Junior Solheim Cup Archives

Record Victory at the Junior Solheim Cup 2024

Before the final day of competition, the Americans were already leading 8-4 after the fourball and foursomes matches on Monday. On the decisive Tuesday, Team USA then went on a remarkable run in the singles, winning ten out of twelve matches. Of particular note was the performance of Jude Lee, who secured her victory with a 5&4 against Perla Sol Sigurbrandsdottir from Iceland and thus contributed the decisive point to the overall victory. “It was just incredible to play with the best girls in the world,” said Lee after her match. “It’s an experience we’ll all never forget.”

Starting @TheSolheimCup on a high note with a Junior U.S. Team win 🏆🙌 pic.twitter.com/Qi5Yt2WriI

— Solheim Cup U.S. Team 🇺🇸 (@SolheimCupUSA) September 11, 2024

The American team put in an impressive overall performance, led by players such as Elizabeth Rudisill, who defeated world number nine Andrea Revuelta from Spain 3&2. Natalie Yen, Anna Fang and Madison Messimer also contributed to the outstanding result with clear victories. The only European to score a full point in the singles was Martina Navarro from Spain, who defeated Nikki Oh 2&1. Overall, the American team performed well in all game formats and dominated the European team in four-ball, foursomes and singles.

The record for the highest winning score at this tournament previously stood at 17 to 7 and was also set by Team USA in the inaugural event in 2002. This year, the American team surpassed this record and celebrated its first victory since 2019.

The US Team wins the 13th @PINGTour #JrSolheimCup at Army Navy Country Club – Arlington.

The ending score of 18.5 to 5.5 is the largest margin any team has won by in tournament history!@TheSolheimCup | @SolheimCupUSA — AJGA (@AJGAGolf) September 10, 2024

Beth Daniel Full of Pride

Beth Daniel, captain of the American team and LPGA Hall of Famer, was proud of her team: “My players were simply fantastic. They fought hard and every one of them wanted this win. I think the home advantage gave us extra motivation.” Nocera also paid tribute to her opponents: “Team USA played unbelievably. They had a very strong team and took revenge for last year’s defeat. We will be ready again in two years’ time.”

This is the Junior Solheim Cup

The Junior Solheim Cup, which was launched in 2002, pits the best young female golfers in the USA and Europe against each other in a match play format. Inspired by the professional Solheim Cup, the event is held every two years, alternating between the USA and Europe. In two years’ time, the Junior Solheim Cup will be held in the Netherlands for the first time. Europe will then do everything it can to bring back the trophy and build on this year’s experience with talents such as Andrea Revuelta, Alice Kong and Louise Uma Landgraf. The American team now leads the overall standings with a 9:4 record.

A sublime Europe, able to completely disrupt the American resistance during the two days of competition, has vindicated its importance in the PING Junior Solheim Cup, the vibrant prelude to the Solheim Cup that has been held with great success at the Old Course in La Zagaleta.

Europe wins the PING Junior Solheim Cup 2023

The slogans “Vamos Girls!” and “Go Europe!”, shouted by the young European players after beating their opponents by a resounding 15 to 9, are a preview of what may happen from Friday at Finca Cortesin, when the show proper of the Solheim Cup begins.

“Hopefully this result will encourage the seniors to beat the United States as well,” said the four Spaniards who contributed to Europe’s second consecutive victory in this competition in unison, with pride and satisfaction visible on their faces.

The team captained by France’s Gwladys Nocera had done their homework very well on the first day, when a significant 8.5 to 3.5 was on the scoreboard. That left them needing just four points from the twelve at stake in the individual matches, a goal that all the members of the European team had been working towards like a disciplined Roman legion since early in the morning of the decisive day.

Andrea Revuelta from Madrid, European leader in the first of the duels, with the experience of having won this tournament in 2021, was the example of the attitude of her whole team. At first she could not contain Jasmine Koo’s barrage of hits during the first part of the round, with three birdies and an eagle that put her four holes down on the 10th, but from that moment on, the courage and grit of the Spaniard reduced the disadvantage to the minimum.

The result did not matter – the Spaniard conceded on the last hole – but rather the predisposition, that warrior’s disposition so palpable that characterized the entire European team when facing all the matches. Some led to success, others to a draw and some more to defeat, the latter an anecdote in the context of a memorable performance that leads Europe to regain ground in the list of winners of this competition.

Second consecutive victory, fourth victory in history, captain Gwladys Nocera had distributed her pupils in an order of play that was crucial, potential points at the top of the court and more potential points at the bottom, a lethal combination that fructified in reality and turned the hopes of a U.S. comeback into nothing.

Among the Spaniards, special mention for the Valencian Cloe Amión, who won all three points in which she was involved. “I’m very proud, it’s great to have been here and to have contributed to Europe’s victory. It’s been an unforgettable experience, the truth is that it’s a dream,” she said emotionally.

She herself, along with the rest of her teammates, waited patiently for Rocío Tejedo from Castellón to finish her match on the 18th hole, the best place to celebrate in style the new European victory, the perfect incentive for the start of the Solheim Cup 2023 this Friday.

One of the highest results in history

The final score of 15-9 in favor of Europe, while still large, is by no means the most emphatic on record at the PING Junior Solheim Cup. That honor goes to the inaugural edition in 2002, when the United States outscored Europe 17-7, a ten-point lead that has not even come close since. By contrast, the narrowest margin was in 2003, when Europe beat the United States by 12.5 to 11.5. Going even further, the 2011 duel between Europeans and Americans ended in a draw.

Europe’s unquestionable victory in this edition of the Junior Solheim Cup means that the balance of victories in the winners’ list of both teams is narrowing. The United States still has a wide advantage, with 7 victories to its credit, but Europe has accumulated, with this one, its fourth victory, the second in a row, something that had not happened so far in the list of victories in this competition.

U.S. women golfers with their bags over their shoulders

A curious fact, which has drawn attention during these two days of vibrant competition, has been that the American golfers have carried their bag on their shoulders, without the help of any kind of trolley. In the United States this is the usual rule imposed by the USGA, but this circumstance may have weighed on them -never better said- given that the terrain of the Old Course, with numerous slopes, meant that some players arrived at some holes visibly tired.