COLUMBUS, Ga. – After a fall that featured two individual victories, Purdue women's golfer Natasha Kiel was named to the ANNIKA Award Watch List. The Boilermaker senior was one of 25 golfers to land on the final fall watch list for the award given to the best female in Division I college golf.
The ANNIKA Award is named after legendary golfer Annika Sorenstam. The award was created in 2014 in partnership with the Haskins Commission to acknowledge the top female golfer at the end of the season, to match the Haskins Award presented by Stifel which acknowledges the top male Division I collegiate golfer.
Kiel started her senior season with a bang, winning a pair of tournaments and rising to 19th in the national rankings. Through five fall tournaments, she recorded a 71.79 stroke average which would be a single-season school record if maintained throughout the spring. Four of Kiel's 14 rounds were in the 60s, only two away from another school record. The senior led the Boilermakers in four of the five fall tournaments.
Kiel began the season by claiming medalist honors and leading Purdue to a team victory at the Boilermaker Classic (Sept. 2-3). She captured her first career individual victory, thanks in large part to a pair of rounds in the 60s. Kiel was 5-under for the season-opening tournament, recording her best 54-hole total as a Boilermaker (67-76-68—211). The New Hope, Pennsylvania, native also led the field in birdies (13) and par-3 scoring (-4) throughout the event. During the final round, she made six birdies and played the par 3s 4-under, highlighted by a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th.
Competing in a stacked field that featured 10 teams that advanced to the national stage of the 2024 NCAA Championships, Kiel proved that she could beat some of the best golfers in the country by securing runner-up honors at the Windy City Collegiate Classic (Sept. 30-Oct. 10). Her 213 (68-72-73) matched her second lowest three-round total as a Boilermaker. She recorded Purdue's lowest score during all three rounds at Westmoreland Country Club, making 14 birdies over 54 holes.
Kiel picked up her second victory of the season, earning co-medalist honors at the White Sands Bahamas Invitational (Oct. 19-20). The senior finished 2-under (68-73—141) alongside Georgia's Chantal El Chaib, leading Purdue to a runner-up finish to close out the fall season. Kiel's two-round score of 141 was the second-lowest 36-hole total in program history. She led the field in par-4 scoring (-3), while ranking third in par-5 scoring (-1). Kiel's six birdies over her two rounds were the fourth most on the Ocean Club Golf Course. After a 68 in the opening round, Kiel added a 73 (+1) to remain under par and atop the leaderboard.
Kiel and the Boilermakers have put a lid on the 2024 calendar year and wait until the spring of 2025 to return to competition. Starting the spring, Purdue travels west to Gold Canyon, Arizona for the Match in the Desert at Superstition Mountain Country Club (Jan. 27).
ANNIKA Award Watch List
Emma Bunch, New Mexico State
Carolina Chacarra, Wake Forest
Hannah Darling, South Carolina
Anna Davis, Auburn
Megha Ganne, Stanford
Natasha Kiel, Purdue
Grace Kilcrease, Oklahoma State
Jasmine Koo, Southern California
Vivian Lu, Washington
Maria Jose Marin, Arkansas
Bella McCauley, Minnesota
Farah O'Keefe, Texas
Meja Ortengren, Stanford
Catherine Park, Southern California
Julia Lopez Ramirez, Mississippi State
Patience Rhodes, Arizona State
Kiara Romero, Oregon
Louise Rydqvist, South Carolina
Megan Streicher, North Carolina
Paula Martin Sampedro, Stanford
Rocio Tejedo, LSU
Mirabel Ting, Florida State
Kendall Todd, Arkansas
Avery Weed, Mississippi State
Lottie Woad, Florida State
The ANNIKA Award is named after legendary golfer Annika Sorenstam. The award was created in 2014 in partnership with the Haskins Commission to acknowledge the top female golfer at the end of the season, to match the Haskins Award presented by Stifel which acknowledges the top male Division I collegiate golfer.
Kiel started her senior season with a bang, winning a pair of tournaments and rising to 19th in the national rankings. Through five fall tournaments, she recorded a 71.79 stroke average which would be a single-season school record if maintained throughout the spring. Four of Kiel's 14 rounds were in the 60s, only two away from another school record. The senior led the Boilermakers in four of the five fall tournaments.
Kiel began the season by claiming medalist honors and leading Purdue to a team victory at the Boilermaker Classic (Sept. 2-3). She captured her first career individual victory, thanks in large part to a pair of rounds in the 60s. Kiel was 5-under for the season-opening tournament, recording her best 54-hole total as a Boilermaker (67-76-68—211). The New Hope, Pennsylvania, native also led the field in birdies (13) and par-3 scoring (-4) throughout the event. During the final round, she made six birdies and played the par 3s 4-under, highlighted by a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th.
Competing in a stacked field that featured 10 teams that advanced to the national stage of the 2024 NCAA Championships, Kiel proved that she could beat some of the best golfers in the country by securing runner-up honors at the Windy City Collegiate Classic (Sept. 30-Oct. 10). Her 213 (68-72-73) matched her second lowest three-round total as a Boilermaker. She recorded Purdue's lowest score during all three rounds at Westmoreland Country Club, making 14 birdies over 54 holes.
Kiel picked up her second victory of the season, earning co-medalist honors at the White Sands Bahamas Invitational (Oct. 19-20). The senior finished 2-under (68-73—141) alongside Georgia's Chantal El Chaib, leading Purdue to a runner-up finish to close out the fall season. Kiel's two-round score of 141 was the second-lowest 36-hole total in program history. She led the field in par-4 scoring (-3), while ranking third in par-5 scoring (-1). Kiel's six birdies over her two rounds were the fourth most on the Ocean Club Golf Course. After a 68 in the opening round, Kiel added a 73 (+1) to remain under par and atop the leaderboard.
Kiel and the Boilermakers have put a lid on the 2024 calendar year and wait until the spring of 2025 to return to competition. Starting the spring, Purdue travels west to Gold Canyon, Arizona for the Match in the Desert at Superstition Mountain Country Club (Jan. 27).
ANNIKA Award Watch List
Emma Bunch, New Mexico State
Carolina Chacarra, Wake Forest
Hannah Darling, South Carolina
Anna Davis, Auburn
Megha Ganne, Stanford
Natasha Kiel, Purdue
Grace Kilcrease, Oklahoma State
Jasmine Koo, Southern California
Vivian Lu, Washington
Maria Jose Marin, Arkansas
Bella McCauley, Minnesota
Farah O'Keefe, Texas
Meja Ortengren, Stanford
Catherine Park, Southern California
Julia Lopez Ramirez, Mississippi State
Patience Rhodes, Arizona State
Kiara Romero, Oregon
Louise Rydqvist, South Carolina
Megan Streicher, North Carolina
Paula Martin Sampedro, Stanford
Rocio Tejedo, LSU
Mirabel Ting, Florida State
Kendall Todd, Arkansas
Avery Weed, Mississippi State
Lottie Woad, Florida State