Carlota Ciganda is ready for one of the best weeks of her life as she gets ready to tee it up for Team Europe at the 2023 Solheim Cup.
The 18th edition of the biennial content is taking place in Spain for the first time ever with the stunning Finca Cortesin hosting from 22-24 September.
And despite being on home soil, the seven-time LET winner is not feeling the pressure and is hopeful of a lot of support on the ground.
“It’s a dream come true,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to be here in my home country. It’s so nice to see so many familiar faces. I just love Spain. Spain is home. It’s just so nice to have Spanish dinners, to listen to everyone talking in Spanish. I love it here. I’m just so happy to be here and hopefully it’s a great week for us.
“It’s more than pressure it’s just going to be excitement, adrenaline, and just fun. I’m going to embrace it and I think it’s going to be great to have all the support from Spain, from my family, lots of members from my club. I’m just very excited that they can all be here, they can support, and they can enjoy a great week like the Solheim Cup.
“So, I’m just going to try to go out there and enjoy. I know I’m going to feel nervous and I’m going to feel that adrenaline. I know I can play great golf with that, so I’m just going to enjoy and embrace every moment.”
Ciganda is making her sixth appearance for the European Team in the competition and is a three-time winner having clinched victories in 2013, 2019 and 2021.
There are three rookies making their debut for Europe but there is also a lot of experience in the team.
While the Spaniard thinks that is a great mix with the new players in the locker room bringing some energy.
She continued: “We have a great team because we have some players with experience and then some younger ones, so I think it’s a great mix.
“It’s always important to have a few rookies that they bring the energy and the excitement that they really want to play, we have a great mix. Everyone is playing very solid, so I think we have a great team.”
With Spain hosting the contest for the first time, it is an opportunity to inspire the next generation to get into the game of golf.
Ciganda is hoping there is a similar growth of the game to what happened after Valderrama hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup.
She added: “Obviously with Valderrama, golf grew a lot in Spain, so hopefully a lot of girls can watch the Solheim Cup, especially here in Spain, and we can grow the game and we can have some Spanish stars in the near future.”
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