Nelly Korda, Charley Hull and Bikes: 18 Things to Know About the Solheim Cup

The Junior Solheim Cup began Monday at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands. Players walking to the first tee were greeted by music, cheers and a few puffs from a smoke machine. That became the first item in GOLF.com’s list of 18 things to know about the upcoming Solheim Cup.

Players to watch: United States

The American team’s leading star is world No. 1 Nelly Korda. Across four Solheim Cup appearances, her record is 10-5-1, although Korda’s team has won the Cup only once, in 2024. Korda is also one of three Americans on the team with major titles: she has four, while Jennifer Kupcho and Allisen Corpuz have one apiece.

Lauren Coughlin is the next-highest-ranked American at No. 17. She went 3-0-1 on her Solheim debut in 2024.

Angel Yin missed two months and lost 35 pounds because of stomach issues, but told Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols that she will play.

At 35, Lindy Duncan is making her Solheim Cup debut.

Meghan Khang will play in her fifth Solheim Cup. She is unbeaten across her past two appearances, going 3-0-0 in 2024 and 3-0-1 in 2023.

Alison Lee will be the first mother in the field since Suzann Pettersen played in 2019.

Players to watch: Europe

Lottie Woad leads the list of European players to watch. She is the highest-ranked European at No. 7 and will make her Solheim Cup debut.

Charley Hull is next at No. 8 and will make her eighth appearance.

Carlota Ciganda will also make her eighth appearance. At the 2023 event in her home country of Spain, she clinched the point that retained the Cup for Europe. Fans sang her name to the refrain of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” and the chant is still stuck in the author’s head.

Celine Boutier is one of two European players with a major title. She won the 2023 Evian Championship.

Maja Stark is the other. She won the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open.

Linn Grant is making her third Solheim appearance. She recently also gave GOLF’s Maddi MacClurg advice on approach shots.

Captains

U.S. captain Angela Stanford played in six Solheim Cups. Her singles victory in 2015 completed the largest comeback in tournament history.

European captain Anna Nordqvist made nine Solheim appearances. Last month, she announced her retirement.

The course and transportation

The Solheim Cup will be played at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, a Dutch village about an hour south of Amsterdam. Most fans will likely travel from nearby Den Bosch, either by shuttle or bicycle. Bernardus Golf says the bike ride takes 20 to 30 minutes.

The course is open to public play through one-day memberships and also offers overnight packages.

It was designed by American architect Kyle Phillips, who also worked on Kingsbarns, the Grove and Yas Links. Bernardus Golf hosted the DP World Tour’s KLM event; the source lists 2021, 2022 and a repeated 2022.

Predictions

The Tour Confidential panel made predictions and selected an MVP on Sunday.

Zephyr Melton picked Europe and Carlota Ciganda: “She’s an absolute menace in this event. I expect it to continue this week.”

Josh Schrock chose Europe and Esther Henseleit: “She showed a ton of moxie at the AIG Women’s Open and I feel like she’s destined to be a problem for the Americans. If the U.S. wins, it’ll be because Zhang and Yealimi Noh play to their ceiling.”

Jack Hirsh also picked Europe and called Ciganda “the Solheim Cup’s version of Ian Poulter.”

The author picked the United States and predicted that newcomer Lindy Duncan would win the clinching point: “I love a good story.”