Team Europe captain Anne Van Dam has declared that her squad possesses a strong likelihood of reclaiming the PING Junior Solheim Cup from Team USA, emphasizing that her players will compete fiercely until the final putt at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands.
The tournament, featuring twelve of Europe’s top golfers aged between 12 and 18, takes place on September 7 and 8. It serves as a lead-in to the main Solheim Cup, which begins three days later on September 11 and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
This year’s event marks a historic double debut: it is the first time both the junior and senior Solheim Cups are being held on the same course in the same week. Additionally, Van Dam will serve as a vice-captain for the senior European team under Anna Nordqvist, making her the first junior Solheim Cup captain to simultaneously hold a vice-captain role in the senior competition.
Van Dam’s former teammate, Bronte Law, returns as the European skipper’s vice-captain. In contrast, Team USA is led by Morgan Pressel and enters as the favorites, looking to defend the title they won in 2024 at the Army-Navy Country Club in Virginia.
Despite the United States holding an all-time record lead of 8-4-1 in the junior competition, Van Dam remains optimistic. She highlighted the character of her squad, stating, “My team are all fighters. One thing they have in common is they all have big personalities and very feisty attitudes.”
She added, “I know they will fight hard to the last putt. That’s sometimes a very hard thing to teach someone. You either have that, or you don’t. Everyone on our team has that.” Van Dam also expressed a desire for the European team to close the gap in the overall standings.
Europe last defeated the USA on home soil in 2023, winning 15-9 in Spain. The current European roster includes automatic qualifiers such as England’s Lauren Crump, who claimed victory at the Annika Invitational Europe, and Switzerland’s Lana Guyot. Captain’s picks include Spain’s Marta Muñoz, who defeated Adriana García Terol in the R&A Girls’ Amateur final, as well as teammate García Terol and England’s Annabel Peaford.
On the American side, Captain Pressel is backed by world No. 1 in the Rolex AJGA rankings, Asterisk Talley. Talley recently won the US Women’s Amateur Championship and headlines a strong roster that includes Amelie Zalsman and returning 2024 winner Anna Fang.
The competition format begins on Monday with six four-ball matches followed by six foursomes. Tuesday is reserved for 12 singles matches. Both Van Dam and Law have prior experience in the event, having played in the 2013 edition.
8-4 record is a mountain to climb. Is ‘fighters’ enough to topple the Americans’ dominance this time?
Van Dam’s fire matches the young squad perfectly. Hard to bet against that hungry energy on home soil!