Alcott named 2023 United States PING Junior Solheim Cup Captain
By AJGA Staff, November 29, 2022
BRASELTON, Ga. – PING and the American Junior Golf Association name, World Golf Hall of Famer, Amy Alcott as the PING Junior Solheim Cup’s United States team captain for the 13th edition of the biennial competition.
This is a wonderful honor. When I got the call from John Solheim, I was very flattered. I have always believed that junior golf is the lifeblood of the game. I grew up chipping and putting into soup cans in my front yard in Southern California and competed in junior tournaments from the age of nine to seventeen.
AMY ALCOTT, 2023 US PING JUNIOR SOLHEIM CUP CAPTAIN
The Old Course at La Zagaleta, located in southern Spain, is set to host the all-girls event, September 18 – 19, 2023.
Modeled after the Solheim Cup, the PING Junior Solheim Cup biennially features the 12 best female junior golfers (ages 12-18) from the United States against their counterparts from Europe. The team match play event includes foursomes, four-ball and singles matches played over two days and rotates between U.S. and European host sites coinciding with the Solheim Cup. The event includes both teams watching the final days of the Solheim Cup matches at Finca Cortesin, September 18 – 24, 2023.
Amy Alcott is a highly celebrated icon of women’s golf. Before her illustrious professional career which earned her a place in the LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999, Alcott won the 1973 U.S. Girls Junior. Alcott won the event in commanding fashion at Somerset Hills Country Club in New Jersey. It was that same year that she set the course record for women at Pebble Beach at the time.
Alcott turned professional in 1975 at the age of 18 and earned LPGA Rookie of the Year honors that year. Over the course of her 27-year professional career, Alcott won 32 individual titles that included 29 LPGA victories and five major championships. She was a three-time champion of the now Chevron Championship and made tradition the now famous jump into Poppies Pond at Mission Hills Country Club with her win in 1988.
“I went out on the [LPGA] tour at 18 years old. I always thought the early years of getting involved in a sport and gravitating towards it – it is a period in your life when you play golf that you have the most acuity to learn. You realize early on that it is journey and not a destination. That’s what I hope to share my joy and knowledge with these 12 young juniors, I am sure they will have a lot to teach me,” Alcott says.
After her storied playing career Alcott has gone into the business of golf. Along with TV commentating, Alcott also moved into golf course design. She had a hand in designing the host course for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Alcott says, “Having the opportunity to do this late in my career is very uplifting. I hope to pass along my go for a pin style and my knowledge about the game on to these young gals.”
The United States leads the all-time PING Junior Solheim Cup Series 7-3-1 and had won six consecutive matches prior to their loss in 2021. The US last won, 13-11, when the event was hosted in Scotland in 2019.
“We are very excited to have Amy Alcott as the 2023 PING Junior Solheim Cup US Team Captain. With Amy turning professional at age 18 and eventually going on to be a LPGA Tour Hall of Famer, she knows what it takes to be an incredibly successful golfer. With her 29 LPGA Tour wins and five Major Titles, she will be a fantastic mentor and coach for the US Junior Team.”
JOHN SOLHEIM, PING CHAIRMAN AND CEO
PING Junior Solheim Cup History
Alcott joins United States PING Junior Solheim Cup past captains:
- 2021: Renee Powell
- 2019: Mary Bea Porter-King
- 2017: Alice Miller
- 2015: JoAnne Carner
- 2013: Kathy Whitworth
- 2011: Meg Mallon
- 2009: Nancy Lopez
- 2007: Donna Andrews
- 2005: Colleen Walker
- 2003: Val Skinner
- 2002: Sherri Steinhauer
American AJGA alumnae who have graduated from the PING Junior Solheim Cup to the Solheim Cup include Brittany Lang, Paula Creamer, Alison Lee, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, Angel Yin and Lexi Thompson. Most recent alumnae 2019 graduate, Yealimi Noh, competed in the 2017 PING Junior Solheim Cup and went on to play in the 2021 Solheim Cup for Team USA. She went 1-1-1 as a junior and 2-1-0 in her professional debut.
Team Europe AJGA alumnae to make the same move include Carlota Ciganda, Georgia Hall, Caroline Hedwall, Charley Hull, Caroline Masson, Azahara Munoz, Anna Nordqvist, Florentyna Parker, Emily Kristine Pedersen, Beatriz Recari and Melissa Reid.
The Solheim Cup, the most prestigious team event in women’s professional golf, is named in honor of PING’s Karsten and Louise Solheim and their family. Played biennially, the teams feature the top American-born LPGA players versus the top European-born Ladies European Tour players. The 2023 contest will be played at Finca Cortesin, September 18-24, 2023.
About the PING Junior Solheim Cup
The PING Junior Solheim Cup is owned and hosted by PING and will be operated by the American Junior Golf Association with assistance from the Ladies Professional Golf Association and the Ladies European Tour.
Founded by Karsten and Louise Solheim, the Karsten Manufacturing Corporation is a long-time sponsor of the LPGA and AJGA. As the makers of PING golf equipment, the Solheim family continues to ensure the same superior workmanship today that they built into their original clubs more than 46 years ago. Now under the direction of John Solheim, Karsten and Louise’s youngest son, the company continues in its efforts to manufacture the highest quality golf equipment. The PING name is known world over. Besides its presence in the United States, PING markets custom-fit and custom-built equipment to more than 70 countries.
About PING
The tournament owner and title partner, PING, designs, manufactures, and markets a complete line of golf equipment including metal woods, irons, putters, and golf bags. The family-owned company was founded in 1959 by the late Karsten Solheim. Solheim is the only person to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as a golf club manufacturer. Today, the Phoenix-based company is under the direction of Solheim’s youngest son, John A. Solheim. PING game-improvement products can be found in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit ping.com.
