COLUMBUS, Ga. — The 2024 ANNIKA Award finalists were announced on Friday morning, and Stanford has a chance to win the award for the fourth consecutive year. Paula Martin Sampedro was selected based on her performance throughout the 2023-24 season.
The finalists for the ANNIKA Award comprise ten of the best golfers in the NCAA. After being the only team in the country with multiple spring finalists, ten different schools are represented with finalists. Three of those golfers come from the Pac-12 and three are from the ACC.
Hailing from Madrid, Spain and ranking as a top-20 amateur, Martin Sampedro has been the most consistent golfer for the Cardinal this season. Entering the NCAA Championship, she leads Stanford with a 70.50 scoring average in 24 rounds and has finished at par or better in 20 of those 24 rounds. Nine times she has shot in the 60s, including a 5-under 67 in both the Carmel Cup and Juli Inkster Invitational, and has eight top-10 finishes in nine tournaments. Her worst finish this year came at the Pac-12 Championship when she still finished under par for the event.
Postseason awards are still rolling in, but Martin Sampedro earned All-Pac-12 honors following the Pac-12 Championship and was selected to represent the international team at this summer's Arnold Palmer Cup.
In recent years, the ANNIKA Award has been heavily decorated in Cardinal and White. Rose Zhang won the award the past two seasons, while Rachel Heck was named the recipient in 2021.
The 2024 ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel will be announced Tuesday, May 21st on Golf Channel. The 2024 ANNIKA Award winner will also be awarded an exemption into the 2024 Amundi Evian Championship.
Created in 2014, the ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel is annually given to the top female Division 1 collegiate golfer; the winner voted on by players, coaches, and members of the college golf media. Named for Annika Sorenstam, the award was created in partnership with the Haskins Foundation to acknowledge the top female golfer and to match the Haskins Award presented by Stifel, which acknowledges the top male Division I collegiate golfer.
Stifel, one of the nation's leading wealth management and investment banking firms, serves as the presenting sponsor of both the ANNIKA and Haskins Awards, recognizing annually the most outstanding NCAA Division I female and male college golfers. Stifel also serves as a presenting sponsor for the NCAA Division I Women's and Men's Golf Championships on GOLF Channel.