SOLHEIM CUP TICKETS FOR THE OPENING CEREMONY

The Opening Ceremony Day of The 2019 Solheim Cup is set to kick off the biennial event in style with a festival of live music, entertainment and family activities on Thursday 12 September.

Tickets for the Opening Ceremony Day are just £10 per adult and free for those aged 16 and under, and the aim is to make the event accessible and appealing to people of all ages and backgrounds, from golf fanatics to those who have never previously been to a sports event.

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LADIES PRO AM AT DUNBLANE GOLF CLUB

LET Pro Heather MacRae is hosting a Ladies Only ProAm at Dunblane New Golf Club the week of the Solheim Cup.  

She is excited for what will be an amazing day celebrating women and girls golf and getting us all ready for the exciting week that will follow at Gleneagles.  

Please get in touch if you wish to enter a team or enquire about sponsorship opportunities 

DOUBLE CELEBRATION FOR SOLHEIM CUP

Hannah Darling and Catriona Matthew

Yesterday was International Women's Day, and to mark it we recently spent a day with 2019 European Solheim Cup Captain Catriona Matthew and rising Scottish star Hannah Darling.

Two generations of Scottish golfers dedicated to their sport, honing their talent through hard work and commitment and inspiring others to play and enjoy this great game. It was just a glimpse of the incredible display of female sporting prowess that will be on show at Gleneagles later this year.

If that wasn't reason enough for celebration, Monday is the six months to go milestone. The countdown is officially on! Tickets are selling fast so make sure you grab the chance to be there while you still can.

Whether you want to see practice days, the action-packed Opening Ceremony Day or the competitive action, there's an option for you --- BUY TICKETS

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Catriona Matthew caddies for Hannah Darling

Scottish Girls

By Lewine Mair

Last week aspiring PING Junior Solheim Cup player, Hannah Darling (Broomieknowe) , had the experience of having Catriona Matthew caddie for her.

A member of 'Project 19', Hannah and her fellow members will be targeting a berth at this year's event.

Read more here:  CLICK HERE

Dalmahoy signs leading golf ambassador - Jane Turner

Jane Turner

Jane Turner has been handed a boost for her 2019 Ladies European Tour campaign after the Midlothian pro secured a new base at Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

Dalmahoy has chosen the Ladies European Tour pro golfer as its ambassador, in a year when the women’s golf tournament – The Solheim Cup – returns to Scotland.  As one of Scotland’s leading golf resorts, Dalmahoy was host to Scotland’s first ever Solheim Cup in 1992.

Turner, who has a shot at the Ladies European Tour this year, said of the partnership: “I’m proud to say that I am now representing Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club and will act as an ambassador whilst at home and on tour. Dalmahoy has given me the perfect base for all of my practice with two great golf courses and quality practice facilities available for my short game.” 

Sam Oliver, director of golf and leisure at Dalmahoy continued: “With two 18-hole golf courses, designed to contrast and complement each other, a driving range and pitch and putt, we are proud to offer some of the best golfing facilities in the country. 

“But most importantly, Dalmahoy prides itself on being a welcoming and inclusive golf club – we’re privileged to attract golfers of all levels and abilities, from young children and beginners, through to seasoned pros.  In a year when The Solheim Cup returns to Scotland, there is rightly ever more a spotlight on ladies golf, and we’re delighted to be supporting a Scottish leading light in the women’s game.”

Oliver continued: “We hope that by working with Jane we can encourage more golfers, and particularly women golfers, to our country’s great game.”

Dalmahoy’s golfing pedigree has attracted famous names such as Seve Ballesteros, Sam Torrance and Nick Faldo who have competed in various high profile professional events over the years including the Scottish Senior Open and the UK’s first ever Solheim Cup in 1992.  

Turner continued: “Dalmahoy also has an indoor studio, which has allowed me to keep practising even on the harshest of winter days.”

“Dalmahoy also have a state-of-the art Leisure Club that I can use and now that my gym and golf facilities are in one place it means I can be even more productive with my time.”

For more information about golfing at Dalmahoy, please contact T: 0131 333 1845

or visit www.dalmahoyhotelandcountryclub.co.uk/golf

Qualification fund benefits young Scots golfers

From the Scottish Golf Website

Young female golfers in Scotland with aspirations of playing in the PING Junior Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in September can now benefit from a new joint fund established by The 2019 Solheim Cup Golf Development Programme and Scottish Golf.

With The Solheim Cup set to return to Scotland from 9-15 September, qualifying for the 2019 PING Junior Solheim Cup at Gleneagles is now underway, as last weekend’s Portuguese International Ladies’ Amateur Championship marked the first in a series of qualifying events for the biennial match.

The £9,000 pot has been established to provide financial assistance to those eligible to compete at various qualifying tournaments in the run up to this year’s event which will act as a curtain-raiser to The 2019 Solheim Cup as Catriona Matthew’s European team bid to regain the Cup from the USA.

Scotland’s Hannah Darling became the first beneficiary of the fund by competing in Portugal and impressed with a top-20 finish to start her bid to compete as part of Team Europe at Gleneagles.

A member at Broomieknowe Golf Club in Midlothian,.

15-year-old Darling is one of the nation’s rising stars, having climbed the amateur ranks in recent years. She enjoyed an excellent season in 2018, winning the inaugural R&A Girls’ U16 Open Championship and successfully defending her Scottish Girls’ Amateur Championship title she won as a 14-year old in 2017. Now in the year of The Solheim Cup, Darling has her eyes firmly set on making the European Team for this year’s PING Junior Solheim Cup, saying: “I was fortunate enough to be part of the Project19 group who got to experience The 2017 Solheim Cup from inside the ropes and this opportunity confirmed my ambition of one day competing in the event myself. It has been an exciting couple of years since then and I am hugely grateful to Scottish Golf for their continued support. This new fund will help me compete across Europe as I look to qualify for Team Europe at the PING Junior Solheim Cup. To be part of such a big event on home soil would be an incredible experience and I am working hard to ensure that I can achieve this goal.”

Darling was one of six young female golfers to have self-started their own #Project19 initiative when they first learned of Scotland’s bid to host The 2019 Solheim Cup and PING Junior Solheim Cup. Comprising a WhatsApp group, the girl’s ambition was to motivate each other to qualify to represent Team Europe at the event in their home country.

The group included Rachel Foster (Prestwick St Nicholas), Eilidh Henderson (Kirkcaldy), Evanna Hynd (Balbirnie Park), Carmen Griffiths (Aboyne) and Anna McKay (Crail Golfing Society) who alongside Darling were supported to attend The 2017 Solheim Cup in Des Moines, Iowa where they mingled with both US and European teams and even participated in the official handover ceremony to Scotland following close of play.

Andrew McKinlay, CEO at Scottish Golf welcomed today’s announcement and said: “With Gleneagles hosting the PING Junior Solheim Cup in 2019, we are keen to ensure that we have Scottish representation in the European team and today’s announcement marks our commitment to supporting the next cohort of female golfers that would benefit massively from an opportunity like this.”

We are delighted to be working closely with our partners at The 2019 Solheim Cup Golf Development Group ahead of this year’s event and thank them for their support with our fund aimed at supporting the country’s top female junior golfers in qualifying for the PING Junior Solheim Cup.”

Joe FitzPatrick, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, said: “This collaboration between the Solheim Cup Golf Development Group and Scottish Golf is a wonderful demonstration of the opportunity the Solheim Cup is giving us to support Scottish junior players and create a lasting legacy from the event. I wish Hannah and all our juniors vying for a qualifying position, the very best of luck in the coming months.”

The European team in the PING Junior Solheim Cup is captained by former Solheim Cup captain Mickey Walker and will see 12 of the best young female players in Europe take on their American counterparts. To be eligible, players must be aged 12-18 years old, having reached their 18^thbirthday as of January 1^st, 2019. The team will be comprised of six qualifiers from the PING Junior Solheim Cup rankings as well as a further six captain’s picks.

The qualification journey will take place across 10 events in six more countries across Europe, before culminating at the Girls’ British Open Championship at Montrose Links, Scotland, from 13^th-17^thAugust.

For more information visit www.solheimcup2019.com

New campaign to tempt women tourists to play golf in Scotland

By Martin Dempster 

In the countdown to the 
Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in September, a campaign has been launched aimed at encouraging more women to travel to Scotland to play golf in the sport’s birthplace. 

The VisitScotland video content campaign, which has adopted the #HerScotland hashtag, is a concerted bid to grow the number of female visitors from its current figure of just 12 per cent at a time when female golf participation in some European countries is in excess of 35 per cent.

The campaign features four women, including LET player Kelsey MacDonald, who are filmed enjoying a golf break which also involves other fun activities off the course.

“VisitScotland is proud to be doing something that no other tourism body has done before by investing in a female focused golf destination 
marketing campaign,” said Malcolm Roughead, VisitScotland’s chief executive.

“We pride ourselves on being a forward thinking and innovative organisation and I believe this campaign will 
help to put the focus on Scotland as a female friendly golf destination.

“Scotland’ commitment to women’s golf is unquestionable with an investment in excess of £23 million since 2007 through our staging of both the Women’s British Open and the Aberdeen Standard Invesments Ladies Scottish Open cementing our reputation as the home of golf.”

Joining MacDonald in a campaign that will also be used to help support raise awareness of the 2019 Solheim Cup are Mar Hall head pro Kirstin Scott, Castle Stuart operations assistant Ellie Docherty and amateur golfer Susan Wood.

“It is a huge year for women’s golf in Scotland as we are set to host the Solheim Cup at 
Gleneagles in September,” added Roughead of an event that aims to attract 100,000 spectators as North Berwick’s Catriona Matthew leads Europe into battle. 

“The event offers us a significant opportunity to increase the number of female golfing visitors to Scotland.

“Add in a TV broadcast audience with the potential to reach more than 600 million households it means a lot of eyes will be firmly fixed on Scotland.”

SOLHEIM ROUND OF GOLF FOR 4 - SILENT AUCTION FOR ANYONE

Renfrewshire  Ladies' County Golf Association are holding  Beetle Drive on Sunday 27th January at Haggs Castle GC where their are numerous prizes to be won

There are 4 main Golf Silent Auction prizes -- READ MORE 

• 4-ball at Glasgow Gailes GC (with meal), 
• 4-ball at Pollok GC
• A round for 3 with Gillian Kyle at Prestwick GC (kindly donated by Cammy Kyle)
• Solheim Round of Golf for 4 -valid until 30 April 2019

To celebrate the Solheim Cup over the PGA Course at Gleneagles this year and the 110th Anniversary of Renfrewshire Ladies' County Golf Association  and of course many other counties your webmaster has donated  a round of golf for four over Gleneagles  

The recipient of this gift voucher will have the chance to enjoy a tee-time for four on their choice of any of Gleneagles  three championship courses.

• The PGA Centenary Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and played host to The 2014 Ryder Cup Matches and will host The 2019 Solheim Cup. 
• The King's Course, opened in 1919, is a masterpiece of design. 
• The natural beauty of The Queen's Course inspires the world's most experienced players. 

From now until 31st March - Available seven days a week after 11am.
From 1 - 30 April 2019 - Available Monday to Thursday after 12pm - Available Friday to Sunday after 1.30pm

All tee time offers are subject to availability. Valid up to  30/04/2019 

Those who are going to the Beetle Drive can obviously bid on the day -- however, you do not need to be a member of the county to bid. If you are interested in any of the venues above then email Carol   -- or preferably 
BIDDING CLOSED

SCOTTISH SOLHEIM CUP CLUB AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME

Solheim European Captain, Catriona Matthew supports launch of new Scottish Golf Solheim Cup Club Ambassador Programme. 

Read more on what the new programme is all about, and how you can get involved here: CLICK HERE

Catriona Matthew glad to have Solheim Cup entourage sorted

Catriona Matthew

Catriona Matthew has most of her pieces in place for this year’s Solheim Cup – and is excited to now see how the battle for spots on the European team unfolds over the next six months.

The home skipper has appointed Laura Davies, Kathyrn Imrie and Suzann Pettersen as her vice-captains for September’s clash at Gleneagles, with others having also agreed to take on unofficial roles for the North Berwick woman.

“Three vice-captains is what it has been the last three or four. It’s nice to have that sorted and I also have my helpers organised. It’s nice, for a change, to be quite organised,” she said.

“I’ve got five helpers and I think you can have one or two more, which I will leave until nearer the time. They do whatever I tell them (laughing)!”

The fight for 12 spots on Matthew’s team for the match in Perthshire resumed today in Abu Dhabi as the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open marked the start of the 2019 LET.

Eight automatic spots are up for grabs, with the last counting event set to be the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. On August 12, the day after that event in East Lothian finishes, Matthew, a nine-time Solheim Cup player, will announce her four captain’s picks for the match on September 13-15.

“At the moment there are a lot of possibilities, but six months is a long time in golf, so we will see who is in form at that time,” she said. “The core of the team will end up being similar, as it usually is. There will then be a few for us to debate.

“I think this next six months will be quite exciting. For someone (on the LET) to get in, they are going to have to play exceptionally well, but the chance is there. Georgia Hall played her way in the last time.”

Matthew is starting her new campaign by teeing up in Abu Dhabi, where she’s been joined by fellow Scots Carly Booth and Kylie Henry, as well as Edinburgh-based American Beth Allen. The winner in 2016 en route to topping the LET Order of Merit, Allen is looking to get her new season off to a good start after a disappointing season and a half.

“The last 18 months have been tough,” she admitted. “But I’m starting to feel positive about my game again. I started working with Karl Morris around September, leaving the mental coach I had been with for eight years.

“That has helped me find another direction and that has been a good thing for me. I have also been working hard on my swing with Ian Rae, though I don’t think it is that different to what it was a few years back. It’s been more down to a loss of confidence.”