If you’ve never watched a Solheim Cup Tournament before, get ready for some great golf. Golf Channel will be showing the tournament LIVE, beginning with the opening ceremony on the 15th, right through to the final closing on Sunday, the 18th. Check your local listings for air times.
But what are the formats that will be played during the tournament? They are exactly the same as the guys use at The Ryder Cup:
- fourball,
- foursomes and
- singles match play
A total of twenty-eight matches (games) will be played over the three days of the tournament. The challenge for the USA and European Team Captains is to choose the best golfer to play in each type of format. Some women play great match play, but are not as strong in a four ball format.
Here’s a definition for each format:
FourBall – This is a format that pits two teams of two players each against each other using better-ball scoring. The two players on a team each play their own ball throughout the entire round. But for each hole, only the “better ball” score counts as the team score.
Foursomes – In this format there are two persons on a team for each side. The players alternate hitting the same ball until the ball is holed. Players alternate hitting tee shots for all 18 holes so one player does not hit all the drives.
Singles Match Play – Players play one on one, competing to win individual holes. The player who wins the most holes, wins the match.
On day one and two of the Solheim Cup Tournament, the golfers play both fourball and foursome formats. There are 4 teams of 2 players each for the USA and 4 teams of 2 players each for the Europeans. On day three, all 12 players on each side must play.
You can learn more about the Solheim Cup match ups, strategies and latest news at GolfChannel.
It’s critical that each golfer’s strengths and matched with the best format for their manner of play. It’s a challenge for the team Captains to make the right pairings if they are going to win the contest. Makes for some great golf.
What do you think? Are you going to watch?
