Finca Cortesin, venue for subsequent yr’s Solheim Cup, has unveiled a brand-new first gap that can serve to ramp up the thrill and drama for all codecs of the staff matchplay occasion.
The re-designed par-four gap has been decreased from 431 yards off the again tees, to a brand new size of 280 yards, that includes a slim, well-protected fairway, and a big lake on the left-hand facet that reaches the entrance of the inexperienced.
The brand new-look gap is the results of session between the Women European Tour, match organiser Deporte & Enterprise and Finca Cortesin.
Vicente Rubio, Managing Director at Finca Cortesin, stated: “This new first gap may be very a lot a risk-and-reward gap. Gamers can both attempt to attain the inexperienced with one shot or play extra conservatively. The design of the outlet and the nice distinction in peak between the tee and the inexperienced will make it a spectacle, and I’ve little question that will probably be successful.
The traits of the brand new gap may also enable us to accommodate greater than 1,000 individuals across the first tee, which is able to make for an important environment and the proper gap to start out a Solheim Cup.”
Gamers to have already performed the brand new gap embody Suzann Pettersen, the European captain, who with 9 appearances within the Solheim Cup, is aware of extraordinarily nicely what it looks like when a participant prepares to take that first shot.
“The sensations you expertise don’t have anything to do with different moments you’ll be able to expertise in golf, like main a serious, as a result of on this match you don’t simply play for your self, you do it to your teammates, to your staff…. you set all of your coronary heart into it and also you need to give your greatest. That first tee of the Solheim Cup is all adrenaline and vitality,” stated Pettersen.
Stacy Lewis, the American captain, has additionally had the chance to see first gap at Finca Cortesin first-hand and didn’t hesitate to reward its design. “I don’t assume we’ve ever had a primary gap like this within the Solheim Cup. You may attain the inexperienced, however the water comes into play quite a bit.
“The primary tee is like an amphitheatre, and the stands are going to be excessive up, virtually above you, which is able to make the general public really feel very shut. It’s undoubtedly an important gap for the Solheim Cup,” she added.
