Solheim Diversion

[bunker18]

Perhaps I'm just reading between the lines but I get the distinct impression that there are some on the board that haven't caught Solheim fever. I know, weird.

 

Soooo, I thought it would be fun to speculate on what would be the most competitive team event, Korea vs World. Based largely on the WGR with some exceptions for regional pairings, I came up with the following entries for Team World.

 

Shen Shen / Nomura

Moriya / Ariya

Minjee L / Lydia

Kerr / Lexi

Brooke / Ciganda

Suzanne / Nordquist

 

Not all of these players are currently on top of their game (a certain Kiwi comes to mind) so would you swap anyone out?

 

I'm sure there are others that would have a better handle on who would comprise Team Korea.

 

Finally, who would be favored?

[legitimategolf]

Listen when the time comes I'll have my face painted and ribbons in my hair and whatever, but the Solheim Cup is still several days away, no use getting all excited right now.

[8602081]

I'm not exactly sure why I'm not so excited.. but, I'll still watch.. I think part of the reason is that the best of the best aren't in the tournament..

 

I would be more excited, if it was US vs South Korea..

[ausgolfgirl]

I personally would love to see a biennial match between USA and South Korea, that would be epic! I know we have the International Crown event to look forward to in South Korea but can you imagine the rivalry that would grow between those 2 countries. It would be awesome to watch the level of play aswell

[pmcuk]

I'm asking myself why there isn't a European Team thread here which Europeans could contribute to......

 

Not all of us are in the USA.

[4waymiss]

I personally would love to see a biennial match between USA and South Korea, that would be epic! I know we have the International Crown event to look forward to in South Korea but can you imagine the rivalry that would grow between those 2 countries. It would be awesome to watch the level of play aswell

 

Two potential issues

 

1, It took about 10 years for the "Se Ri kids" to come along. What do we do if/when in 5 years the "Yani kids", and/or in 10 years, the "Ariya's kids" starts to arrive ?

 

2, The women's golf craze is relatively recent in Korea. Is it going to sustain ? Let's say Korea produces a great women's tennis champion. Will lots of kids switch to tennis instead ?

[Qqq123xx]

I'm asking myself why there isn't a European Team thread here which Europeans could contribute to......

 

Not all of us are in the USA.

Crank one up.

[ClairefromClare]

I've always imagined the six continents challenge: the Americas vs. Europe-Africa vs. Australasia. You could even adapt the Solheim/Ryder Cup format with a round robin twist. That avoids excluding great players from countries without a lot of depth.

[Highland]

I've always imagined the six continents challenge: the Americas vs. Europe-Africa vs. Australasia. You could even adapt the Solheim/Ryder Cup format with a round robin twist. That avoids excluding great players from countries without a lot of depth.

That's exactly what I've been thinking. Not just USA, but the Americas. Not just S. Korea, but Asia-Pacific to encompass Thailand, Australia, etc. Plus a European team, of course. That would be a very interesting contest!

[4waymiss]

I've always imagined the six continents challenge: the Americas vs. Europe-Africa vs. Australasia. You could even adapt the Solheim/Ryder Cup format with a round robin twist. That avoids excluding great players from countries without a lot of depth.

That's exactly what I've been thinking. Not just USA, but the Americas. Not just S. Korea, but Asia-Pacific to encompass Thailand, Australia, etc. Plus a European team, of course. That would be a very interesting contest!

 

The Ryder/Solhiem cup works because the players are so passionate about it. If you arbitrarily slap together a team with little in common between the players, you risk it becoming a hit and giggle event.

 

aka The President's Cup

[Shilgy]

I've always imagined the six continents challenge: the Americas vs. Europe-Africa vs. Australasia. You could even adapt the Solheim/Ryder Cup format with a round robin twist. That avoids excluding great players from countries without a lot of depth.

That's exactly what I've been thinking. Not just USA, but the Americas. Not just S. Korea, but Asia-Pacific to encompass Thailand, Australia, etc. Plus a European team, of course. That would be a very interesting contest!

 

The Ryder/Solhiem cup works because the players are so passionate about it. If you arbitrarily slap together a team with little in common between the players, you risk it becoming a hit and giggle event.

 

aka The President's Cup

Bingo, nailed it

 

[legitimategolf]

Nobody would love a US v Korea grudge-cup match more than me but I can't see it happening. We are too politically correct right now to acknowledge any rivalry with Korea. I haven't seen any of those "Koreans are killing the tour" articles in a long time, and things are as "bad" as ever (that is to say Koreans are winning the majority of LPGA tournaments/majors, popping up on all the leaderboards etc) Maybe the subject of Korean domination is just too uncomfortable to face or something. Starting a cup match would be to acknowledge that our women are getting owned and perhaps they are too proud to acknowledge it. (Not Stacy though! she'd probably be like BRING IT ON INBEE)

 

I used to think that such a lopsided cup match would be bad for the US women, would be demoralizing etc but I think the opposite now--it would give them something real to rally behind. While the Koreans assemble their supersquad of emotionless cold-blooded killers ENTIRELY FROM INSIDE THE WORLD TOP 20 or whatever, we would be forced to reach deep into the rankings to scrounge together the scrappiest toughest hungriest group possible and maybe, even if they got beat to a pulp most of the time, the whole thing--the event and the team qualification drama--would energize them (and audiences) even more than the Solheim. Classic David and Goliath. And obviously the Americans could win occasionally too, just like Europe beats us once in a while. It would be fun!

 

Let's do it!!!

[ClairefromClare]

I've always imagined the six continents challenge: the Americas vs. Europe-Africa vs. Australasia. You could even adapt the Solheim/Ryder Cup format with a round robin twist. That avoids excluding great players from countries without a lot of depth.

That's exactly what I've been thinking. Not just USA, but the Americas. Not just S. Korea, but Asia-Pacific to encompass Thailand, Australia, etc. Plus a European team, of course. That would be a very interesting contest!

 

The Ryder/Solhiem cup works because the players are so passionate about it. If you arbitrarily slap together a team with little in common between the players, you risk it becoming a hit and giggle event.

 

aka The President's Cup

 

Then what's your proposal? How do we get folks passionate and still include great players from countries without a great depth of talent?

[Shilgy]

I've always imagined the six continents challenge: the Americas vs. Europe-Africa vs. Australasia. You could even adapt the Solheim/Ryder Cup format with a round robin twist. That avoids excluding great players from countries without a lot of depth.

That's exactly what I've been thinking. Not just USA, but the Americas. Not just S. Korea, but Asia-Pacific to encompass Thailand, Australia, etc. Plus a European team, of course. That would be a very interesting contest!

 

The Ryder/Solhiem cup works because the players are so passionate about it. If you arbitrarily slap together a team with little in common between the players, you risk it becoming a hit and giggle event.

 

aka The President's Cup

 

Then what's your proposal? How do we get folks passionate and still include great players from countries without a great depth of talent?

The LPGA tour? You cannot have a team from every country if they do not have enough players. Everyone does not get to participate. If South Korea wants to hold a Solheim/Ryder Cup type match with anyone perhaps they could ask? Or maybe they already do with Japan or someone else and no one outside those countries cares?

[jkumpire]

I've always imagined the six continents challenge: the Americas vs. Europe-Africa vs. Australasia. You could even adapt the Solheim/Ryder Cup format with a round robin twist. That avoids excluding great players from countries without a lot of depth.

That's exactly what I've been thinking. Not just USA, but the Americas. Not just S. Korea, but Asia-Pacific to encompass Thailand, Australia, etc. Plus a European team, of course. That would be a very interesting contest!

 

The Ryder/Solhiem cup works because the players are so passionate about it. If you arbitrarily slap together a team with little in common between the players, you risk it becoming a hit and giggle event.

 

aka The President's Cup

 

Then what's your proposal? How do we get folks passionate and still include great players from countries without a great depth of talent?

The LPGA tour? You cannot have a team from every country if they do not have enough players. Everyone does not get to participate. If South Korea wants to hold a Solheim/Ryder Cup type match with anyone perhaps they could ask? Or maybe they already do with Japan or someone else and no one outside those countries cares?

 

Try this proposal, do it once every four years, on even numbered years between Olympics if the golf competition will continue.

 

Teams:

 

USA

Europe

S. Korea

Japan

Rest of World.

 

For the first one, Winner of 2017 Solheim Cup is top seed. I will be unbiased and say Europe wins:

 

Seed the other four teams (use whatever ranking system you want, or have a blind draw).

 

1. S. Korea

2. US.

3. Japan

4. RoW

 

1 plays 4, 2 plays 3 in 2 day match, One session 4 ball, 1 session alternate shot on Day One, everyone has to play once. On day 2 it's Singles.

Winners play two weekends later, same format.

Winner of semi-final plays Europe two weekends later in three day Soldheim Cup format.

 

Winner of the finals is top seed and defends the next cycle, only having to play once. Everyone else is thrown back in the pool.

 

If you don't like that format have four teams by merging Japan with RoW, Then you have one weekend of semi-finals, and play the finals the next weekend.

[Shilgy]

Try this proposal, do it once every four years, on even numbered years between Olympics if the golf competition will continue.

 

Teams:

 

USA

Europe

S. Korea

Japan

Rest of World.

 

For the first one, Winner of 2017 Solheim Cup is top seed. I will be unbiased and say Europe wins:

 

Seed the other four teams (use whatever ranking system you want, or have a blind draw).

 

1. S. Korea

2. US.

3. Japan

4. RoW

 

1 plays 4, 2 plays 3 in 2 day match, One session 4 ball, 1 session alternate shot on Day One, everyone has to play once. On day 2 it's Singles.

Winners play two weekends later, same format.

Winner of semi-final plays Europe two weekends later in three day Soldheim Cup format.

 

Winner of the finals is top seed and defends the next cycle, only having to play once. Everyone else is thrown back in the pool.

 

If you don't like that format have four teams by merging Japan with RoW, Then you have one weekend of semi-finals, and play the finals the next weekend.

How many players on a team would be a huge deal. The more players per team heavily favors the South Koreans and then US. As to your unbiased Europe pick in the Solheim Cup they will need to bring their A+ game. The US has 18 players ranked in the top 75 and Europe has 9. Even with Creamer(112) replacing Korda(27) the US has a huge advantage based on rankings.

[bunker18]

OK, here's my idea.

 

The first two days are stroke play style. Any country that can find 3/4 golfers can show up, be it Jamaica, Cambodia, whoever. Very inclusive. Team Sweden tees off together with a three-some or four-some. Next Team Thailand tees off. Their cumulative strokes over the 2 days determines which 4 countries make the cut to play on the weekend.

 

The semis are seeded based on the 2 day totals so that it is 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3. The same 3 or 4 players would participate for their respective countries. I think it would be better to switch to match play style but base the winner on total holes, so all matches go 18. If you are up 6 with 5 play you just try to make it 8 up because it might make up for your teammates losing in the other match(es). The two winning countries meet the next day in the finals, same format.

 

This way everyone is playing for their country, so the interest factor is still there. Is it likely that Suzanne is going to find 3 other Norwegians that will make the final 4? No, but they get the chance and aren't formally excluded.

 

And this way we would get the head to head match up on the weekend between countries (e.g. US vs Korea) that the International Crown doesn't really provide.

 

There is still a type of exclusion though, just as there is with the Olympics and International Crown. Korea and the US only send 3/4 players. So likely someone in the top 10 isn't going to play.

[8602081]

I am however very excited to see Angel Yin and Georgia Hall perform..

[golfgirlrobin]

Three teams. Europe, U.S. And Asia. Two teams play it off to see who challenges the current holder of the Cup.

 

Basically a smaller version of how they run the America's Cup. Doesn't include every country but most don't have enough decent players to put together a competitive team anyway.

 

 

[ausgolfgirl]

Since 2015 there has been an annual match called the Queens Cup in December held between 4 tours Korea - klpga, Japan - jlpga ,ladies European tour - LET and the Australian/New Zealand team - ALPG 8 man teams, fourballs, foursomes, singles etc

[elwhippy]

I am looking forward to the matches. I realise that it is not the strongest fields but any match against the USA has to get the juices flowing.

[ClairefromClare]

Since 2015 there has been an annual match called the Queens Cup in December held between 4 tours Korea - klpga, Japan - jlpga ,ladies European tour - LET and the Australian/New Zealand team - ALPG 8 man teams, fourballs, foursomes, singles etc

 

Wow--too bad it's not above the radar in the U.S. Would be much more fun to watch than yet another rerun of a dated golf movie.

[4waymiss]

Since 2015 there has been an annual match called the Queens Cup in December held between 4 tours Korea - klpga, Japan - jlpga ,ladies European tour - LET and the Australian/New Zealand team - ALPG 8 man teams, fourballs, foursomes, singles etc

 

Wow--too bad it's not above the radar in the U.S. Would be much more fun to watch than yet another rerun of a dated golf movie.

 

I think GC actually showed the final day competition on tape delay. But you really have to be a dedicated reader of Argonne's "fashion thread" to know who's who. :)

[Argonne69]

Since 2015 there has been an annual match called the Queens Cup in December held between 4 tours Korea - klpga, Japan - jlpga ,ladies European tour - LET and the Australian/New Zealand team - ALPG 8 man teams, fourballs, foursomes, singles etc

 

Wow--too bad it's not above the radar in the U.S. Would be much more fun to watch than yet another rerun of a dated golf movie.

 

I think GC actually showed the final day competition on tape delay. But you really have to be a dedicated reader of Argonne's "fashion thread" to know who's who. :)

 

If I'm not mistaken, a few high ranked Korean players on the JLPGA, Ha Neul Kim and Bo Mee Lee, didn't participate. 'Not sure if that's because the JLPGA team was restricted to Japanese players, or if they simply decided to sit it out and not compete against their fellow countrywomen.

[Shilgy]

Nobody would love a US v Korea grudge-cup match more than me but I can't see it happening. We are too politically correct right now to acknowledge any rivalry with Korea. I haven't seen any of those "Koreans are killing the tour" articles in a long time, and things are as "bad" as ever (that is to say Koreans are winning the majority of LPGA tournaments/majors, popping up on all the leaderboards etc) Maybe the subject of Korean domination is just too uncomfortable to face or something. Starting a cup match would be to acknowledge that our women are getting owned and perhaps they are too proud to acknowledge it. (Not Stacy though! she'd probably be like BRING IT ON INBEE)

 

I used to think that such a lopsided cup match would be bad for the US women, would be demoralizing etc but I think the opposite now--it would give them something real to rally behind. While the Koreans assemble their supersquad of emotionless cold-blooded killers ENTIRELY FROM INSIDE THE WORLD TOP 20 or whatever, we would be forced to reach deep into the rankings to scrounge together the scrappiest toughest hungriest group possible and maybe, even if they got beat to a pulp most of the time, the whole thing--the event and the team qualification drama--would energize them (and audiences) even more than the Solheim. Classic David and Goliath. And obviously the Americans could win occasionally too, just like Europe beats us once in a while. It would be fun!

 

Let's do it!!!

It is interesting. South Koreans have won 12 of the 22 events played so far on the LPGA. Just 4 winners from the US and 6 from elsewhere. It had not even crossed my mind as imo it has been a pretty damn interesting season to watch with a lot of old and new faces popping up on leaderboards. Personally I don't think it is political correctness that keeps the sky is falling stories from coming out on the LPGA. It is now the norm and if anyone wants to do anything about it they need to play better. Not legislate it to be different. Like the PGA tour though I don't care where the winners are from. I just enjoy watching good golf.

 

That said it I agree it would be fun to watch a Cup between the South Koreans and US and also agree it might help the cause of getting more American winners.