Solheim Cup housing controversy leads to ‘awkward’ situation

The Solheim Cup has not been immune to controversy, and this year’s event is no different — and the competition hasn’t even started yet.

The latest incident? It involves housing. But the good news here is that it already seems to be put to bed.

The 19th playing of the Solheim Cup is at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., which has about a half-dozen houses scattered among the practice area. Two of them were reserved as “team rooms” for the U.S. and European squads — although they are all staying off-site at hotels — and as the host team the Americans got first pick on the house they wanted. The Europeans then took the other.

But it didn’t end there. While the Americans loved their spot — eight bathrooms, eight showers and the larger of the two homes — the Europeans were actually closer to the driving range.

2024 U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis talks to reporters on Wednesday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

“I don’t know if they’re happy with their choice,” said European veteran Anna Nordqvist, “but we’re obviously very happy to be right there on the range.”

Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir explained the situation on Wednesday, reporting that the U.S. was claiming some of the things the European team was doing — opening the attached hitting bays, having tables and chairs outside, etc. — were in violation of Solheim Cup contracts.

The U.S. (left) and European (right) team houses at the Solheim Cup.
The U.S. (left) and European (right) team houses at the Solheim Cup.“They are right on the very back of the range. They have their music playing all the time, whereas the U.S. team has to come out of their house, walk past the European team house and all the way down to the other end of the range to get to their side of the range,” Weir said. “[Captain] Suzann Pettersen enjoys playing her tunes as well, and I think that has got under the skin of the U.S., and they are claiming that in their contract of the Solheim Cup this is not allowed.”

U.S. captain Stacy Lewis addressed the situation on Wednesday.

“The closeness is a little bit awkward with the driving range and everything being right there, but we’ve worked through a few things,” she said. “We’ve worked through a few issues. But we’re in a good spot now.”

As for some of those “issues” Lewis mentioned?

“Their team room kind of exploded onto the driving range a little bit, but we reeled it in. It’s all good,” Lewis said. “We adjusted the way the range was set up a little bit and moved the U.S. team further down so Europe could do what they wanted basically.

“The inside of their cottage doesn’t have a lot of room for tables, so their tables have to be outside,” she continued. “It was just our players were warming up, and they’re there eating breakfast and talking. We were just trying to get everybody some space so they didn’t have to listen to them eating breakfast. That’s all. There’s no bad beef.”

Related articles

BREAKING: Actresses REFUSE to Act for Tyler Perry After His Diddy Freak-offs LEAK

In Hollywood, the journey to landing roles is notoriously challenging, especially for Black women. This reality was starkly illuminated in a recent conversation surrounding Tyler Perry, a…

Lil Wayne has just exposed something shocking about Diddy, and it’s way bigger than we thought.

Lil Wayne has just exposed something shocking about Diddy, and it’s way bigger than we thought. Lil Waynє’s rєcєnt rєvєlations about Diddy havє causєd wavєs across thє…

A major champ’s 4 keys for the ideal setup in greenside bunkers

After playing in a Member-Guest tournament this past weekend, it’s clear my golf game’s not nearly where it should be — especially when it comes to seeing…

2024 Shriners Children’s Open odds: Swedish pro on hot streak is our long shot

This week’s PGA Tour tournament is the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open, a long-running event held in Las Vegas, and we’re picking a winless Swedish pro whose game is…

Rules Guy: My ball is lodged against a bunker rake. What now?

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the…

Fred Couples explains his key for generating effortless power

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer. There are few players in the game with a smoother swing than Fred Couples. It…