TOUGH FOR GB&I GIRLS TO WIN
JUNIOR SOLHEIM CUP PLACES

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

It’s going to be tough for British and Irish girls to earn a place in the European team of 12 for the Ping Junior Solheim Cup match against the United States at Bastad Golf Club, Sweden on September 11 and 12.
That’s because only one of the five events in which points can be earned for an automatic selection table is not on the Continent – the British girls open championship at Southerndown Golf Club in South Wales from August 13 to 17.
The “British” will be the last of five tournaments in which Ping Junior Solheim Cup qualifying points can be earned, following on to the Spanish women’s amateur championship (February 28-March 3), the French Lady Juniors championship (April 5-6), the Skandia Junior Open in Sweden (May 25-27) and the European girls’ team championship in Norway (July 10-14).
Points will be awarded to players who finish in the top eight of a match-play competition and the top 10 of a stroke-play event.

AUTOMATIC SELECTIONS
The leading seven in the points table at the conclusion of the British girls open championship will be automatic selections for the Junior Solheim Cup match.
The remaining five players in the European girls’ team will be chosen by the team captain, former Solheim Cup player Catrin Nilsmark (Sweden), and a selection committee.
In the last Junior Solheim Cup match, staged in the United States in 2005, there were only two UK players in the European team - England's Florentyna Parker and Melissa Reid.

The age parameters are between 13 and 18 years old (born 1989 and later).
The two-day match will feature six foursomes, six four-balls and 12 singles.
United States lead 2-1 in the biennial series.
+A clash of dates with the Ping Junior Solheim Cup will rob The Duke of York Young Champions’ Trophy tournament of a number of Europe’s leading Under-18 girl golfers who would otherwise have been in the field for the September 11-13 stroke-play event over the Dundonald Links, Ayrshire.