Give a gift for the year after next
If you're looking for a holiday gift for a golf enthusiast who loves to plan in advance, consider giving a ticket to the 2009 Solheim Cup.
The event features the top U.S.-born golfers from the Ladies Professional Golf Association and the best European-born players from the Ladies European Tour in match competition.
The 2009 event will be Aug. 17-23 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. The Solheim Cup is held every two years and the venue alternates between the U.S. and Europe.
Tickets went on sale 60 days ago, and according to Rod Kelly of Kelly and LoDestro Global Relations, sales are steady.
Weekly ticket prices start at $125 and include admittance to the grounds throughout the week, as well as the Aug. 20 opening and the Aug. 23 closing ceremonies.
A $100 "Solheim After Sundown" ticket provides entrance to the Aug. 18 kickoff event featuring dinner, a silent auction and entertainment. This cost is separate from the weekly ticket price.
Another option is a $350 weekly ticket that includes access to the PING Pavilion behind the 17th hole. The air-conditioned pavilion offers seating, television and food for purchase.
Kelly said tickets will likely sell out in 2008.
"Many Europeans attend this event," Kelly said. "There is a huge following in England and in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. Right now the Euro is much stronger than the dollar so tickets are more of a bargain for fans in Europe, although England is still on the pound.
"We don't have exact figures on European vs. U.S. attendance, but the 2005 Solheim Cup was held in Indiana and 43 percent of those attending were from outside of the host state. It's good for tourism."
The 2007 Solheim Cup was held in September in Sweden, and Sugar Grove Village President Sean Michels and Perry Clark, executive director of the Sugar Grove Economic Development Corporation, both attended to scope it out.
Fans who purchase tickets before Dec. 31 will receive a $10 merchandise card that can be redeemed at the event and a color photograph of both the U.S. and European 2007 Solheim Cup teams.
Also, orders placed by Dec. 6 will be processed in time for the giver to place the tickets under the tree for Christmas.
Tickets can be ordered online at www.solheimcup.com.
Celtic concert
Hear and learn about traditional Irish music when the Town and Country Library welcomes Bryan Kelso Crow. He will perform from 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 19 at the library at 320 E. North St. in Elburn.
Crow plays the tin whistle and wood flute and he will discuss the cultural content of his music. He was born in Tennessee but has Scotch-Irish roots and has traveled in Ireland and taught there.
Crow is host of Celtic Connections, a syndicated radio show, and is an associate professor of speech communications at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He taught as an exchange professor at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland for the 1985-86 academic year.
The program is paid in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council.
For information, call (630) 365-2244.