2012-13 Honda Sports Award for Golf –Annie Park

LOS ANGELES, California (June 3, 2013) --- The Pac-12 Player of the Year, Annie Park (Levittown, N.Y.), a freshman from the University of Southern California, who captured her first individual NCAA Women’s Golf Championship and led the Trojans to their third national team title after winning the Pac-12 and NCAA West Regional, has received the Honda Sports Award for golf and becomes a finalist for the 2013 Honda Cup.  The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) will present the Honda Cup live on ESPNU, June 24 at the USC Galen Center Founders Room in Los Angeles.

“I could not have imagined a better first semester to my college career. Becoming a Trojan in January and being part of this team has been a fantastic experience and I’m just happy I was able to contribute to our NCAA and Pac-12 titles. Winning the Honda Sports Award is a tremendous honor and I am proud to be included with the rest of the amazing winners from this year,” said Park from New Jersey where she qualified yesterday for the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open, and will make her second appearance among the world’s best women golfers at Sebonack Golf Club in late June. 

Park shot a one-under-par 71 in the final round to put her 10 strokes under for the national title.  Her performance helped the Trojans finish the tournament with a record-setting 19-under par 1,133, finishing 21 strokes better than second-place Duke and 15 strokes better than the previous record set by UCLA in 2004.  Only a year ago, Park was the first girl to win the Nassau boys’ high school golf championship.   After graduating high school early, she enrolled at USC for the Spring term and joined the team as the AJGA’s No. 18 ranked junior golfer in the country.  She played as an amateur in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open, represented the East team in the 2012 Wyndham Cup, and was runner-up at the 2012 Scott Robertson Memorial.  

The CWSA presents the Honda Sports Award annually to top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports.  With this honor, Park becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the 2013 Honda Cup.   She was chosen for the Honda Sports Award by a vote among more than 1,000 institutions based on NCAA finish and overall ranking.   Finalists included Lindy Duncan (Duke), Stephanie Meadow (Univ. of Alabama), and Paula Reto (Purdue University).