Scotland submits interest in 2019 Solheim Cup

Scotland submits expression of interest in hosting 2019 Solheim Cup

Gleneagles - host to the 2014 Ryder Cup
Gleneagles - host to the 2014 Ryder Cup
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Scotland has become the latest nation to submit an expression of interest in hosting the 2019 Solheim Cup and will decide whether to launch a formal bid this summer.

Scotland has become the latest nation to submit an expression of interest in hosting the 2019 Solheim Cup and will decide whether to launch a formal bid this summer.

EventScotland has submitted the expression of interest to the Ladies European Tour. At this stage no venue or staging partner has been announced and the intention is that would happen once a decision to make a formal bid has been made.

Scotland has twice previously played host to the matches between the top professional women golfers from the USA and Europe: In 1992 at Dalmahoy and at 2000 at Loch Lomond. On both occasions the Europeans were victorious.

The 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles was regarded as the best-ever staging of the event and showed what Scotland can do when the whole country comes together to host a major golf tournament,” said Paul Bush, chief operating officer of EventScotland. “We believe that our history and heritage in golf as well as our experience in hosting major events can set us apart from other nations.”

Scotland joins England, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Wales and Turkey as the nations that have expressed an interest in hosting the biennial event.

Welsh golf officials will meet this week to decide whether to launch a formal bid to host the matches. Wales hosted the event in 1996 at St Pierre in Chepstow.

It’s thought that the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport, host to the 2010 Ryder Cup, might be forwarded as a possible venue.

The next Solheim Cup matches will take place at St. Leon-Rot Golf Club in Germany in September of this year. Carin Koch will captain the European side and Juli Inkster is captain for the USA. Europe will defend the trophy they won by 18-10 at Colorado Golf Club in 2013.

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?