Ladies European Tour
Solheim Cup Teams Now Finalised for Historic Event at Finca Cortesín
All is now set for an epic battle at Finca Cortesín after both the European and the United States captains finalised their teams for the 2023 Solheim Cup. History will be made when the biennial event is held for the first time in Spain. The women’s equivalent of the Ryder Cup – which was held at nearby Royal Valderrama Club in 1997 – will run from 22 to 24 September at the luxury Finca Cortesín resort in Casares municipality.
Associated activities, including live music concerts and gastronomy, are also being arranged in other areas of the Costa del Sol. Marbella Arena, for example, is organising a “Swing and Sun Fan Fest” from 19 to 24 September. At Hotel Villa Padierna, in Benahavís, three gourmet culinary evenings, including live music, are being held on 21, 22 and 23 September. Diners can also have their photograph taken next to the Solheim Cup.
As for the golf, spectators will be able to take advantage of special public transport transfer options from Marbella (including Puerto Banús and San Pedro de Alcántara) to avoid car parking issues. Once at the course, there will be a vibrant hospitality village ambience, with music, food and drinks, and other leisure activities.
The U.S. team won the first Solheim Cup in 1990, but Europe have been gradually chipping away at the Americans’ 10-7 overall advantage, and will be the defending champions at Finca Cortesín after their 15-13 victory at Inverness Club in Ohio last year.
One of Europe’s top holiday and residential-tourism resorts, Finca Cortesín already has international pedigree as a top tournament venue, having hosted the 2009, 2011 and 2012 Volvo World Match Play Championships.
The Teams
The European captain is Norwegian Suzann Pettersen, and her vice captains will be Anna Nordqvist (the Swede who also made the team as a player), legendary English star Laura Davies and Norwegian former Ladies European Tour pro Caroline Martens.
Eight players qualified automatically for the European team, and Pettersen had four captain’s picks. France’s Celine Boutier and Sweden’s Maja Stark were the top two on the LET Solheim Cup points list, while English pair Charley Hull and Georgia Hall, Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Linn Grant and Anna Nordqvist from Sweden, and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda secured their spots through the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
Pettersen then named Gemma Dryburgh (Scotland), Madelene Sagström and Caroline Hedwall (Sweden) and Emily Kristine Pedersen (Denmark) as her four selections.
The Americans will be captained by Stacy Lewis, supported by assistant captains Morgan Pressel, Natalie Gulbis and Angela Stanford.
Seven players qualified from the U.S. Solheim Cup points list – Lilia Vu, Nelly Korda, Allisen Corpuz, Megan Khang, Jennifer Kupcho, Danielle Kang and Andrea Lee – and another two from the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings (Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang). Lewis’s final three captain’s picks were Ally Ewing, Cheyenne Knight and Angel Yin.
Still considering coming?
If you are looking for a hotel or other accommodation options when attending the Solheim Cup, contact us. You might consider extending your stay and playing at other top courses on the Costa del Sol, in Sotogrande or further afield in Murcia (Costa Cálida), Alicante (Costa Blanca) or Madrid. Check out our special golf offers.
Spectacular New Opening Grandstand Hole for 2023 Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesín
Finca Cortesín has officially unveiled a new opening hole at the Casares course as the 365-day countdown to next year’s Solheim Cup begins. Announcing the change to the course – part of a general revamp and upgrade overseen by original designer Cabell B. Robinson – the tournament organisers said, “The ambience on the first hole of the Solheim Cup is unlike any other golf tournament. The atmosphere and the decibels created by the European and American fans with their chants, music and colours mean that at that moment, the spectacle is turned from the golfers to the stands.” Continue reading
Countdown to 2023: Solheim Cup Another Historic First for Costa del Golf
The 2023 Solheim Cup will be the final link of a cycle that began with the designation of the “Costa del Golf” in 1997. The name was coined in the lead up to that year’s historic Ryder Cup at Valderrama, with signs appearing along the coast declaring, “Costa del Sol-Costa del Golf”.
Twenty-five years later, the Costa is home to 70 golf courses, the most of any similar-sized region in Europe, extending for 120 kilometres from the Axarquía area east of Málaga city to Sotogrande – actually in Cádiz province but customarily grouped under the Costa del Sol moniker by local tourism authorities. Continue reading
Spanish Women’s Open Returns to Royal Guadalmina
Later this year Marbella-born Azahara Muñoz will be be returning to the scene of one of the most cherished moments in her career. The Ladies European Tour has just announced that the 2020 Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España will be played at Royal Guadalmina Golf Club from 26-29 November.
It was at Guadalmina where a young Azahara learnt to play the game before becoming an international star, and US LPGA Tour champion, and also the club where she won a second consecutive Spanish Women’s Open crown in 2017.
The previous year, at nearby Aloha Golf, Muñoz became the first Spanish women’s golfer to win her home Open. She also finished second behind Dutchwoman Anne Van Dam in the 2018 edition at La Quinta, and was joint fourth when the event returned to Aloha in 2019, also being won by Van Dam.
This year’s Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España will be the final tournament of the 2020 Ladies European Tour, offering a €600,000 prize fund (double last year’s total) and setting the scene for an exciting finale of the Race to Costa del Sol (the new LET order of merit).
