The Solheim Kupcho

Colorado gets its first homegrown participant in the biennial competition.

By Jon Rizzi

In 2019, shortly after Wake Forest University senior Jennifer Kupcho triumphed in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the school’s Assistant Women’s Golf Coach Ryan Potter made a bold statement.

“I’m curious to see how soon she’ll be elite,” he said in Colorado AvidGolfer. “I see her as one of the best American players, a Solheim Cup player. To be honest, the United States needs her.”

Proving Potter’s point that September in Scotland, the U.S. lost the biennial competition for the first time since 2013’s beatdown at Colorado Golf Club.

And this August, 24-four-year-old Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster—No. 28  in the Rolex Rankings—earned elite player status. And by virtue of that standing, she qualifies as a Solheim Cup player.

The announcement came shortly after the finish of AIG Women’s Open in Scotland on Sunday, as Kupcho earned the ninth and final automatic berth on the team.

One Smart Rookie

In doing so, she is the first Colorado native to represent the U.S. in the Solheim Cup, which began in 1990. Of the of the nine automatic qualifiers for the three day competition (Sept. 4-6) at Inverness Club in Toledo—Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Ally Ewing, Austin Ernst, Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda, Megan Khang and Lizette Salas—Kupcho will be the only Solheim debutante.

Kupcho, however, is no stranger to big international team competitions. In 2018 she was a member of the winning Curtis Cup, Palmer Cup and Women’s World Amateur Team Championship squads.

Although she has yet to win on the LPGA Tour has eluded her, she has had nine top-10 finishes and has earned $1,398,022 in just two years (one of which was the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign). In addition, she made $50,000 by winning the 2020 CoBank Colorado Women’s Open with a record-setting 16-under-par 200.

As an amateur, Kupcho ranked as the No. 1  amateur in the world for 34 weeks while at Wake Forest. She won nine NCAA tournaments, including the 2018 NCAA National Championship. She also won the CGA Women’s Stroke Play three times and the CGA Women’s Match Play, Colorado Junior PGA the 4A girls state high school championship two times apiece. She also claimed titles in the Colorado Junior Amateur and the Colorado Junior Tournament of Champions.

A Country Vs. a Continent

Kupcho won’t be the only Solheim rookie for the U.S. team. Rounding out the 12-person squad captained by Pat Hurst are returning 2019 member Brittany Altomare and Solheim newbies Mina Harigae and Yealimi Noh.

Europe team captain Catriona Matthew will counter with England’s Charley Hull, Mel Reid and  Georgia Hall; Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen and Nanna Koerstz Madsen; Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom; Germany’s Sophia Popov; Spain’s Carlota Ciganda; France’s Celine Boutier and first-timers Leona Maguire (Ireland) and Matilda Castren (Finland). Those last two are also the first players from their respective countries to compete in the tournament.

The latest Solheim Cup news.

Follow Jennifer Kupcho on Twitter.

HOW TO WATCH:

NBC and Golf Channel will split television coverage of the Solheim Cup on September 4 & 5.

Golf Channel will air the final-day singles matches on Labor Day, September 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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