Solheim queens set to storm Castle
The biennial clash of the USA and Europe comes to Ireland for the first time largely due to the efforts of Roddy Carr, son of the legendary Joe, who has forged a stellar career in sports management.
Carr has spent the last decadeturning his dream of bringing the prestigious event to Ireland intoreality.
With the assistance of Fáilte Ireland, PING, Rolex and many other sponsors, the teams go head-to-head from September 23-25 in front of anestimated 60,000 spectators with a global television audience in themillions.
Women’s golf, on this side of the Atlantic, would be nowhere without the estimable English star Laura Davies.
She has never missed a Solheim Cup since the event began in 1990 and she’ll be in Meath next month, as will other European greats like Suzann Pettersen, Norway’s recent winner of the Irish Open, Swedish pair Sophie Gustafson and Anna Nordqvist,Scotland’s Catriona Matthew and England’s Melissa Reid.
The usually powerful American side (they lead 8-3 in the series) was finalised at the weekend and isbackboned by Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Stacy Lewis, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie and the veteran Juli Inkster, who was set to act as assistant captain to Rosie Jones but will now have a dual role having played herself into the side.
The disappointment for Irish fans is that there won’t be any home player in action. The halcyon days ofamateur major winners likePhilomena Garvey, Mary McKenna, Claire Hourihane and Lillian Behan are now distant memories.
That situation, however, is surely about to be rectified by theremarkable 16 year-old Maguire twins from Co Cavan. Their achievements continue to amaze in 2011 with Leona claiming the British Amateur Open at Royal Ashdown Forest last week while earlier in the year Lisa won the European Championship in Holland and the Spanish Open in Jerez.
However, it’s difficult to overstate the extent of Leona’s latestachievement. Two shots off the pace after 36 holes, she destroyed the field with a couple of 69s (the only rounds under par in the entire event) on Friday to storm home by six shots from an entry containing the cream of ladies golf from Europe.
While the Solheim Cup has come to Ireland too early in the careers of Leona and Lisa, the good news is that they will be on view along with the other outstanding youngsters in the PING Junior Solheim Cup to be played at the Christy O’Connor Junior designed Knightsbrook Golf and Country Club near Trim.
It takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 20 and 21, and promises to be a spectacular scene setter to the senior event. Leona and Lisa finished first and third in therankings to earn their places in the side and so afford them the opportunity to avenge the 8½-5½ defeat the side suffered in Illinois two years ago. The European team is captained by Lotte Neumann, the Swedish veteran of six European Solheim Cup teams, while her American counterpart is the acclaimed Meg Mallon. That a duo of this repute are prepared to undertake the task graphically illustrates thesignificance placed in the junior event.
Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, Brittany Lincicome, Brittany Lang, Juli Inkster, Christina Kim, Vicky Hurst, Ryann O’Toole.
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