Preview: Solheim Cup 2019

A spectacular venue that has hosted a Ryder Cup, highly competitive captains and teams loaded with talent promise to make the 2019 Solheim Cup one of the best ever. The U.S.A. team will be seeking its third victory in a row. The Europe team is primed and ready to win on their home soil.

The Venue

Opened in 1993, the Jack Nicklaus designed PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles Resort is set on stunning Perthshire countryside. Nicklaus masterfully routed the course to make every hole visually appealing and challenging. The Golden Bear uses his signature features like huge undulating greens, bold bunkers and several high risk/high reward holes to create drama and anxiety for players. With strategic mounding, the course is excellent for optimum spectator viewing. A stately 850-acre resort complex in central Scotland near the village of Aucterarder, Gleneagles is located about a 70-minute drive from St. Andrews. Among the nearby sights are Drummond Castle at Crieff, Scone Palace, Blair Castle, Stirling Castle, Elcho Castle, Dunblane Cathedral and National Wallace Monument (Braveheart).

Team U.S.A.

Lexi Thompson

Nelly Korda

Danielle Kang

Lizette Salas

Jessica Korda

Marina Alex

Megan Khang

Brittany Altomare

Angel Yin

Annie Park

Stacy Lewis

Morgan Pressel

Team Europe

Carlota Ciganda (Spain)

Anne van Dam (Netherlands)

Caroline Hedwall (Sweden)

Charley Hull (England)

Georgia Hall (England)

Azahara Munoz (Spain)

Caroline Masson (Germany)

Anna Nordqvist (Sweden)

Bronte Law (England)

Celine Boutier (France)

Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England)

Team Captains

U.S.A Captain–Juli Inkster

A California native, Inkster has won more than 40 professional events around the world, including seven Majors. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000. She has played in nine Solheim Cups, winning five of them and playing in 34 matches. Inkster has captained the U.S.A. team to victories in the last two Solheim Cups.

U.S.A. Vice-Captains–Pat Hurst, Wendy Ward and Nancy Lopez.

Europe Captain–Catriona Matthew

Born in Edinburgh Scotland, Matthew grew up in North Berwick. She has 10 tour victories, including the 2009 Women’s British Open. As a player, she represented Europe nine times in The Solheim Cup, playing 37 matches and winning the Cup three times. She was a vice-captain in 2017.

Europe Vice-Captains–Laura Davies, Kathrn Imrie and Suzann Peterson

Three-Peat

Following victories in Heidelberg, Germany (2015) and Des Moines, Iowa (2017), our U.S.A. team will be going for three in a row in 2019. Juli Inkster, who captained the other two wins, will again lead our team at Gleneagles. Team U.S.A. lost in 2011 and 2013 before the streak began.

History

First played in 1990, the Solheim Cup has evolved into a spectacular international event that celebrates the game of golf for women. It’s the perfect blend of passion, patriotism, phenomenal golf and adrenaline-pumping excitement. What makes the Solheim Cup unique is it allows the fans to vociferously support their team with a frivolity and purpose not prevalent at other events. The Solheim Cup is named after Karsten Solheim, founder of PING golf clubs, who was one of the driving forces behind its creation. The competition was staged in even years, alternating with the Ryder Cup. But after the latter’s postponement in 2001 following the September 11 attacks, the Solheim Cup was moved to odd years beginning 2003.