Solheim Cup no ordinary golf tournament

Upon entrance to Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove for the 2009 Solheim Cup, where the top players from the United States take on the best Europe has to offer, things will quickly become apparent.

This is no ordinary golf tournament, it's certainly no ordinary golf course, and in no way is the atmosphere like anything most of us have ever experienced.

"The atmosphere is awesome, just absolutely electric," said Alison Nicholas, a former Solheim participant and captain of the 2009 European team. "It's a fantastic sporting occasion. It's like your final football games, the finals at Wimbledon."

Wait, there's more.

"Watching the Solheim Cup is like witnessing the last 30 seconds of the Super Bowl, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, the finals of the NBA and Christmas all rolled into one," said Christina Kim of the U.S. team. "It's an incredible thing. It completely changes the way you view golf.

"It's an experience of a lifetime. No one should ever go without seeing it."

Her fellow pros share that view.

"It's like the Olympics, the World Series, the Super Bowl - every big sporting event you can imagine," teammate Natalie Gulbis said of the tournament, which opens with practice rounds on Monday and runs through Aug. 23.

That may be a skosh over the top, but in this case the comparison to the Olympics seems apt.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience; pretty much the equivalent to if Chicago gets the Olympics and you have a chance to go to an event," U.S. Captain Beth Daniel said. "It's such a unique golf event."

The atmosphere

Unlike most golf tournaments where the excitement level usually hits its peak around the 18th green, fans attending the Solheim Cup don't have that much patience.

For them, it all starts on the very first tee.

"You just look at those bleachers on No. 1; they can seat 800 people," Daniel said. "That will be the loudest place on the golf course when people are teeing off."

Chanting, singing, cheering, sign waving, face painting - you name it and the first hole has it.

"I look over at that grandstand on the first tee and imagine what it's going to be like and I get chills," Gulbis said.

"It's the equivalent of playing golf in a football arena," Daniel said. "Just the whole match play part of it is very different. It's things you don't see in normal golf - the patriotism, the emotion - it's all there.

"It's not like your normal, subdued 'golf clap' tournament. It's loud, lots of chants. As soon as someone chants 'Go USA,' someone else chants 'Go Europe.' People get into it, they really do."

The players

The U.S. team comes into the Solheim Cup as the heavy favorite, and for good reason.

With a roster that includes seasoned Cup players like leading money-winner Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Angela Stanford and Brittany Lincicome, and a strong rookie class of Brittany Lang, Kristy McPherson and Michelle Wie, they should be tough to beat.

"We have such a diverse group in terms of our games," said Creamer, whose 70 percent winning average matches Dottie Pepper's (13-5-2) as the highest in U.S. team history among members with two or more team appearances. "I think once we get our pairings together it's going to be unstoppable."

Kim agrees: "We've got one of the strongest teams I've ever seen."

But they're also awfully young with an average age just over 27. Helping offset that a bit is the addition of 49-year-old Juli Inkster, who will be the oldest player ever to compete in the event after being added to the team as a captain's pick.

In addition to providing a veteran presence, Inkster has another role on the team she probably wasn't aware of until early last week.

"She's basically my mom on the team," the 20-year-old Wie said with a laugh. "I think my mom felt good about sending me here; she talked to Julie about keeping me in line."

While the U.S. team seems quite loosey-goosey heading into Solheim Week, the Europeans are quietly confident, and Daniel understands why.

"The European team is sneaky good," she said. "On paper, yes, we're probably better. You have players over there that people possibly haven't heard of who are talented. They're good. They're really, really good."

Maybe even a step above?

"Our team could be great," said Gwladys Nocera of France, who twice has represented Europe in the Solheim Cup. "We're coming to win, there's no doubt about it. We'll see come Sunday."

The setting

How did we reach the point where the premier team event in women's professional golf - one that attracted 300 fans to the inaugural event in 1990 and now attracts in excess of 100,000 - is being held in our own backyard?

It started with a man, some land and a plan to build a single golf hole.

Thankfully it didn't stop there.

Years after owner/designer/architect Jerry Rich bought some farm land in Sugar Grove and tinkered with the idea of designing and building one great golf hole, his vision soon grew to three holes. Then six. And eventually he purchased ten surrounding farms and today, thanks to his vision and handiwork, Rich Harvest Farms is one of the top private courses in the United States and the proud host of the 2009 Solheim Cup.

"I pinch myself every time I go out there," Rich said of his masterpiece, which was named the fifth best new private course in the United States by Golf Digest.

"I just love this golf course," Daniel said. "I think it will go down in history as one of the greatest golf courses in the United States."

This week Rich's very private course - there are only about 50 members - will make its very public debut.

The players are sure the thousands upon thousands of spectators who will travel from near and far to the hamlet that is Sugar Grove will like what they see.

"It's going to be a perfect venue for a Solheim Cup because it's tough and you can make birdies, but you can also make bogeys and get into trouble," Gulbis said. "I think fans are going to be really excited when they see how picturesque this place is."

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