Benahavís, Spain - La Zagaleta, one of the most exclusive clubs in Europe, located in the Malaga town of Benahavís, will host the 2023 PING Junior Solheim Cup – an invitation only event for golfs 24 best female juniors that precedes the 2023 Solheim Cup.
La Zagaleta hosted the presentation ceremony of the 2023 PING Junior Solheim Cup which was attended by a multitude of personalities including Manuel Muñoz, General Secretary for Tourism of the Junta de Andalucía; Antonio Díaz, Managing Director of Turismo Costa del Sol; José Antonio Mena, Mayor of Benahavís; Gonzaga Escauriaza, President of the RFEG; Jacobo Cestino, CEO La Zagaleta; Bertil Hult, Member of the Board of Directors; Javier Carretero, Member of the Direct Board of External Partners; Eva-Lotta Strömlid, Project Director of the PING Junior Solheim Cup; Pablo Bernárdez, Director of the PING Junior Solheim Cup 2023 and Pablo Mansilla, President of the RFGA.
“We’re very excited to bring the 2023 PING Junior Solheim Cup to the Old Course at La Zagaleta. It’s a tremendous club that will surely challenge the girls as they play for the honor and pride of their countries. The event continues to grow in popularity and bringing it to Spain for the first time adds to its stature and history. I’m personally looking forward to attending the event as it is always one of the highlights of the week for me. It brings me a lot of joy to see these talented young ladies compete and pull off great shots with so much pressure. Playing for team and country for the Junior Solheim Cup is inspiring. There is nothing like it. It’s an experience they’ll remember forever.”
José Antonio Mena, Mayor of Benahavis, host city of the PING Junior Solheim Cup, said, “We thank La Zagaleta for its commitment to this wonderful event and to the Ladies European Tour and PING for making it possible."
“It is a great decision that the future golf stars get to come and play in Andalusia and especially in Benahavís. We, through the municipal golf school, encourage many girls to get started with this wonderful sport and, undoubtedly, the PING Junior Solheim Cup will motivate them to continue practicing it. I would love to see a girl from Benahaville qualify to represent Europe, but regardless of whether she makes it or not, we would like the PING Junior Solheim Cup to be an absolute highlight. I think we are looking at a unique and historic opportunity.”
He concluded, "This is an event that will transcend beyond the merely sporting, we will have the opportunity to assert our great complementary offer, based on the climate, but also on our hotels, our organizational capacity, our gastronomy, our leisure and our culture. And I have to say that we are going to do it with all the generosity that such a tournament deserves.”
Bertil Hult, Member of the Board of La Zagaleta Golf Club, opened the event and thanked the Solheim Cup for having chosen this course to hold the PING Junior tournament. While Jacobo Cestino, CEO of La Zagaleta, remembered the players who have participated in previous editions, and celebrated the fact that today is International Women's Day. He said, “Golf is a sport that gives young people character, patience, respect, and tolerance. Some values necessary to successfully develop their adult life.”
Gonzaga Escauriaza, President of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation, expressed his satisfaction at the competition. He said, “The PING Junior Solheim Cup is much more than an interesting prologue to the Solheim Cup. Witnessing the game of the young players, predicting which of them are going to reach the top in the future, checking that they take golf as true professionals despite their youth... all this is an exciting experience that we have to take advantage of.”
He added, “Spain has contributed with many great players who have gone on to become stars of our sport and excellent representatives in the Solheim Cup, such as Carlota Ciganda, Azahara Muñoz and Beatriz Recari, to give three good examples. For all these reasons, we will not only enjoy the three days of competition of the Solheim Cup, but a whole week of great events that will put Andalusia and Spain in the epicentre of media attention thanks to golf.”
Antonio Diaz, Managing Director of Turismo Costa del Sol, expressed his satisfaction for the celebration of the PING Junior Solheim Cup in La Zagaleta. He said, “This is one more milestone that is happening until the achievement of a dream, which is none other than the celebration of the Solheim Cup.
“This is the first time that the Solheim Cup is coming to our country, and it will leave a legacy before and after the tournament for the prestige of our destination. We are very proud because hosting an event of this caliber means the eyes of the world are on the Costa del Sol once again.”
Manuel Muñoz, General Secretary for Tourism of the Junta de Andalucía, said, “Andalusia offers a richness and complementary as a tourist destination, and this is reflected in our commitment to the Solheim Cup – an event where the impact extends far beyond the days of the tournament.
"We are all involved in making the most of this opportunity to develop as an international golf destination and the PING Junior Solheim Cup is a clear example of this, as it will be one more attraction to continue presenting Andalusia as the best golf destination. It will also contribute to the practice of golf among the younger public and for this demographic to see our community. So, I thank the organization for giving us this new opportunity to show everyone that Andalusia is the destination of experiences for golf lovers.”
“The girls coming to play here are the top 12 girls from Europe and the top 12 girls from the United States, under 18. All the history tells you they will be the future number one golf players, Major winners and Solheim Cup players. The PING Junior Solheim Cup gives them an opportunity to travel that path,” said Eva-Lotta Strömlid, Project Director of the PING Junior Solheim Cup.
“The PING Junior Solheim Cup gives dreams to younger players to keep playing to one day make the European and the U.S. team. But it is not only about the golf we develop with tournaments like this at La Zagaleta, it’s also about life experiences. We will see great matches being played but we will also help out connecting the girls, and it’s also about friendship and connections between organizations.
“Thank you to the promoter D&B and partners that make this event possible, to La Zagaleta for giving us a one-of-a-kind venue to play at and to the Spanish Federation for their continuous and everlasting support of junior and women’s golf in Spain.”
The 2023 PING Junior Solheim Cup will be played September 18-19, 2023 and will serve as a great prologue to the 2023 Solheim Cup, which will be held a few days later, September 22-24, 2023, at the neighboring Finca Cortesín .
In 2002, the PING Junior Solheim Cup was created as the junior version of the Solheim Cup for young amateurs, ages 12 -18, with the same format to that of the professionals, pitting the 12 best European golfers against the same number from the United States.
Both teams will be announced in August 2023. Team Europe will be formed from the best six players on a ranking established from different amateur tournaments that season and six players will be chosen by the captain. The United States team will be comprised of the top-6 in the Golfweek/Sagarian rankings and the top-6 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
The objective of the competition is to give junior golfers from both sides of the Atlantic the opportunity to gain experience in international matches, as well as to meet, learn from and be inspired by the professional players who will compete in the Solheim Cup.
It will be the Old Course at La Zagaleta where the European and U.S. teams will face each other in this edition of the PING Junior Solheim Cup, which was designed by Brad Benz in 1991 and later redesigned by Marc Westenborg in 2016.
With fairways and green dotted with bunkers and water hazards, to conquer the Old Course it will be more important to develop a technical and precise game than to exhibit a great punch.
The 2021 PING Junior Solheim Cup marked the first time Team Europe won on U.S. soil coming back during singles matches to win 13-11. Look back on the historic event below.
For a full history of the PING Junior Solheim Cup click here .
More information can be found in the PING Junior Solheim Cup section of www.solheimcup2023.eu
, or by contacting Emma Varela (AJGA Communications) at evarela@ajga.org.