The PING Junior Solheim Cup is under way at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Iowa, three days before The Solheim Cup will be played at the same venue.
The tournament, which was founded in 2002, includes the best female amateur golfers from Europe and the United States, aged 18 years and younger. The match, which is nearly identical to the Solheim cup in terms of format and also features 12-player teams, gives the future stars a platform to help develop their game.
The European players will be playing under Team Captain Alison Nicholas, an 18-time tour winner, who has played on six European Solheim Cup teams and also captained the team at a further two Solheim Cups, including the victorious team at Killeen Castle, Ireland in 2011.
The competition starts with six four-ball matches on the morning of the first day followed by six foursomes matches in the afternoon. On the second day, all of the players will play straight singles match play.
Speaking about the upcoming event, John A. Solheim, CEO of PING, said, “The Solheim family is very excited about this year’s PING Junior Solheim Cup event in Des Moines, Iowa. The competition for places in the European Team has been fierce and we know the matches will be hard-fought and played in fantastic spirit. We are delighted how this event has grown since it was first played in 2002 and how many of the past players are today playing the tours. My mother Louise was very proud.”
The 2017 event in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 15th-16th, marks the ninth time the European PING Junior Solheim Cup team will battle against the US Team, which currently lead the series with five wins, two losses and one tie.
Live Scoring of the matches can be found at: www.golfgenius.com/ggid/pingjr
Photo Credit: Göran Söderqvist