As the countdown to the 2026 Solheim Cup begins to pick up pace, European captain Anna Nordqvist and her American counterpart, Angela Stanford participated in a Q&A session, sharing their thoughts on Bernardus Golf – the venue where the biennial contest will be staged – what type of player it suits, and which previous Solheim Cup captain has made the biggest impression.
European captain, Anna Nordqvist
What has been your favourite Solheim Cup duty so far?
I think being part of the design process of the outfits, the golf bag, and creating my team with the vice captains and support staff.
What has been your least favourite?
I’ve been very touched of the outpouring support of some past players, caddies and helpers wanting to be part and help out the team in the Netherlands. I only have so many spots I can fill so having to say no to people, and a lot of people I know really well – has been really hard.
Anything unexpected?
I got to see a lot of the work behind the scenes as a vice captain in 2023 and 2024, but now I get the full picture, and it is a lot of work that has to be done. It really takes a village to make this team and everything happen!
It’s a long way to go until qualification but are there any potential rookies that might qualify that have caught your eye that you think would be an asset to you team?
I always felt like the Team picks itself in a way with the rankings and if you play well you will be on the team. I try to keep as many players as I can that has a chance to qualify and make the team part of my communications and my team selection process. Lottie Woad came out strong this year and has shown she has what it takes to compete at a highest level. In Europe, you have Mimi Rhodes and Chiara Tamburlini coming off really good seasons and they are both up there in the European Qualification criteria so I’m looking forward to continue following them as we get closer to the event next year.
What makes Bernardus Golf a great venue for the Solheim Cup?
I think the facilities at Bernardus are outstanding. They have hosted DP World Tour events in the past, so they know what it takes to host an event. The course has a lot of character and they have a very large, dedicated greenskeeper staff constantly trying to get better and improve the course.
What kind of game/player will be well-suited to the Bernardus course and why?
I have played it a couple of times and hitting fairways are going to be important because of the bunkering and heather surrounding them that could create very hard and unpredictable lies where you can’t advance the ball to the green. The greens have been firm every time I’ve played it so having a higher ball flight and being able to create some spin will be beneficial in attacking pins.
What is your favourite hole at Bernardus and why?
I like number 8 – the par 3 with water on the right because you need to hit a good shot to give yourself a chance at that hole.
Name the most influential Solheim captain in your experience and why?
I have had the honour to play under a lot of captains in my career, and I think I’ve learned a lot from each one of them. I have reached out or heard from most of them so far and I appreciate them all wanting to help me out in any way they can. I even had some of the past Ryder Cup captains and the Men’s European Tour offer their support to help me in this role which I’ve really appreciated. I felt like Beany had a lot of great strategies so I picked her brain earlier this year and I will continue to do so while I manage my Solheim Cup captaincy.
What are your plans for the festive period?
It’s been a crazy busy year traveling so I’m just looking forward to not living in a suitcase or getting on an airplane and just enjoying life at home, cooking, baking and spending time with loved ones.
What is your favourite Christmas present ever received?
I think presents I’ve got from my nieces and nephews to make me think of them.
What are your New Year’s resolutions?
I tend to put myself through a crazy schedule with a lot of commitments so I like to say prioritizing myself and my health will be important and spending as much time as I can at home.
Are you planning any tweaks to the set up at Bernardus?
I know there will always be talks about “trying to” set up the course to favour your team if you can. At the end of the day, the best team will win and most of the European players on my team plays on the LPGA Tour full time so all players compete on same conditions week after week on tour so I don’t know if trying to tweak the course will make a huge difference and putting too much effort into this.
What ambitions do you have for your own game with such a busy year as Solheim Cup Captain ahead?
I always said if I get the honour to one day be a captain I wanted to do it at a time where I felt I could do the best job possible, and that is knowing the players and the caddies and everyone involved so I feel like me still playing will help being approachable and share this journey with them inside the ropes rather than outside and being able to see them week after week.
I know my own game will suffer, I think I realised this year in 2025 there’s a lot of work that needs to be done and a lot of my off weeks aren’t really off so I will do my best to find a balance between the two and I will also do a lot of work now in the off season. I’m fortunate to work with a great team at the Ladies European Tour helping me manage this role and making this journey as smooth as possible. It is such a cool role to do so I’ve learned a lot about myself and trying to learn how to lead by example and do the best job as I can.
USA Captain, Angela Stanford
What has been your favorite Solheim Cup duty so far? What has been your least favourite?
My favorite Solheim Cup duties so far have been my weekly meetings with the LPGA team and my monthly meetings with my assistant captains. It’s more about planning right now, so we’ve had so much fun on these calls, getting everything organized and ready to go for 2026.
Honestly, I haven’t had a least favourite part. I’ve enjoyed being the Solheim Cup captain every second of every day. I’ve had a blast so far, planning and getting ready to get into the Solheim Cup year next year.
Anything unexpected?
There hasn’t been anything major that’s been unexpected or surprising so far. Stacy Lewis did a great job in allowing me to learn quite a bit in 2023 and 2024, getting an idea of how things work. I do think I’m learning how to be patient and let things work out. I want everything to happen now because I’m so excited about it. That’s been the hardest part – I want to see things happen now. If anything, it’s my own patience that I’m having a hard time with because I’m just so excited about everything.
It’s a long way to go until qualification but are there any potential rookies that might qualify who have caught your eye that you think would be an asset to your team?
We are a long way away from the team being complete, but I think going into next year, the two players that I’m watching are Lindy Duncan and Auston Kim. Both of them would make the team if the points ended today. Lindy is so resilient, just very gritty. That’s the mentality we need when we play in Europe. I think she would be a wonderful addition. Auston is also very resilient in how she goes about her business. And she’s an amazing ball striker. She hits it extremely far. We could use that when we get to Bernardus. There are some great things that these rookies could bring to our team. I love their mindsets. It will be interesting to watch Lindy and Auston next year and see if they can make this team.
What makes Bernardus Golf a great venue for the Solheim Cup?
Bernardus is going to be an awesome site for the first major women’s golf event in the Netherlands. I think the players are going to love it. I do think the weather will dictate how the golf course plays. If it’s raining, if it’s windy, if it’s cold, these conditions can make this golf course play very different from a good-weather day. That’s going to be fun for the spectators. It’s a fairly easy walk. Some of the holes run parallel, so the fans will be able to see multiple holes at one time. I think the people are going to love being there. It’s going to be a great Solheim Cup in the Netherlands.
What kind of game/player will be well-suited to the Bernardus course?
I believe the type of player who will suit Bernardus will be a very straight driver of the golf ball and somebody who hits it fairly high. That all said, the conditions will play a role. It could get windy, but the ground is so firm and I believe it’s going to play firm and fast. So a ball coming in with a little more height and hopefully landing a little softer will help. Ultimately, the players’ mentality will be the reason they play well at this golf course. I want players who are gritty, who are mentally tough, who never give up. They don’t allow outside factors like conditions or partisan fans to bother them. Yes, I want a player who can hit it straight and high, but more so I want them to be in the right headspace when we get there, so they can handle the adversity that is going to come our way.
Name the most influential Solheim captain in your experience and why? Have you/will you be reaching out to her for advice?
This is a really tough question. I have honestly not had one captain who was more influential than the other. I played for six great captains and I was an assistant for two, learning a different side of being a part of the Solheim Cup. Playing for six different captains, I can take something away from all of them. I plan on reaching out to all of them because I believe they all have something to offer. It’s all those different perspectives put together that I want to take with me and help guide me when we get over there. But to say just one was more influential than the other, I can’t do that because they all had something that they did great. And I would love to learn from that.
I’m guessing when I talk to them, they’re all going to say, I wish I would have done X, Y, Z differently. I want to know that too. What caught you off guard? If you could go back and change something, what would you change? Those are the things I want to know from these captains. I look forward to reaching out and talking to all of them.
What are your plans for the festive period?
My plans for the holiday season are to enjoy the downtime with family and friends and get some snow skiing in at some point.
What is your favorite ever Christmas present ever received? What are your New Years resolutions?
I can’t pick out one favorite gift, but I loved everything I ever got from my mom. She always did great with my gifts, but now that she’s not here, I miss getting a gift from my mother. Now that I look back at the memories, being with my mom and looking at anything she gave me, she just always did such a great job and I do miss that.
I struggle with resolutions because most people don’t keep them very long. So I try to make them like a lifestyle change. I’m working on a few personal things that I feel like I need to get better at as a person and hopefully I can do that all year long.
Having retired from the LPGA Tour, what do you think the advantages and disadvantages are for you as a Solheim Cup Captain? What new things have you done/added to your life since retiring?
I can’t say I’ve added anything new to my life yet. Since being retired, I have tried to use my grill a little bit more. I’d like to say I’m a pretty good cook, but I think I should give all the credit to the grill. I’ve got a really good pellet grill that has upped my cooking game. I’ve also been busy with Solheim. playing some Legends of the LPGA tour events, still trying to work on my game a little bit, and still trying to stay somewhat active and in the gym a little bit. But I haven’t added anything new yet. I think that’s going to happen after Solheim is my guess. Ss long as there are Legends of the LPGA events to play in, I’m going to stay competitive. I’m also looking forward to playing in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open someday.
What do you miss about being on the Tour full-time? What do you absolutely not miss?
The thing that I miss the most about being on tour is the competition. I absolutely miss Thursday morning, getting a brand-new start, teeing it up, them announcing your name and where you’re from. I miss that.
The thing I don’t miss is the travel. When I first started on tour, we would drive to a lot of events. I’m a homebody by nature and flying to different countries was really hard for me. Getting on airplanes was really uncomfortable in the beginning for me when I started on tour. Now that I’m not doing it, it’s the one thing that I really don’t miss. I don’t miss leaving the tournament Sunday night, having to get to the next one by Monday, going out and learning the course. It was that travel part that always kind of got me. And anytime I had to get on an airplane to go over a large body of water, that was really hard for me.
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