PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Head Women's Golf Coach Kari Williams announced today that Anna-Maria Diederichs and Ffion Vineall have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Rutgers University. Natives of Düsseldorf, Germany, and Monmouthshire, Wales, respectively, the duo will compete as true freshmen "On the Banks" in 2019-20.
"We are excited to have Anna-Maria and Ffion join our family as Scarlet Knights," said Williams. "They both have extensive experience playing against some of the top amateurs across Europe and it has really benefited their games. They both know how to fight for strokes out on the course and that is exactly what we need to get better every time we go out and compete."
Diederichs is 1504 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and finished 34th at the prestigious Annika Invitational Europe, while also posting rounds of 76 and 73 at the German Girls Open, in June of 2018. The attendee of Lessing Gymnasium also competed in the 2018 Girls' British Open Amateur Championship at Ardglass Golf Club in Northern Ireland. Diederichs carded 73-69-69 to win the Germany Golf Association's Wilkendorf Qualifier in July of 2017 and has totaled nine top-25 finishes in events across Europe since 2017. Anna-Maria Diedrichs
Vineall has been a member of the Wales Girls Home Internationals Team since 2016 and helped it to a runner-up finish in the 2018 Championship. The attendee of The Rougemont School also competed in the 2018 Girls' British Open Amateur Championship. Vineall tied for fifth in the Scottish Girls Under 16 Championship and tied for 21st in the English Girls Under 18 Championship in 2017. In 2016, she was the Welsh Girls Under 16 Champion and placed second in the Welsh Girls Order of Merit. Ffion Vineall
"Anna-Maria and Ffion have some impressive rounds of golf under their belts and we look forward to seeing them continue their development here at Rutgers," said Williams. "Both had great visits to campus and fit right in with the team. We look forward to getting them 'On the Banks' next summer with the chance to compete for us right away."
Diederichs and Vineall will complement a 2019-20 roster comprised entirely of student-athletes that hail from outside the continental United States. They will join Harriet Allsebrook (Shropshire, England), Lori Char (Waianae, Hawaii,) Ana Cortes (Bogota, Colombia), Carrie-Ann Lee (Hong Kong, China) and Maeve Rossi (Milan, Italy).
The Scarlet Knights completed the fall with a program-record Golfstat ranking of 86, while carding a program-best 299.80 scoring average. The team was also recognized as one of the nation's top 25 programs in academic performance by the WGCA for a second consecutive year. With a school record seven student-athletes named WGCA Division I All-America Scholars, Rutgers maintained a 3.812 grade point average to place third among Division I and first among all Power 5 conference programs.
Rutgers' spring season officially begins at the Lake Oconee Invitational hosted by Mercer, Feb. 16-17, in Greensboro, Ga.
