No home stars but Ireland can bask in Solheim Cup success

THE greatest week in the history of Irish ladies’ golf has arrived with the 12th Solheim Cup clash of the United States and Europe set for the Jack Nicklaus-designed Killeen Castle near Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, on Friday.

Perhaps the occasion won’t rival The K Club’s hosting of the Ryder Cup in 2006, although the hope is that the weather will be a whole lot kinder for the teams captained by Rosie Jones of the States and Europe’s Alison Nicholas.

Killeen Castle should be an ideal venue, with a first-class and aesthetically pleasing course with the imposing 800-year-old ancestral castle home of St Oliver Plunkett providing a magnificent backdrop to the closing hole.

Unlike the 2006 Ryder Cup when Irish stars Darren Clarke, Pádraig Harrington and Paul McGinley were key men, there is no direct Irish involvement in the ladies’ European team.

The glory days of ladies’ golf in this country were first represented by Philomena Garvey in the 1940s and 50s and later maintained by a number of outstanding golfers led by Mary McKenna, Claire Hourihane, Maureen Madill and Lillian Behan.

The hope is that similarly auspicious times will return with the talents of the outstanding Cavan twins Lisa and Leona Maguire. But they are only 16 and will instead be representing Europe in the Junior Solheim Cup against the States at Knightsbrook, near Trim, earlier in the week.

Several amateurs have tried their luck on the Ladies European Tour but without meaningful success.

Rebecca Coakley-Codd, born in Australia but with deep roots in County Carlow, was regarded as our best bet but her lack of tournament success this year meant she was unable to make either the eight automatic places or receive one of the four ‘wild card’ picks.

Nevertheless, Roddy Carr, the man responsible for bringing the Solheim Cup to our shores, has worked tirelessly to guarantee that we are once again reflected in the best possible light on television channels all over the globe. Sky Sports commences its coverage on both Friday and Saturday at 7am and will also provide start to finish coverage of the 12 singles matches on Sunday.

Tickets are still available but Carr is confident that close on 20,000 fans will flock through the gates on each of the three days.

Nicholas and her assistant captain, the great Swedish golfer Annika Sorenstam, have been involved in many such battles and it means a great deal to both that Europe should improve on the current 8-3 count in America’s favour. The remarkable English woman Laura Davies is the only member of either side to have played in the previous 11 Solheim Cups.

The European side contains five rookies so there is a nice blend of youth and experience. Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, Sophie Gustafson, Maria Horth and Anna Nordqvist, Scotland’s Catriona Matthew, in-form Melissa Reid of England (winner of the Spanish Open on Sunday) are key figures in the home side but even then they could find that Americans of the calibre of Paula Cramer, Christie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Morgan Pressel and Michelle Wie will carry too much power over the three days in Meath.

Whatever the outcome, the confident expectation is that the week will prove another feather in the cap of Ireland as one of world’s best golfing holiday locations.