Title sponsor ANA, Japan’s global leading airline, extends new invites to top female junior golfers to experience opportunity of a lifetime

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 23, 2016 – The LPGA’s most iconic major championship, ‘The ANA Inspiration’, continued its tradition of inspiring ladies golf by naming the full field of thirty-six elite junior golfers who will be given the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to earn a spot in golf’s first major of 2016, taking place from March 31 - April 3.

For the first time in the history of the tournament special invites have been extended to eight golfing hopefuls from across North America. The young women have been selected to join a wider field of twenty-eight junior players from Southern California at the newly named ANA Junior Inspiration on Monday, March 28 at Mission Hills Country Club. The lucky winner of the ANA Junior Inspiration will win the right to tee off in the first round of the 2016 ANA Inspiration alongside the greatest players in the world.

For the last four years the historic major championship offered the last place in the tournament starting field to the winner of an 18-hole competition featuring top junior golfers from Southern California. However as part of its efforts to grow the future of women’s golf throughout the country and take the game to new heights, title sponsor ANA, working alongside the Southern California Golf Association, have opened up the junior field to now include elite players from across North America.

Each of the newly invited junior players selected represent an ANA’s gateway cities in the United States, the hub city from which the global leading airline flies from North America to Japan and onwards across Asia. The players to benefit from the unprecedented initiative were named and congratulated by the defending champion of the ANA Inspiration Brittany Lincicome at the tournament’s official launch held recently in Beverley Hills, California.

The selected participants, each representing an ANA North American gateway city, include:

Mariel Galdiano, Punahou School, Honolulu, Hawaii
Sabrina Iqbal, Pioneer High School, San Jose, Calif.
Sophie Liu, Viera High School, Vancouver, BC
Kenedee Peters, Ephrata High School, Seattle (Ephrata, Wash.)
Madasyn Pettersen, Auburn High School, Chicago (Rockford, Ill.)
Aneka Seumanutafa, Saint John Catholic Prep High School, Washington D.C. (Frederick, Md.)
Elizabeth Wang, San Marino High School, Los Angeles, Calif.
Xinying Wang, Amador Valley High School, San Francisco, Calif.

To secure the final place in the full ANA Inspiration field the newly invited juniors across North America will face the best players Southern California has to offer over the 18-hole shootout. Notable local stars in the field of juniors include: Andrea Lee, Manhattan Beach (No. 19 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings), Muni He, Rancho Santa Fe (No. 29 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings) and Alyaa Abdulghany, Newport Beach (2015 California High School Girls’ Champion).

After sending each invited player a personal video message of congratulations, filmed alongside ANA’s ‘dream ticket’ to Rancho Mirage, Brittany Lincicome said: “This is absolutely huge for junior golf and I have no doubt that this inspired move by ANA will encourage even more young girls to get into the game. There is quite simply nothing like this, no other major in men’s or women’s golf that offers such an opportunity. I believe it’s very fitting that such an initiative is part of this particular tournament. As a tournament it has always had so much history and means so much to the players and the LPGA. Now it offers a glimpse of the future thanks to ANA.”

“I’m really looking forward to going back to Mission Hills Country Club to defend my title and meet a new generation of awesome young players from across the country. Who knows maybe one of these players will follow my footsteps and leap into Poppie’s Pond one day!”

The special selections for the ANA Junior Inspiration were made by the ANA Inspiration tournament committee and junior golf associations connected with each North American ANA gateway city. These young women now have the opportunity to succeed 2015 ANA Champions Junior Challenge champion, 16-year-old Haley Moore of Escondido, Calif. Moore not only achieved the dream of many of these skilled juniors to play in an LPGA major championship, but also impressively made the cut in the ANA Inspiration and finished T67.

“Our goal for expanding the ANA Junior Inspiration to our North American gateway cities is to create inspired memories for each of these elite junior golfers as they grow in their careers,” said Hideki Kunugi, Senior Vice President of the Americas, ANA. “In a year when athletes from all over the world will come together to celebrate the game of golf, we see the ANA Junior Inspiration as a great way to reach new audiences in our role as Official Airline of the LPGA and title sponsor of the ANA Inspiration and ANA Junior Inspiration.”

The announcement of the newly expanded and named ANA Junior Inspiration is just one in a series of many game-changing initiatives that ANA is introducing to the ANA Inspiration to help further the future of women’s golf. The official 2016 tournament launch also announced the first-ever ANA Inspiring Women in Sports Conference set to take place on Tuesday, March 29, overlooking the 18^th Green and Poppies Pond of the famed Dinah Shore Tournament course.

Female sporting icons Missy Franklin, Annika Sorenstam, Lindsey Vonn, Abby Wambach and Kristi Yamaguchi will headline the inaugural conference, which will include a series of panels and discussions about the state of women’s sports, female athletes as role models, using sports as a platform to inspire women of all ages, and what it takes to be a champion. Swimmer Jessica Long will also share her inspiring story of overcoming a double leg amputation at 18 months old to become the one of the most decorated Paralympians in history.

Gabe Codding, ANA Inspiration Tournament Director said: “To picture the future stars of ladies golf sharing in the unique atmosphere of the ANA Inspiration while getting a taste of what major championship golf feels like and living their dream alongside some of the best players in the country is going to be very special. It could literally be life changing. These juniors will not only rub shoulders with the stars of the LPGA and past Champions but might also meet some of the greatest female athletes this country has ever produced who will attend the ANA Inspiring Women in Sport Conference.

“I’d like to thank the Southern California Golf Association for instigating the opportunity for junior players and offering their support since 2012. In ANA we have a committed partner really believes in supporting the future of golf. The ANA Junior Inspiration is the brilliant result of bringing these two like-minded partners together and we can’t wait for the tournament to begin.”

ANA, Japan’s leading airline, announced its partnership with the LPGA in 2014 to become both the title sponsor of the first major of the season and the Official Airline of the LPGA. “Inspired Journeys” serves as the spirit of the tournament and ANA looks forward to again reaching a global audience with the ANA Inspiration while maintaining the long-standing traditions of the championship.

Details of the full field for the ANA Junior Inspiration can be found here: http://www.scga.org/news/view/field-announced-for-ana-junior-inspiration

For more information about the ANA Inspiration, visit www.anainspiration.com.

Stay in touch on social media, go to www.facebook.com/ANAinspiration, www.twitter.com/ANAinspiration or www.instagram.com/anainspiration.

Notable participants of the ANA Junior Inspiration –

Andrea Lee, Manhattan Beach

No. 19 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Earned a sponsor’s invitation to the 2015 ANA Inspiration.
Named to 2016 Curtis Cup Team
Won the 2015 Southern California Women’s Amateur Championship.
2014 Rolex Junior Player of the Year

Mariel Galdiano, Honolulu, HI

No. 6 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings
Named to 2016 Curtis Cup Team
Made cut at 2015 U.S. Women’s Open
Won the 2015 Canadian Women’s Amateur

Muni He, Rancho Santa Fe

No. 29 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings
AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic Winner
Quarterfinals of U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball

Alyaa Abdulghany, Newport Beach

2015 California High School Girls’ Champion
Semifinals of U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball
Won 2015 San Diego Junior Amateur
2015 AJGA Rolex All-American

ANA Inspiration Names Young Golfers to Compete for Starting Place in LPGA's First Major of 2016

Related Articles