Gleneagles will play host to the 2019 renewal of the Solheim Cup
Thursday 29 October 2015 17:11, UK
The 2019 Solheim Cup is to be played at Gleneagles after the Scottish course emerged victorious following a competitive bidding process.
The world famous PGA Centenary Course in Perthshire has been given the nod ahead of the The Bro Hof Slott Golf Club in Sweden.
Gleneagles successfully hosted the Ryder Cup in 2014 as Europe beat the United States for the sixth time in seven events and will now be the venue for what is considered the top team event in women's golf.
The Solheim Cup also pits Europe against the USA and the US currently hold the trophy after launching an amazing comeback to win 14.5-13.5 in Germany last month.
Earlier this year, ten countries - Denmark, England, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and Wales - expressed an interest in hosting the event when it is next held in Europe four years hence.
And Gleneagles has won the right to host the tournament after official site inspections of the Centenary Course and Bro Hof Slott.
Ivan Khodabakhsh, chief executive of Ladies European Tour said: "I want to congratulate the Scotland bid team for their work.
"It was an extremely close decision and our heartfelt thanks go to our friends from Sweden for their hugely impressive bid. The Bro Hof Slott Golf Club is one of Europe's very finest courses and we look forward to working with them in the future.
"The competitive nature of the bidding process for the 2019 event is testimony to the growth in interest in women's professional golf and women's sport in general."
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, added: "This is tremendous news, not only for golf tourism and events in Scotland but for Scotland as a whole.
"As a nation we take a huge amount of pride in welcoming major events to our country and in women's golf they don't come any bigger than The Solheim Cup.
"The outstanding success of 2014 still looms large in the memory and I am delighted that Gleneagles and Scotland will once again play host to a major international team golf event.
"It will help cement Scotland's reputation as the home of golf and help inspire a new generation of children to take up the game invented in their home country."
