Christina Kim and Brittany Lincicome are representing the United States at the European Nations Cup in Spain this week.
Kim, who is a Ladies European Tour member, was invited by the organisers, Deporte & Business, after playing in the Open de España last year.
She wasted little time in selecting a partner to help her represent the United States at the special 18-nation event, picking someone equally patriotic.
“I just decided that I was going to play and I asked Brittany Lincicome because she kills the ball, is a lot of fun, a very sweet girl, in many ways a quintessential American so she’d be a perfect fit in terms of representing America and a really good friend of mine as well,” Kim said. “We decided to come out here and give it a go and see how it is.”
Their participation can be viewed as a warm up for September’s Solheim Cup at Killeen Castle in Ireland.
“I am a fierce competitor. It’s a little different here because it’s not match play,” Kim said.
Lincicome added: “I’m very excited. We don’t get to play these team competitions that often, so it’s nice to be in Spain first of all and then to be playing a team competition. I’m really looking forward to it. The weather is going to be perfect and the golf course is beautiful. It should be a fun time.”
The event takes place over four rounds from Thursday to Sunday. There will be two rounds of best ball on Thursday and Saturday and two rounds of Valencian Cup format, which is a variation on Greensomes, on Friday and Sunday.
Last year, the Swedish pair of Anna Nordqvist and Sophie Gustafson lifted the trophy and they have returned as the favourites.
The Americans are also in good form, particularly Lincicome who has played in five events on the US LPGA Tour with a season best tie for second at the LPGA Founders Cup.
“I’ve been playing very well. I’ve played three weeks in a row these past three weeks so it’s nice to keep it going because we have this tournament when we’re going to have three weeks off in the States,” Lincicome, the 2009 Kraft Nabisco Champion, explained.
“The course isn’t very long so hopefully I’ll get on the green in two on the par fives and see if we can make some eagles. It will be good to feed off each other’s energy and have a partner that will be there to help you.
“There’s a lot of really good players here so it just depends on who can feed off each other and birdie the right holes and see how many under par we can go. Everybody here is great and they are all great golfers so it’s going to be very tough.”
