We are less than 100 days away from the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands and just two months away from team selection. It’s crazy, it is going to be here before we know it, but it’s nice to see all the work we are doing behind the scenes starting to come together. I am happy everyone is so excited and involved in the journey and everything going on.
I was able to catch up with Suzann Pettersen at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally this past week and run some thoughts and ideas through her, given her knowledge as European Captain in 2023 and 2024. My Vice-Captain Anne van Dam lives in LA and came out to follow some of the girls playing at Riviera Country Club, and it’s nice to be able to pick each other’s brains! Both me and Anne will take around 12 players for a team practice at Bernardus in mid-July, so we will be finalising the details for that in the coming weeks.
I have always believed the ranking will take care of a lot of the team selection and I’m trying to be encouraging and supportive to all the players trying their hardest to make the team currently. Helen Briem had a great win at the Jabra Ladies Open de France on the Ladies European Tour two weeks ago to move within a point of Chiara Tamburlini for one of the automatic qualifying spots on the European Solheim Cup points list, so the two of them will have a great battle coming down the stretch for that spot. Celine Boutier just won the ShopRite LPGA powered by Wakefern on the LPGA Tour showing great form, and Maja Stark and Charley Hull had an amazing week at the U.S. Women’s Open!
This week, the LPGA Tour is playing a team event with the Dow Championship in Michigan, and I am excited to see so many of the European girls team up together. Maja Stark and Linn Grant, Julia Lopez Ramirez and Mimi Rhodes, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard and Manon De Roey, Helen Briem and Nastasia Nadaud, Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Celine Boutier to name a few.
I’m looking forward to continuing to follow everyone’s journey with three more majors to go to close out the qualifying period and then we can fully prepare and get everyone on the same page leading up to the event in September!
Anna
