Amari Avery, Xin (Cindy) Kou On Spring ANNIKA Award Watch List

Freshmen Amari Avery and Xin (Cindy) Kou are among 15 women's golfers on the Spring ANNIKA Award Watch List, as announced by Golfweek and Golf Channel on Monday (March 28).

Kou and Avery are two of eight golfers from the Pac-12 on the list.

Both young Trojans have gotten off to fast starts to their USC careers, Kou beginning in the fall, Avery a spring semester early enrollee.

Kou opened with four straight top 15 finishes, just the third Trojan freshman in over 20 years to do so. She has four top five finishes, five top 10s and six top 15 results this season. She has seven rounds under 70 this year, good for a tie for fifth on USC's all-time season chart.

Avery is off to an amazing start to her Trojan career with two wins, a tie second, a tie for sixth and a tie for eighth among five stroke-play starts. She is averaging 70.87 through 15 rounds, which is under the USC season average. She is already second on the team with six rounds in the 60s to go with eight rounds under par and nine of par or better.

Avery won her first college hardware at 15-under 201 (65-71-65) at the Icon Invitational, clinching her one-stroke win with a short par on 18 after seven birdies on the day. Her 15-under tied the USC record for most under par in a 54-hole event and she is the first Trojan to post a pair of 65s in one tournament.

She won with a The Gold Rush at 5-under 211 (69-74-68) for her second straight crown. Avery was named Pac-12 Golfer of the Month for February, which didn't include her win at The Gold Rush.

Her five top 8s to start her season are the best effort by a Trojan freshman in over two decades.

The complete Spring ANNIKA Watch List
Amari Avery, Southern California
Carolina Chacarra, Wake Forest
Hannah Darling, South Carolina
Alexandra Forsterling, Arizona State
Rachel Heck, Stanford
Xin (Cindy) Kou, Southern California
Aline Krauter, Stanford
Rachel Kuehn, Wake Forest
Ingrid Lindblad, LSU
Emily Mahar, Virginia Tech
Natasha Andrea Oon, San Jose State
Calynne Rosholt, Arizona State
Emma Spitz, UCLA
Beatrice Wallin, FSU
Rose Zhang, Stanford