The PING Junior Solheim Cup is under way at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Iowa, the same venue where The Solheim Cup will be played from Friday, albeit on another 18 hole course.
The tournament, which was founded in 2002, includes the best 12 female amateur junior golfers from Europe and the United States, aged 18 years and younger and almost mirrors the format of The Solheim Cup. The event gives the future stars the platform to help them develop their game.
The European players have been qualifying all year and now that the week is finally here, they are 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 in Ireland in 2011.
The competition starts with six four-ball matches from 7.30am CT on Tuesday, followed by six foursome matches from 1pm CT.
On Wednesday, all of the players will play in the singles from 9am CT, ahead of the Closing Ceremony at 3pm CT.
The draw for the first morning four-ball matches has been made. Teeing off at 7.30am are Maja Stark from Sweden and Letizia Bagnoli from Italy against Emilia Migliaccio and Rachel Heck of the United States.
In the second match at 7.40am are Beatrice Wallin and Frida Kinhult from Sweden against Gina Kim and Jennifer Chang.
In the third match at 7.50am, Emma Spitz from Austria and Esther Henseleit from Sweden will play against Yealimi Noh and Lucy Li.
In the fourth match at 8am, Italian pair Alessia Nobilio and Alessandra Fanali will take on Brooke Seay and Kaitlyn Papp.
Meanwhile in the fifth match 8.10am, Mathilde Claisse from France and Julia Engström from Sweden will play against Rose Zhang and Youngin Chun.
In the sixth match at 8.20am, Swedes Linn Grant and Amanda Linnér will play Erica Shepherd and Alyaa Abdulghany.
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.
