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Golf Monthly
Golf Monthly
Sport
Elliott Heath

Who Runs The Solheim Cup?

A player hits off the 1st tee at the 2023 Solheim Cup.

The Solheim Cup is the premier event in women's golf that sees USA's top 12 players face off against the 12 best from Europe.

The match is similar in make-up to the Ryder Cup, and just like the men's equivalent, the event is co-run by two separate organizations.

The LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour run the match, which was originally established by Ping co-founder Karsten Solheim in 1990. 

The LPGA solely run the event when it's on home soil, with the Ladies European Tour running the European editions along with agency IMG, which helps with strategic planning and delivery. IMG is on board to assist with the 2026, 2030, 2034 and 2038 editions in Europe.

The first Solheim Cup took place at Lake Nona in Florida and saw Kathy Whitworth's USA side win 11.5 to 4.5 over Mickey Walker's Europeans. 

Ping still has a strong relationship with the Solheim Cup to this day, with members of the Solheim family always on-site and often handing out the trophy to the winning captain at the end of play.

Ping CEO John Solheim hands Suzann Pettersen the Solheim Cup in 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)

The LPGA and LET are responsible for selecting their teams, with each side featuring a points system to qualify.

The US team has its own system based off of world ranking points, where ultimately nine players automatically qualify and the remaining three players are picked by the captain at their discretion regardless of points standings.

For Team Europe, the top two on the Ladies European Tour points list are combined with the top six in the world rankings to go with four captain's picks.

The Solheim Cup format sees three days of play, with days one and two featuring two sessions of doubles before 12 singles matches on the final day.

The match takes place every two years, with the host team picking the course. This year's Solheim Cup takes place at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia, with the 2026 Solheim Cup heading to Bernardus Golf and The Netherlands for the first time.

The 2028 Solheim Cup venue has been confirmed already, with former Ryder Cup course Valhalla set to host.

The 2024 match will be the 19th edition, with the USA winning 10, Europe 8 and one tie.

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