Gleneagles, the host venue of last year’s Ryder Cup, will go head-to-head with the Bro Hoff Slott club in Sweden for the right to host the 2019 Solheim Cup.
From the 10 initial expressions of interest that were submitted from a variety of nations around Europe, it is Scotland and Sweden that will fight it out for the right to stage the biennial women’s contest.
Scotland has hosted the match twice before, at Dalmahoy in 1992 and at Loch Lomond in 2000, with Europe beating the USA on both occasions. Sweden also has a strong Solheim Cup connection and was the stage for two transatlantic tussles in 2003 and 2007. Team Europe’s captain for this year’s match in Germany later this month is the Swede, Carin Koch.
Following the hugely successful staging of the 2014 Ryder Cup, Gleneagles will be a highly attractive proposition for the Ladies European Tour.
Speaking to Herald Sport when the bidding process for the Solheim Cup began late last year, Paul Bush, the chief operating officer of EventScotland, said: "We did meet with John Solheim and representatives from the Ladies European Tour during the Ryder Cup and they were hugely impressed; it was difficult not to be given what was delivered that week. That has given us a good pedigree.”
The Scottish and Swedish bids will now be examined by the Ladies European Tour management team. This process will include official site inspections of the two bidding parties including the venues and associated facilities, which are likely to take place in September and early October.
The final recommendation will be made by the LET Evaluation Committee to the LET Board on the 29th October, which will make the final decision.
Mark Casey, Director of The Solheim Cup, said: “On behalf of the Ladies European Tour I’d like to thank the bid teams from Sweden and Scotland for bidding to host what is the biggest event in women’s golf. We are delighted to have received two bids from such high quality venues".
"We also want to thank the ten countries who expressed an initial interest in hosting the event in March and who attended the bidding seminar at The Buckinghamshire Club earlier this year, many of whom have indicated their interest in submitting a bid for the 2023 event. This shows the long term interest in the Solheim Cup and ladies professional golf in Europe".
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