Why is the Solheim Cup in back-to-back years?

The Solheim Cup is a biennial competition with 12 of the best American women facing off against 12 of the top European-born players.

But for just the second time in event history, it will be contested in back-to-back years.

This year’s Solheim Cup will take place Sept. 22-24 at Finca Cortesin in Malaga, Spain. Then, Sept. 13-15, 2024, it will be held again at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia.

The reason is related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup are usually contested in separate years – so that each can have its own spotlight – but the pandemic led to the 2020 Ryder Cup being pushed to 2021, the same year as the Solheim Cup. Because the Solheim had already been scheduled for ’21 and ’23, those dates were held. The following edition, however, was moved up a year to return the women’s matches to even numbers. The matches are currently scheduled through 2026, with Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands playing host.

The Solheim Cup was originally contested in even-numbered years, beginning in 1990. That changed because of the 9/11 attacks. The 2001 Ryder Cup was postponed until ’02, so the Solheim Cup held its matches, as scheduled, in ’02 and then again in ’03 (and odd-numbered years since).

Because of another quick turnaround, current U.S. captain Stacy Lewis and current European captain Suzann Pettersen will maintain their posts in ’24.

Qualifying for those teams began at the start of the ’23 season.