If you want to understand what it means to grow the game, look no further than Annika Sörenstam. Her astounding career — which included 10 majors and 72 LPGA Tour victories — influenced generations of emerging players.
But Annika has done a lot more for golf than what she accomplished on the course. One year before her initial “retirement” from professional golf in 2008, she started the Annika Foundation in an effort to shrink the gap between girls and boys who were interested in playing golf.
There was a pressing need for this type of presence in the game. Until recently, the number of girls playing golf was typically low; during the year 2000, when Annika was near the height of her powers, only 15 percent of junior golfers were girls. That means many girls missed the opportunity to witness and be inspired by Annika’s reign. The foundation’s mission is even more important when you consider the impact sports can have on young women. Statistics show that about 80 percent of female executives at Fortune 500 comp...
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