel. Typically, Sorenstam and a represented of Stifel – the award’s sponsor – present the trophy.
Get to Know the 25 College Golfers Named to the Preseason Watch List
A huge congratulations are in order for the following golfers. While the categories are not part of the Preseason Watch List, we thought it’d be a fun way to organize the talent that will be gracing our college tournaments this year. Whether you’re plugged in to college golf or are looking for a place to start learning more, we hope this added context gets you as excited for the upcoming season as we are.
Championship Pedigree (5)
These are the Nelly Korda’s of college golf. Their names are plastered all over college golf media and atop the leaderboards of the biggest events, like the NCAA Championship and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA).
Anna Davis (Auburn) is a senior from Spring Valley, Calif. She holds Auburn’s record for the most victories with 6 collegiate wins; three of those were last season and included the 2026 NCAA Simpsonville Regional (her second NCAA Regional title). She has also received a ton of recognition from winning the coveted ANWA in 2022. Her 71.09 scoring average from last season is the second best in program history. Internationally, Davis has been part of the Curtis Cup team twice, the Arnold Palmer Cup and the Junior Solheim Cup.
Maria Jose Marin (Arkansas) is a senior from Cali, Colombia. Currently ranked No. 5 on WAGR, Marin broke onto the scene with an individual win at the 2025 NCAA Championship and the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. With five collegiate wins, she has been recognized with WGCA First Team All-American honors all three years and has been an ANNIKA Award finalist the last two years.
Paula Martín Sampedro (Stanford) is a senior from Madrid, Spain. Individually, she has won the Women’s Amateur Championship, the European Ladies’ Amateur Championship and the ACC Championship, plus an additional three collegiate titles. She has been part of Stanford’s National Championship-winning team twice and her 70.19 career stroke average is a program record. Martín Sampedro is ranked No. 1 in WAGR.
Farah O’Keefe (Texas) is a senior from Austin, Tex. Last year’s individual NCAA Champion, O’Keefe had a whirlwind summer that included the Curtis Cup (where she became the fourth player to go 5-0 in match play), her third U.S. Women’s Open and the Palmer Cup. She is also last year’s ANNIKA Award winner and WGCA Player of the Year. O’Keefe had four of her collegiate five wins last season alone, set a program scoring average record for a single season at 69.84 and finished top-10 in all of her events last season. Recently, O’Keefe earned low amateur honors at the Chevron Championship, an LPGA Tour major. She is currently ranked No. 3 in WAGR.
Andrea Revuelta (Stanford) is a junior from Madrid, Spain. A National Champion with four individual wins – including the 2025 ACC Championship and 2026 NCAA Stanford Regional – Revuelta has been a finalist twice for the ANNIKA Award. She is a two-time WGCA First Team All-American and finished runner-up in the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Proven Winners (7)
These proven winners are just that – winners who have hoisted trophies more than once or who hold an exceptionally high win rate.
Pinky Chaisilprungruang (Charlotte) is a junior from Phitsanulok, Thailand. She has 6 college victories to her name, four of which came during her first 11 starts as a sophomore. She won the American Conference Championship by 9 strokes and has been named the American Conference Player of the Year twice.
Sophia Fullbrook (Florida State) is a junior from St. Albans, England. She has one outright win and two T1’s, one of which was at the 2026 NCAA Tallahassee Regional. She went on to place T20 at the NCAA Championship. Fullbrook also had a successful run at the Curtis Cup, where she earned four points for Team GB&I. She earned WGCA Second-Team All-America honors and is currently ranked No. 24 in WAGR.
Veronika Kedronova (Kent State) is a senior from Roznov pod Radhostem, Czech Republic. She has earned four collegiate victories, one of which was the MAC Championship. She won MAC Player of the Year two years in a row. Winning the Canadian Collegiate led to Kedronova’s participation in the LPGA Tour’s CPKC Women’s Open. She was also a member of the Arnold Palmer Cup’s International Team this summer.
Jasmine Koo (Southern California) is a junior from Cerritos, Calif. and was part of the 2026 NCAA Championship runner-up team. She has four collegiate wins and added the Women’s Western Amateur to her repertoire in 2023. Koo has also been part of the Arnold Palmer Cup and Curtis Cup teams.
Marie Eline Madsen (NC State) is a junior from Viborg, Denmark. She has racked up five wins, three of which were last season. Five wins have made her a program recordholder, as has her 70.88 stroke average from last season. Eline Madsen also competed on the Arnold Palmer Cup this year.
Meja Örtengren (Stanford) is a junior from Linköping, Sweden. With two wins and a program record for the most strokes under par in a single round (-10), she has been a valuable addition to this National Championship-winning team and was named the ACC and WGCA Freshman of the Year. Another notch for her resume, Örtengren won a Ladies European Tour event – the Hills Open – in 2025.
Marta Silchenko (Oklahoma State) is a senior from Riga, Latvia. The Big 12 Co-scholar of the Year who was also named to the WGCA Second Team All-America, she has two collegiate wins. The latter helped propel the Cowgirls to the NCAA Championship, where she finished T8 individually. Her stroke average of 70.96 is the third best in program history.
The Constants (7)
These are the players who are consistently showing up season after season – in rankings, in standout events and with recognitions.
Vanessa Borovilos (Texas A&M) is a junior from Etobicoke, Ont. She earned two collegiate wins last year, one of which was the NCAA Waco Regional. She was also a finalist for last year’s ANNIKA Award, a WGCA First-Team All-American and No. 15 in the WAGR by the end of last season. You may also recognize her for her T11 finish at ANWA this spring. Her 71.06 scoring average last season is the program’s best for a sophomore.
Paula Francisco (Florida) is a senior from Madrid, Spain. She has two wins under her belt, including the SEC Championship this past spring. She set the 54-hole program record at her home tournament, the Gators Invitational. She also participated in the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open.
Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio (Texas A&M) is a senior from Madrid, Spain. This is her fourth time on the ANNIKA Award Preseason Watch List. Her 71.34 stroke average last season ranks as third best in the program for juniors (her freshman record scoring average still stands). She has three collegiate wins, has made four appearances at ANWA and was recently on the Arnold Palmer Cup team.
Lauren Kim (Texas) is a senior from Surrey, BC, Canada. She has two collegiate wins plus the 2023 Canadian Amateur Championship on her resume. Kim has competed in the U.S. Women’s Open twice and ANWA three times and ultimately earned WGCA All-America Second Team honors the last two years.
Macy Pate (Wake Forest) is a senior from Winston-Salem, N.C. She has consistently shown up in big-stage events since the beginning of her collegiate career, earning her the ACC Freshman of the Year award and invitations to ANWA and the Arnold Palmer Cup twice. She had her first win last season, made her first cut at ANWA and had her best finish (T28) at the NCAA Championship.
Patience Rhodes (Arizona State) is a fifth-year from Bath, England. She was named the 2026 Big 12 Player of the Year. She’s most well-known for her international play, becoming the only 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup Team International player to go undefeated during in match play (3-0-1) and earn four of the seven points for Team GB&I in the 2026 Curtis Cup after going 4-0-0.
Avery Weed (Mississippi State) is a senior from Ocean Springs, Miss. She has three collegiate wins from the last two years and won the Mississippi Women’s Amateur in 2023. She also participated in the 2026 Curtis Cup, Arnold Palmer Cup and ANWA and received WGCA First-Team All-America honors. Her 70.13 scoring average her junior year is the second-best in program history.
Rising Stars (5)
The rising stars in college golf are those who are still making a splash as underclassmen and have bright futures in the game.
Eunseo Choi (Pepperdine) is a junior from Auckland, New Zealand. She has three wins, two of which she secured last season. Her 8-shot victory at the WCC Championship last season set a conference-wide scoring record (9-under 207). She earned WCC Player of the Year and WGCA Second-Team honors.
Eila Galitsky (South Carolina) is a junior from Chiang Mai, Thailand. She had a standout freshman year that keeps her on the radar. She kept the momentum going her sophomore year, where she tied for first in her first start at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate. She ended the season as the team leader in scoring average (71.76), the second-best average for a sophomore in program history. She has also competed in ANWA four times.
Chloe Kovelesky (Wake Forest) is a junior from Boca Raton, Fla. As a sophomore, she secured her second collegiate win as a co-medalist at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate and had four top-5 finishes. Kovelesky has also qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open, the 2026 ANWA and the Arnold Palmer Cup.
Rianne Malixi (Duke) is a sophomore from Manila, Philippines. Her outstanding freshman year garnered her attention from the start. She was named the WGCA National Freshman of the Year and earned WGCA First Team All-America honors after her one victory, five top-5s and 70.60 scoring average. She now owns the record for the lowest freshman stroke average and is tied with two-time ANNIKA Award winner and Duke alumna Leona Maguire for most rounds in the 60s as a freshman (10). She wrapped her phenomenal season with an individual third-place finish at the 2026 NCAA Championship.
Bailey Shoemaker (Southern California) is a senior from Dade City, Fla. Her best collegiate finish thus far is runner-up at the 2024 NCAA East Lansing Regional. She has also finished runner-up to Lottie Woad at the 2024 ANWA, one of her five appearances. Shoemaker has reached match play in both the Women’s Amateur Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The Freshman (1)
Exceptional junior golfers who are beginning their collegiate careers can be included in the Preseason Watchlist. This lone incoming freshman is worth the note.
Prim Prachnakorn (Oregon) is a freshman from Bangkok, Thailand, and the only freshman to make the Preseason Watch List. Prachnakorn ended the summer ranked No. 45 in WAGR and has secured 10 wins and 25 top-10 finishes since 2024. Some of those wins include the 2025 SEA Games, the 2025 Malaysia International Junior Open, the 2025 Singapore Open Amateur Championship, the 2025 Mandiri Ciputra Golfpreneur Junior World Championship and the 2025 SINGHA Thailand Amateur Match Play Championship.
Disclaimer: These are arbitrary categories created by Fairway to Green that are not part of the official ANNIKA Award Preseason Watch List. These categories are in no way ranking any of the players. Players have been sorted as objectively as possible based on their resumes and are listed alphabetically within the categories in which they best align.
