The Solheim Cup is the most prestigious tournament in women’s golf. It can be said that it is the female equivalent of the Ryder Cup. Both competitions don’t have any prize money but give the winner the ultimate bragging rights. Both competitions have an American team and a European team battling it out. The format of the two competitions is similar, too.

The Solheim Cup is a biennial event involving 28 games over 3 days, each game earning the winner 1 point. A match is halved if it ends in a tie after 18 holes, with both teams receiving 0.5 points each. The team that scores 14.5 points wins the Cup. The first 2 days of the tournament are for Foursomes (players from each team alternately hit the same ball on a hole; the team with the lowest score wins) and Fourball (each golfer plays their own ball, and the team’s best score on each hole is counted). The third day is for Singles matches.

Prestigious history of the Solheim Cup

Karsten Solheim, a Norwegian-American engineer and founder of PING, started this tournament because he felt that female golfers did not get the recognition they deserved. The idea for such a tournament for women was conceived when Solheim got the chance to host a Ryder Cup-like event for women. Along with his wife Louise, Karsten had frequently sponsored LPGA events in hopes of giving women’s golf the limelight it merited. This was very progressive at the time, and now the competition has been taking place for 3 decades.

The Solheim Cup is much more than a competition. It has been the most important factor in the promotion of women’s golf. The event’s biannual occurrence and change in venue for every edition have stirred massive interest among fans. It became the perfect platform for female golfers to showcase their skills and get the recognition they deserve. The most famous victory in the history of the tournament came in its first edition, held in Dalmahoy, Scotland.

John Solheim, son of Karsten, stated in an interview that the match was “extremely close from day one” and concluded with the Europeans having caused a huge upset as per fans and critics alike. That’s when Karsten realized that the event would be “hard fought” and “bring women’s golf the attention it deserved.”

Notable statistics from the Solheim Club

With 12 appearances from 1990 to 2011, Laura Davies holds the distinction of making the most appearances in the Solheim Cup. She also holds the distinction of scoring the most points in the tournament, having scored 25 points. With a 17-11 victory, Team USA achieved the largest margin in the history of the tournament.

At 17 years old, Charley Hull became the youngest player to feature in the tournament in 2013. Team USA has won 10 out of the 18 editions of the tournament, with only one tournament ending in a draw in 2019.

Missed out on anything? Let us know in the comments!