By Fred Altvater
Millions of Americans now have access to the Coronavirus Vaccine and public administrators, as well as, health departments are easing restrictions on mass gatherings. Everyone is hopeful that by the time Labor Day rolls around the Solheim Cup will have a full complement of fans to witness one of the great sports spectacles in the world.
All eyes will be focused on The Inverness Club, September 4-6, as 12 of the best women golfers from the United States will attempt to wrest the cup from the European team in the biennial Solheim Cup. It will be difficult to top the thrilling finish provided by Suzann Pettersen, when she holed the winning point for the Europeans in 2019, but we will be glued to the action and rooting for an American win. 
As you can imagine it takes a great deal of planning and preparation to stage an event this important. In fact, planning began five years ago, when the LPGA announced in November, 2016 that Toledo’s Inverness Club was awarded the honor of hosting the 2021 Solheim Cup.
Two LPGA staff members, Becky Newell and Alex Graf, have been on site at Inverness for over two years lining up sponsors and coordinating efforts with Inverness to assure every safety measure and accommodation is being considered before the first fan steps foot on Inverness.
The scene at the first tee at every Solheim Cup is filled with high energy and a raucous atmosphere. The 2021 Solheim Cup will be no exception and should experience an even greater energy and tension this year.
The first and tenth tees at Inverness have been combined, plus a huge ampitheater will be erected to surround the players and provide one of the most exciting tee shots to be hit in any team competition.
The maintenance staff at Inverness has the course in the best condition possible and since Andrew Green completed his renovation in 2018, Inverness is better than ever. A new par three, plus additional tees were added. Work was also completed on the remaining par three’s to enhance play. Several greens were expanded to gain hole placement possibilities.
Golf fans got a good feel for the new additions, when Danielle Kang won the LPGA’s Drive On Championship in August, 2020. It was the first LPGA event held after the COVID shut down and Inverness exhibited U.S. Open qualities that tested every part of the player’s game.
The city of Toledo is also rolling out the welcome mat for the thousands of fans expected to attend this international team event. The Glass City will be front and center to an international audience. City planners and merchants will be ready to make everyone’s time in T-Town memorable.
For more information visit: https://www.solheimcupusa.com/overview.
