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The Solheim cup is a widely known golf tournament that occurs every two years consisting of two teams, Europe and the United States. This tournament is solely for professional women’s golfers where the best of the best compete in this three day tournament. It was named after the Norweigen-American club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, and is always a fun time to watch.
Solheim Cup Format
Unlike most LPGA events, the Solheim cup is a match play tournament rather than your standard stroke play event. This match play event is based on a point system where the U.S needs a total of 14 points while Europe will need 14 and a half points. The U.S only needs 14 points rather than 14 and a half due to the fact that they won the previous year and are competing to retain it again.
‘ Over the first two days, all of the best ball (fourball) and alternate shot (foursomes) matches will be played. On the final day of the tournament, singles matches will begin. An opponent will play against another from the opposing team in a standard match play round. There will be a total of 12 of these singles matches to end the competition. This tournament allows the players and teams to play multiple different formats and get to participate in single and team matches as well.
How are the Solheim Teams Picked?
Similar to the Ryder Cup, the Solheim Cup has a very unique way of deciding who will play on the official team. For the United States, the team of 12 is decided based on a point system. The first seven slots on the team go to the top 7 LPGA golfers based on a point system accumulated from varying LPGA events. The next two slots go to the top 2 players on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings who are not already qualified through the first 12 slots. The last three golfers to play on the United States team are selected by the United States team captain. The European team is selected through a similar system where the first 4 slots are given to the players who rank highest in the Ladies European Tour events, the next 4 slots come from the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, and the last 4 slots picked from the European team captain.
Solheim Cup Locations
The first Solheim Cup was held in Scotland back in 1990 and continues to amaze viewers watching worldwide. As the two teams continue to compete for the Waterford Crystal trophy, the venue changes every time.
Some of the previous locations were held at the following with scores being:
2003- Barseback Golf Club
- Europe 17-1/2, USA 10-1/2
2005- Crooked Stick Golf Club
- USA 15-1/2, Europe 12-1/2
2007- Halmstad Golf Club
- USA 16, Europe 12
2009- Rich Harvest Farms Golf
- USA 16, Europe 12
2011- Killeen Castle
- Europe 15, USA 13
2013- Colorado Golf Club
- Europe 18, USA 10
2015- Golf Club St. Leon-Rot
- USA 14-1/2, Europe 13-1/2
2017- Des Moines Golf and Club
- USA 16-1/2, Europe 11-1/2
2019- Gleneagles’ PGA Centenary Course
- Europe 14-1/2, USA 13-1/2
Solheim Cup 2021 Venue
As the trend follows of the event happening every two years, you can see that this year we are looking forward to another Solheim Cup event. The venue for this event will take place at Inverness Golf Club in Toledo Ohio.
Inverness Club
Based out of Dublin Ohio lies the beautiful Inverness Club. The 7730 yard track is one of Donald Ross’s most famous course designs. It has held many PGA events prior to this upcoming Solheim Cup including many of the premier championships. This course has held 4 U.S Opens (1920, 1931, 1957, 1979), 2 PGA Championships (1986, 1983), and 2 U.S Senior Opens (2003 and 2011).