Annika Award Watch List: Stanford trio lead the way

Rose Zhang got her college career off to a fast start last fall, winning her first three events at Stanford. While she hasn’t hoisted a trophy in four tries this spring, she has two runners-up, a T-4 and a T-10. This stellar play has her headlining an elite group that find themselves on the Annika Award’s spring watch list.

Zhang is joined by Stanford teammates Rachel Heck and Aline Krauter, who are both having phenomenal seasons.

Heck, the 2021 Annika Award winner, has two wins in six starts this season for the Cardinal, bringing her collegiate trophy count to eight.

Krauter has yet to win a tournament this season, but has finished no worse than T-16 in seven starts, including five top 10s.

One name you might recognize that wasn’t on the fall watch list is Wake Forest’s Carolina Chacarra.

Chacarra, a true freshman, won her first two starts of the spring season. The first of those two wins came via a final-round 62 at the UCF Challenge in February.

Rachel Kuehn, a junior at Wake Forest, is also on the list. Kuehn has wins in both the fall and spring, with her most recent victory earning her an exemption into next month’s Palos Verdes Championship on the LPGA Tour.

The Annika Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding women’s college golfer, as voted on by players, coaches and media. Past winners of the Annika Award include Leona Maguire, Alison Lee and Maria Fassi. 

Here are the 15 players on the final Annika Award watch list of the spring:

(Note: * = Playing in this week’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur)

(Note: ** = Playing in this week’s LPGA Chevron Championship)

Amari Avery – Southern Cal*                                                                                                                      Carolina Chacarra – Wake Forest*                                                                                                             Hannah Darling – South Carolina*                                                                                                      Alexandra Forsterling – Arizona State*                                                                                                      Rachel Heck – Stanford*                                                                                                                                    Cindy Kou – Southern Cal                                                                                                                                   Aline Krauter – Stanford*                                                                                                                               Rachel Kuehn – Wake Forest*                                                                                                                        Ingrid Lindblad – LSU*                                                                                                                                        Emily Mahar – Virginia Tech*                                                                                                                      Natasha Andrea Oon – San Jose State**                                                                                                Calynne Rosholt – Arizona State                                                                                                                   Emma Spitz – UCLA*                                                                                                                                      Beatrice Wallin – Florida State*                                                                                                                        Rose Zhang – Stanford*