The Solheim Cup seems to get better every year. The 2021 staging at Inverness was a rousing success with a record crowd of 130,000, packed pavilions and merchandise flying off the shelves before the competition even started.
In 2023, the competition heads to Spain for the first time at Finca Cortesin on the southern coast. Because the Ryder Cup moved to odd years due to the pandemic, the Solheim Cup will switch back to even years, with back-to-back competitions in 2023 and 2024.
In 2024, the Solheim Cup heads to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, the LPGA announced. Golfweek first reported that the biennial event was likely headed there last week.
Jones considered the course, located just outside Washington D.C., to be his masterpiece. It opened in 1991 and was home to four Presidents Cups as well as the 2015 Quicken Loans National, won by Troy Merritt.
Robert Trent Jones Golf Club is ranked 74th in Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses list. Its picturesque back nine runs adjacent to Lake Manassas, a 770-acre reservoir.
“We are honored and excited to bring the 2024 Solheim Cup to Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. RTJ has a strong tradition of hosting world-class international competitions, and we can’t wait to add the Solheim Cup, one of the flagship events in women’s golf, to the list,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan in a statement. “Playing the Solheim Cup on this magnificent golf course near our nation’s capital will provide the perfect backdrop for these elite athletes to battle for the Cup. I have no doubt that the club and its members will serve as wonderful hosts, and that fans from around the world will enjoy an experience of a lifetime.”
The Solheim Cup has never before been staged in Virginia. Europe has won the last two contests, shrinking the United States’ overall lead in the series to 10-7.
There’s another big women’s event headed to the D.C. area soon with the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship slated for Congressional Country Club later this summer.
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