The Mission Hills Group and ANNIKA Foundation Agree to Five-year Contract Extension to Continue Partnership in Hosting ANNIKA Invitational in China
(ORLANDO, Fla.) – The ANNIKA Foundation – golf Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam’s charitable organization – and the Mission Hills Group are proud to announce a five-year extension to host the ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills through 2023.
The first all-girls international event to come to China, the ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills was first hosted in 2011 and has established itself as the preeminent female junior event in Asia.
Since its inception, the event has hosted over 1,000 players, many of whom have gone on to play Division I collegiate golf in the United States, and succeeded at the professional level.
“The ANNIKA Invitational is one of the highlights of our annual junior golf program at Mission Hills, which features more than 50 tournaments for tens of thousands of young Chinese golfers each year,” says Tenniel Chu, Group Vice-Chairman of Mission Hills. “We look forward to continuing our mission together with Annika to grow girls’ golf in China and across the region for many more years to come.”
“I’m so proud of what this event has become over the years and I’m always so inspired by the talent that we see each year,” adds Annika, who designed the host Annika Course and annually attends the tournament. “The ANNIKA Foundation is proud of its partnership with Mission Hills and looks forward to a bright future with this event.”
The Mission Hills Junior Golf Program provides access to golf for tens of thousands of juniors each year, from beginners through to elite amateurs, through 50+ junior tournaments plus coaching, camps & clinics, schools’ initiative, free access for juniors to three courses and free entry into China’s first golf museum.
Since 2005, Mission Hills has invested more than $6 million into its junior programming; and more than 100,000 competitive rounds have been played by juniors at Mission Hills. It was voted Best Youth Development Program in Asia in 2018 and EFG Bank was recently unveiled as an Official Partner.
Each year, the ANNIKA Foundation conducts five other major golf events for juniors: the ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex, ANNIKA Invitational Europe, ANNIKA Cup, ANNIKA Invitational Latin America and ANNIKA Invitational Australasia. They are complemented by the ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M and the ANNIKA Award presented by 3M, which is annually bestowed to the most outstanding female Division I golfer.
Since the inaugural Foundation tournament – the 2009 ANNIKA Invitational USA – 45 ANNIKA event alumnae have earned LPGA cards, with more than 600 playing golf at the collegiate level.
About Mission Hills
The Mission Hills Group – owner and operator of world-class resorts in the heart of the Pearl River Delta and on the tropical island of Hainan – is a pioneer in China’s hospitality, sports and leisure industry.
The fully-integrated Mission Hills resorts sprawl over 40 square kilometres, including 22 championship golf courses, five-star hotels, award-winning spas and volcanic mineral springs, international convention centers, state-of-the-art golf academies, a 20-pitch soccer training base, Asia’s largest basketball school and Asia’s biggest tennis facility.
Other significant projects at Mission Hills include shopping and entertainment at Mission Hills Centreville, Bromsgrove School Mission Hills in collaboration with the 550-year-old British boarding school, co-operations with world-renowned hotel brands Hard Rock, Renaissance and Ritz-Carlton, Mission Hills Movie Town, China’s first Wet’n’Wild water park and ground-breaking partnerships with FC Barcelona, NBA and PGA of America.
For more information visit www.missionhillschina.com or follow Mission Hills China on social media.