DEN BOSCH, Netherlands — A canal tour in Amsterdam. The glitz and glamor of a gala dinner. Loud, pumping music on the range. Ping pong and darts in the team room.
For the European and American teams, it’s been fun and games this week ahead of the first Solheim Cup held in the Netherlands.
Now the serious stuff is about to begin — and the captains have pretty much ensured an explosive start to the 20th edition of the biggest team event in women’s golf.
Out first Friday — at 7.40 a.m. local time, to be precise — in front of an estimated 3,000 spectators in and around the horseshoe grandstand encircling the first tee at Bernardus Golf will be Europe’s top two players, Charley Hull and Lottie Woad, against a US pairing containing top-ranked Nelly Korda.
Expect noise, color and passion from the opening foursomes right through to the Sunday singles, inside and outside the ropes.
“Before I played my first one, I was really wondering, ‘What am I going to be like?’” European player Maja Stark said Thursday ahead of her third Solheim Cup. “Because when I play individual golf, I don’t really feel like shouting or doing fist pumps or anything like that.
“But then during Solheim, all of a sudden I started screaming when I made a putt. I thought, ‘Who is this? This is a new Maja!’”
Then again, maybe keeping a cool head when everyone else is losing theirs could be the key to victory this week as the Americans look to retain the trophy they regained two years ago with a 15½-12½ win in Virginia, which extended their overall lead to 11-7-1 since the first Solheim Cup in 1990.
To do that, they’ll need to prevail on the road for the first time since 2015.
They’ll also likely need a big week from Korda.
“When we come over here, we have a tendency to struggle a little bit,” Korda said Thursday before it was announced she’d be paired with Allisen Corpuz in an opening match that really whets the appetite. “But I would say, you know, the girls have been quite amazing. We have really kept it light and easy, and we’ve also grinded a lot.”
It could be that sort of week.
US team includes 35-year-old rookie
Both teams have only four players in the world’s top 30, and one of them — Angel Yin of the US — has played just one event in the last 2 1/2 months because of a stomach issue. Another US player, Lindy Duncan, is a 35-year-old rookie who was thinking about quitting golf just three years ago and still can’t quite believe she is here.
“Honestly, most of my focus has been on keeping my card and maintaining that kind of a status ... so this is a real pinch-me moment,” said Duncan, who has been sent out in Match 3 on Friday morning with Andrea Lee.
