Catch Solheim Cup in your own backyard from your TV room

Women's golf and the Golf Channel have both been on the upswing in recent years, and it's in their mutual interest to keep it that way with TV coverage of the Solheim Cup this weekend.

The Golf Channel plans several breakthroughs in its exclusive coverage of the event, which features the most highly concentrated field of the year as the women's equivalent of the men's Ryder Cup.

The dozen top U.S. and European women golfers shoot it out in match play over three days at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. So make it out to see it if you can - there's no better chance to see the LPGA's best at close quarters - but if not settle in for all the comforts of home watching a marquee golf event in your own backyard, especially if you have an HDTV.

For the first time, the team-play tourney will be covered in high definition, and for the first time the Golf Channel will feature on-site wraparound news coverage of an LPGA event before and after actual play under its "Live From ... " umbrella. Two-time U.S. captain Judy Rankin will make her Golf Channel debut as a lead analyst, working alongside host Rich Lerner. And get ready to go to the Web, as two hours of Friday's opening session will stream live exclusively on golfchannel.com.

The first two days will feature foursomes in better-ball and alternating-shots team competitions. Then Sunday will close with a dozen head-to-head singles matches.

The Golf Channel will cover the opening from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday before turning things over to golfchannel.com for two hours, then finishing things up from 3 to 6:30. Golf Channel will have exclusive coverage from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, again with news coverage before and after.

Tom Stathakes, Golf Channel's senior vice president of programming, production and operations, said it is probably the top tournament it carries exclusively over the course of the season. "Any time you have a premier event like that, it's a big deal," he said.

So the Golf Channel is pulling out all the stops. Brian Hammons will do the play-by-play with analysis from Dottie Pepper, a six-time Solheim Cup U.S. team member, whom Stathakes called "one of the best golf analysts in the world, male or female." Donna Caponi-Byrnes, Kay Cockerill, Val Skinner and Phil Parkin will be out on the course.

It's the Golf Channel's opportunity to shine at a prestigious event, but also to expand its audience as the sole place to see it - unless you'll be on site.

"It helps at the event," Stathakes said, "and obviously it helps with our channel."