Spitz, Nobilio Named to Preseason ANNIKA Award Watch List

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COLUMBUS, Ga. - Sophomore Emma Spitz and freshman Alessia Nobilio have both been named to the Preseason ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel Watch List, as announced on Golf Channel on Thursday.

The ANNIKA Award recognizes the most outstanding Division I collegiate golfer as voted on by their fellow players, coaches and the golf media. The list, comprised of 30 players, was divided between players whose teams are playing this fall and those that will not play until spring. 

Two of the first three winners of the ANNIKA Award were Bruins, as Alison Lee earned the inaugural honor in 2014, while Bronte Law won in 2016.

Spitz, who was a finalist for the award last season, led the Bruins in scoring average in 2019-2020 at 71.4, recording her first collegiate victory at the Bruin Wave Invitational, overcoming a six-shot deficit to share medalist honors. Spitz shot a final-round, 3-under 69, finishing at 5-under 211 following a pair of 1-under 71s in the first two rounds. The freshman was a combined 8-under for the season, including 6-under in opening rounds and 11-under in second rounds. Spitz placed in the Top 10 in six of her eight tournaments, posting 11 under-par rounds and six rounds in the 60s. Spitz, ranked 24th in the most recent World Amateur Golf Ranking (Sept. 23), tied for fourth at the AmundiCzech Ladies Challenge, a professional event played in Prague, Czech Republic last week.

Nobilio, a native of Milan, Italy, is the seventh-ranked amateur in the world in the most recent World Amateur Golf Ranking. She recently reached the quarterfinals of match play at The Women's Amateur Championship in August. This calendar year, she has finished first at the Portuguese Internacional Ladies Amateur Championship, the Gran Premio di Monticello, the Italian Ladies Stroke Play Championship (Isa Goldschmid Trophy) and the Gran Premio Vecchio Monastero. In 2018, Nobilio played in the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur, while also competing in the U.S. Women's Amateur.