Press release -
Scotland states its case for The 2019 Solheim Cup
Ladies European Tour officials have undertaken a site inspection of The Gleneagles Hotel as part of the next stage of Scotland’s bid to host The 2019 Solheim Cup.
A delegation from the Ladies European Tour, which owns the event, spent two days touring the hotel, golf courses and other facilities as well as hearing presentations from various partners involved in the bid, including EventScotland, The Scottish Government, Gleneagles, Perth & Kinross Council, Transport Scotland and Police Scotland.
The five-strong delegation, which included chief executive Ivan Khodabakhsh and members of the Ladies European Tour board, were also greeted at the Scottish Parliament by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland looked to outline its strengths as a world-class host to major events.
Khodabakhsh commented:
“On behalf of the Ladies European Tour we were delighted to visit Gleneagles and meet with the many stakeholders behind the Scottish bid to host The 2019 Solheim Cup. The quality of the presentations and the experience of the team behind the bid was extremely impressive as well as the world renowned facilities at Gleneagles Hotel.
“It was very opportune to visit exactly 12 months on from the Ryder Cup Matches which was hosted to an exceptional level and to see the commitment and desire from everyone to deliver the same stage for the largest ladies professional golf tournament in the world in 2019.”
Scotland’s submission, which proposes staging the event on the world-renowned PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles, would see The Solheim Cup return to Scotland for the first time in almost 20 years.
The Ladies European Tour will now consider the detail behind Scotland’s bid before deciding on the host venue for 2019 towards the end of October.
Paul Bush, Director of Events with VisitScotland, said:
“We were delighted to welcome Ivan and his team from the Ladies European Tour to Scotland and Gleneagles to show them what a wonderful venue this would be for The 2019 Solheim Cup.
“Scotland is recognised as a world-class host of major events and we are proud of the bid we have submitted to the Ladies European Tour to host the most prestigious event in women’s golf. We very much look forward to hearing the outcome of their deliberations and, if successful, staging The Solheim Cup at Gleneagles.”
- ENDS -
For more information contact:
David Connor
Golf PR Manager
VisitScotland
0131 472 2063
07794 046 295
david.connor@visitscotland.com
Notes to Editors
- The Solheim Cup is one of the biggest women’s sporting events on the planet and has been played biennially since 1990 (changing to odd years in 2003 following the reshuffling of the golfing calendar in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001)
- Scotland has a proud association with the event having hosted it on two previous occasions: Dalmahoy Country Club in 1992 and Loch Lomond Golf Club in 2000.
- Scotland’s Dale Reid has twice captained the European Team – in 2000 and 2002 – while Catriona Matthew has played a total of 33 matches across seven events, winning 19 points in the process.
- Matthew also famously holed the winning putt at Barseback Country Club in Sweden in 2003
- Scotland already has a strong track record of supporting women’s professional golf with the Ladies Scottish Open (which began in 1986) supported by VisitScotland since 2007 and the Women’s British Open having been played here three of the last five years, with future commitments already made for 2017 and 2019.
- If Scotland’s bid is successful, The 2019 Solheim Cup would be played on the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles, the same course that successfully staged The 2014 Ryder Cup.
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- golf
- scotland the home of golf
- solheim cup
- sportstourism
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
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