The Ladies European Tour has started the official bidding process for The 2015 Solheim Cup, the biennial transatlantic women’s match play golf tournament.

The bid is open to all golf venues in European countries for consideration and an evaluation group has been created to assess and review all submissions before presenting them to the Ladies European Tour Board of Directors who will make the final selection.

Alexandra Armas, Executive Director of the Ladies European Tour, said: “We are embarking upon a thorough bid process to determine the best possible venue for The 2015 Solheim Cup, following a similar successful tender process for the 2011 matches, which are due to be played at Killeen Castle in County Meath, Ireland, from September 23-25, 2011.”

Mark Casey, Director of Operations and The Solheim Cup, who will head up the evaluation process said: “We have already received expressions of interest from a number of venues and countries and have been deeply impressed by the level of attention that the 2015 matches have already received.”

Karen Lunn, Chairman of The Ladies European Tour and The European Solheim Cup Committee, said: “The thoroughness of the evaluation process will see each nation visited once the bids have been submitted and we are confident that this will ensure that the best venue is identified.”

The bid evaluation criteria programme will examine the strengths of each bid by focusing primarily on the golf course and infrastructure, including suitable access and transportation arrangements appropriate for the staging of a world class international sports event along with the commercial opportunities for the event. All bidding nations will be made aware of other areas vital to the success of staging The Solheim Cup such as accommodation, security, media and attracting crowds commensurate with the largest ladies professional golf tournament in the world.

The deadline for the submission of bids has been set for 29 October, 2010 and submissions should be made to Mark Casey.

About The Solheim Cup:
The Solheim Cup is named in honour of Karsten Solheim, and his family, the makers of PING golf equipment. The Solheim Cup is the most prestigious international team event in women’s professional golf. It is a biennial, trans-Atlantic team match-play competition featuring the best U.S.-born players from the LPGA and the best European-born players representing the Ladies European Tour (LET). The U.S. Team leads the competition, 8-3. The 2011 Solheim Cup will be played at Killeen Castle in County Meath, Ireland, Sept. 23-25. The 2013 Solheim Cup will be contested at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colorado. In addition to founding sponsor PING, Global Partners of The Solheim Cup include AIB Group and Rolex. For tickets and information, log on to www.SolheimCup.com.

About the Ladies European Tour (LET):
The Ladies European Tour (LET) is Europe’s leading women’s professional golf tour and formed as the WPGA in 1978, before taking its current title in 2000. Over the last 32 years, the tour has developed into a truly international organisation. In 2010, the schedule features 26 tournaments in 21 different countries, with 313 members who represent 35 different nations. The LET offices are located at Buckinghamshire Golf Club in England. Follow the LET online at dev-let.ocs-software.com or on Twitter @LETgolf.

For further information and interviews, please contact:
Mark Casey
Director of Operations and The Solheim Cup
Ladies European Tour
E-mail: mcasey@dev-let.ocs-software.com
Tel: +44 (0)7714659571