Europeans seek hat-trick
Time flies when you’re having fun. And the European girls have certainly been enjoying the Solheim Cup the last few years. After two consecutive wins, the first of which was an historical victory on American soil, Europe’s finest female professional golfers are all fired-up for the hat-trick. The 14th edition of the Solheim Cup (18th-20th September) tees-off today for the first time ever in Germany.
It is the St. Leon-Rot Golf Club in Heidelberg that has the honour of playing host to the three-day matchplay competition which takes place once every two years. And, just like the Ryder Cup, it is very serious business: Europe’s best versus America’s best. If the weather plays ball, all is set for another exciting Solheim Cup with everything organised to perfection by the host country, as you would expect. Efficient and with an eye for detail which has also ensured that two of their home players peaked on time to make the team once again: Caroline Masson and Sandra Gall.
On paper, the European Team, captained by Carin Koch from Sweden, oozes Solheim Cup experience and passion with a colour cocktail of seven different nationalities. Indeed, there is a neat combination of two players from each country, apart from Norway and Scotland. It will be interesting to see how Carin pairs her team for the foursomes and fourball matches.
In Team Europe, there is not a ‘rookie’ in sight. While American Captain, Julie Inkster has chosen for one newcomer: Alison Lee. Europe has just one player in the team out of the world top ten: Suzann Pettersen (now 8th in the ranking. Take note here that five of the current top ten in the world ranking are Korean.) That leaves just a few players over including Stacy Lewis and Lexi Thompson, the numbers 3 and 4 in the world rankings. Naturally,these two names are prominent in Julie Inkster’s American dream team.
Yet whichever team may look the strongest on paper, this is golf and this is matchplay. Furthermore, this is the Solheim Cup. We’ve all seen the drama unfold over the years. Somehow playing for your country does something with the nerves and emotions can run very high, especially when there is honour at stake. Total victories to date: USA 8 – Europe 5.
May the best team win!
Wendy Hoad
By the way, the 12-player teams play a mix of foursomes and fourball matches over the first two days culminating in head-to-head singles on Sunday.
Photograph (L.E.T.): The victorious 2013 European Solheim Cup Team in Colorado, USA.