Brentcheneff, Cherif Essakili Join Razorbacks Ahead of Spring Season
FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas women’s golf head coach Shauna Taylor announced the additions of Sara Brentcheneff and Sofia Cherif Essakili to her squad ahead of the 2026 spring golf season.
Brentcheneff, a native of Lyon, France, is currently ranked No. 28 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and is the fourth-ranked European. The freshman participated in the Junior Solheim Cup in 2024 and the Junior Ryder Cup in 2025 for Team Europe and has numerous runner-up finishes at the French International Ladies Amateur Championship, the Spanish International Ladies Amateur Championship and the Portuguese International Ladies Amateur Championship.
Brentcheneff won the 2025 Super Bock Ladies Open as an amateur on the LET Access Series, the official development tour of the Ladies European Tour, with a 12-under 204.
Earlier this month, Brentcheneff received an invitation to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) in April.
Cherif Essakili joins the Razorbacks from Agadir, Morocco, and has ranked as high as 176th in WAGR. During her training in Florida, she participated in two Wyndham Cups for Team East and helped Team United States win the 2024 Junior Solheim Cup. She finished runner-up at the Women’s Orlando International Amateur in January of 2025 and won the Pan Arab Women’s Championship in back-to-back years in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. In 2024, she was named to the Junior All-American first team and had multiple AJGA wins, including the Stacy Lewis Invitational at Blessings Golf Club.
Cherif Essakili played in last year’s ANWA alongside current Razorback Maria José Marin.
The Hogs open the spring season on Feb. 1 at the Puerto Rico Classic hosted by Purdue at Grand Reserve Golf Club.
For more information on Arkansas women’s golf, follow @RazorbackWGolf on social media.