Solheim Cup feature: Captain Koch would do well to copy Alison’s 2011 Blueprint

by Graham Otway

Europe’s Solheim captain Carin Koch is leaving no stone unturned as she prepares for the Cup defence against the Americans at Heidelberg in Germany next month. She has knocked on the doors of many experienced players and captains to try to gain useful tips about how to handle her 12-strong team at the St.Leon-Rot club.

Obviously there will have been some hints that she will not adopt but having sat down with Alison Nicholas who masterminded Europe’s 15-13 win over the Americans at Killeen Castle in Ireland four years ago she may have learned two valuable lessons.

In her recently published autobiography Walking Tall Nicholas reveals what she thought could be one of her toughest roles when she was first elected to the captaincy by her fellow members of the Ladies European Tour.

“I thought one of the most difficult parts of the captain’s job,” she recalls. “Would be making the final decision over my four captain’s picks and then having to tell some players that they were not in the team. But it had to be done.”

For years there has been no way of escaping those emotional phone calls for a succession of captains of both Solheim and Ryder Cup teams. However having to deliver such disappointing news does not end just with the initial naming of the team.

Before every session of foursomes and fourball matchplay when only eight team members take part and four others have to be told they will be sitting on the sidelines in the team room feeling frustrated at not being at the centre of the action.

And there Nicholas evolved a strategy which Koch should want to employ to provide a gentle let down to any of her players, and there are bound to be one of two, who feel their form or world rankings should be recognised by being picked to play against the Americans in all five sessions in Heidelberg.

“I did a lot of research looking at the statistics from other Solheim Cups,” says Nicholas. “And discovered that in almost every case anyone who had played in all four matches on the first two days then went on to struggle in the singles.

“So the key decision was made that no one was going to play in all five sessions.

“A lot of players had said they wanted to play in all five matches and try to win five points, but I spoke to them all in advance and told them I had made the decision and would stick by it.

“And most of the players took it on the chin when I said to them that it was a team event and it would be a case of dropping them from a foursome or fourball session but giving them all a session of rest so that they would have energy left for the singles on the final day when all 12 would be playing.”

And history shows that it was to turn out to be a decisive strategy because at the end of the first two days both teams were level at eight points apiece, but the energised European side took the singles 7-5 and there overall 15-13 victory ended an American run of three straight Solheim Cup wins.

During the previous six years when the Americans were dominating the ladies transatlantic battles there was lengthy debate over the steps that might be taken to strengthen the European Challenge.

It was seriously suggested that with many young and promising players starting to emerge from golf’s fast growing golf markets in the Far East like Korea and China that the Solheim Cup be revamped with the Americans taking on a combined European and Asian team to create a more level playing field. However, that idea was rejected at the time and just one glance at this week’s Women’s World Ranking shows what a wise decision that was. With their biggest star Inbee Park top of the rankings Korea now has five players in the top ten and China one.

And the changing face of the world scene sees the Americans have just two in Stacey Lewis and Lexi Thompson on equal footing with Europe’s top pair who are Norway Suzanne Pettersen in sixth spot Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist in ninth.

“In Ireland,” says Nicholas. “We didn’t have any expectations because the media then always made the US favourites just because more of them were higher up the rankings. But I knew when I took the job that over 18 holes on any given day any of my players could get a point.”

And since Europe then went on to produce their first ever Solheim victory on American soil with a thumping 18-10 victory in Colorado in 2013, Koch will know in Heidelberg that victory for her team will not be starting underrated nor as underdogs and another European victory would not be regarded as a total surprise.

To produce that, however, Koch may have also learned from Nicholas about a second key element in her management strategy that had nothing to do with the way a golf ball has to be hit.

“I wanted the week to be as much fun as possible for my players,” she recalls. “I had about 10 helpers organising things to keep them relaxed and happy.

“One night early in the week we had a quiz with the players split into three teams of four. They didn’t know we had gone out and bought four funny wigs and hats which the losing team had to wear on the course when they were practicing the next day. As it happened the players got their caddies to wear the wigs but the sight of them still caused a lot of laughs.”

Koch has not asked Nicholas to be a part of her back room team in Heidelberg but may still be happy to see her at St Leon-Rot in her capacity as a past captain and she is looking forward to the week with enthusiasm.

“I have no official role,” she says. “But I’ll be standing by the first tee shouting and screaming for Europe to get the crowd behind the girls. And, of course, I shall be looking forward to joining in the victory celebrations on Sunday night.”

Tagged Alison Nicholas, Carin Koch, Solheim Cup, Solheim Cup 2015