Olarra Named To Final ANNIKA Award Watch List Of The Season

May 10, 2018

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senior women’s golfer Ainhoa Olarra has been named to the final ANNIKA Award Watch List of the season, Golfweek announced Thursday. Olarra is one of 15 players in contention for the national honor that recognizes the top female golfer in NCAA Division I.

Voting for the ANNIKA Award will take place from now until the conclusion of the 2018 NCAA Championship on May 23. All Division I women’s golfers and coaches, members of the national golf media and past ANNIKA Award recipients are eligible to vote.

The winner of the 2018 ANNIKA Award will be announced live on Golf Channel on Wed., June 6, at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Olarra established herself as one of the best golfers in the country in her final season at Carolina. The San Sebastian, Spain, native currently ranks 10th in NCAA Division I with a 71.00 stroke average, the lowest single-season mark in school history. Olarra collected five top-five showings this season and captured the individual title at the 2018 Florida State Match-Up and 2018 SEC Championship.

The Gamecock standout, one of three players in school history to notch two or more wins in a single season, shot par or better in 18 of her 26 rounds as a senior. She placed in the top 20 in six of her nine tournaments and finished under par six times.

Olarra closed her time at Carolina this week with the program’s second-lowest career scoring average (73.44), and her six career top-five showings rank ninth all-time among Gamecocks.

ANNIKA Award Watch List
– Maria Fassi, Arkansas
– Lilia Vu, UCLA
– Patty Tavatanakit, UCLA
– Lauren Stephenson, Alabama
– Leona Maguire, Duke
– Andrea Lee, Stanford
– Jennifer Kupcho, Wake Forest
– Jillian Hollis, Georgia
– Kristen Gillman, Alabama
– Ainhoa Olarra, South Carolina
– Olivia Mehaffey, Arizona State
– Pimnipa Panthong, Kent State
– Sophia Schubert, Texas
– Dylan Kim, Arkansas
– Kaitlyn Papp, Texas