The two.oldstylezero.oldstyleone.oldstyleone.oldstyle Solheim Cup
Isn’t it fair to say that, fi nally, The Solheim Cup
which has staged all of the world’s
is coming home? According to The Irish Times’
Philip Reid yes it is….
Solheim
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Solheim splendour: above – Europe’s Suzann Pettersen
chips out of a bunker. below – Alison Nicholas, who will F
or many Irish people the news that the
Solheim Cup is coming to Ireland has been
long awaited and greeted with quiet pleasure.
lead the European Team, lifts the Solheim Trophy.
After all the trophy, for which the very best women professionals from
Europe and the United States do battle every two years, is a cherished
piece of crystal created by Irish craftsmen at Waterford Crystal . . . .
and, so, the 2011 match at the quite magnifi cent Killeen Castle will be
something of a homecoming.
Staging The Solheim Cup in Ireland also completes a ‘Grand Slam’
for Irish golf, which has staged all of the world’s great team competitions:
The Ryder Cup, The men’s World Cup (when it was known as the
Canada Cup), the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup.
Now, The Solheim Cup – a competition dedicated to the memory of
Karsten Solheim and one which has grown immensely since it was fi rst
staged at Lake Nona in Florida in 1990 – will continue the golfi ng
odyssey on a grand old Irish estate near the village of Dunsany in
County Meath, outside Dublin, on September 23rd-25th, 2011.
There were many dream-makers who made The Solheim Cup
become a reality, one of whom was an Irishman. Joe Flanagan was the
Ladies European Tour’s chief executive at the time and worked tirelessly
for two years behind the scene to help bring the team event to fruition.
And, since that fi rst staging at Lake Nona – when the revered American
players Pat Bradley and Nancy Lopez were referred to in the European
locker room as “God and God” – The Solheim Cup has developed a
heartbeat of its very own, and grown to become the ultimate in
women’s team competition.
From Lake Nona to Dalmahoy, The Greenbrier to St Pierre, Loch
Lomond to Interlachen, Barseback to Crooked Stick, and Halmstad to
Rich Harvest Farms, The Solheim Cup has undertaken a journey with
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