What Is The Format For The 2026 Solheim Cup?

The Solheim Cup celebrates its 20th edition in 2026, when it will be held in the Netherlands for the first time.

As with every previous match since 1990, teams from Europe and the US will battle it out over three days, with Bernardus Golf hosting this year.

But what exactly is the Solheim Cup format? And how many points are on offer?

Solheim Cup Format Explained

The Solheim Cup features two teams of 12 players, one representing Europe and the other the US.

It is played over three days in a match play format, with 28 points available - one per match.

One point is awarded to the winning team in a match, with half a point given to each team for a tie.

As the defending champions, the US needs only to achieve a tie to retain the trophy, meaning the points total it needs is 14.

To reclaim the Solheim Cup it lost in 2024, Team Europe needs 14.5 of the available points.

Four foursomes and four four-ball matches will be played on both day one and day two, with day three featuring 12 singles matches.

In 2026, the foursomes matches will be played in the morning on both Friday and Saturday, followed by the four-ball sessions in the afternoon.

Foursomes

Foursomes sessions are held on both day one and day two of the Solheim Cup.

Eight of the 12 players in each team will be selected by their captains to play in the foursomes sessions.

Foursomes, which is also known as alternate shot, sees teams of two take turns on each hole using the same ball.

Players on each team take turns to tee off, so one will tee off from the odd-numbered holes and the other from the even-numbered holes.

After the tee shot, the other player in each pair hits the second shot, with the teammates alternating until the ball is holed.

In match play, whichever player or team takes the fewest shots to hole the ball wins the hole to go 1-up.

If both teams hole the ball in the same number of shots, the hole is halved.

The team that is leading at the end of the match earns one point. If the teams are level after 18 holes, each receives half a point.

In foursomes, four-ball and singles, sometimes, a match finishes before all 18 holes have been played.

That's because if one team leads by more holes than there are left to play, the match ends at the point where it is mathematically impossible for the other team to catch their opponent.

Four-Ball

Solheim Cup four-ball has some similarities with foursomes. For example, the captains select eight players, divided into four pairs, for each session.

The big difference is that, unlike foursomes, all four players in each match play their own ball. The lowest individual score from each pair counts as the team's score for the hole.

A hole is halved if both teams hole the ball in the same number of shots.

Once again, the team that is leading at the end of the match earns one point. If the teams are level after 18 holes, each receives half a point.

Singles

Unlike days one and two, day three is devoted to one singles session.

It is also the only day when all 12 players on each team are guaranteed to play.

Rather than team up in pairs, as the name suggests, singles sees one player take on an opponent from the other team.

Each captain chooses the order in which all 12 of her players will go out.

The two lists are submitted without the captains knowing the other's order.

Once they're matched together, the first player on Europe's list plays the first player on the US list and so on.

Typically, the captains pick the strongest players first to give them the best chance of winning some early points, but they are under no obligation to do so.

The player who is ahead when the match finishes earns a point for their team, while a match that is level after 18 holes earns each team half a point.

Solheim Cup Format And Schedule