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Mallon served as an assistant captain for the victorious USA team during the 2009 Solheim Cup. |
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Meg Mallon, a four-time Major champion and a 2009 Solheim Cup U.S.
Assistant Captain, has been selected by PING and the American Junior Golf
Association to captain the 2011 PING Junior Solheim Cup U.S. Team.
The PING Junior Solheim Cup, which biennially features the 12 best
female junior golfers (ages 12-18) from the United States against the top 12
junior girls from Europe, will be held Sept. 20-21, 2011, at Knightsbrook Hotel
Spa & Golf Resort in Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland.
“I’m very excited to have been chosen to Captain the U.S. Team in
2011,” Mallon said. “I was a big proponent of the PING Junior Solheim Cup since
it began in 2002. I am really looking forward to working with these talented
young players next year in Ireland.”
Before retiring from professional golf in July 2010, Mallon was an
eight-time Solheim Cup selection and played in every event between 1992 and
2005. She owns a 13-9-7 record and is tied with Juli Inkster as the U.S. Team’s
all-time leading point earner.
“It's real exciting to have Meg be the captain of the Junior
Solheim Cup. She is such a dynamic player and gets so much into her game, it
will be fun to watch her work with the girls and show them how to get more out
of their game. It gives them a real flavor,” said John A. Solheim, Chairman and
CEO of PING, Inc. “To PING, and to me, the Junior Solheim Cup is the most fun
part of the week. Seeing those young players, a good number of them will
probably play in the full Solheim Cup. There's a special joy seeing those young
players come up and challenge.”
The 2011 event will mark the sixth PING Junior Solheim Cup, with
the U.S. leading the all-time series, 3-2-0. The team hosting the event has won
the PING Junior Solheim Cup in all five instances. In 2009, the U.S. prevailed,
15.5–8.5, at Aurora Country Club in Aurora, Ill.
In its short history, the PING Junior Solheim Cup already has a
reputation for showcasing the world’s up-and-coming female junior golfers.
Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lincicome, Brittany Lang, Louise Stahle and Minea
Blomqvist all participated before turning professional.
Paula Creamer, who was 4-2-0 in two PING Junior Solheim Cup
appearances, was the first to go on to play on a Solheim Cup Team and helped
the United States win at Crooked Stick in 2005 with a 3-1-1 record. In 2009, the
American team featured four former PING Junior Solheim Cup team members
– Creamer, Brittany Lang, Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel.
The Solheim Cup, the most prestigious team event in women’s
professional golf and sponsored by PING golf equipment, is named in honor of
the company’s founder, Karsten Solheim, and his family. It is a biennial,
trans-Atlantic team match-play competition featuring the best American-born
players from the LPGA and the best European-born players from the Ladies
European Tour.
The U.S. leads the Solheim Cup series, 10-3-0, and has never lost
on home soil. The 2011 Solheim Cup will be played Sept. 23-25 at Killeen Castle
Golf Resort in Co. Meath, Ireland.
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and
women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior
golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and
has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately
5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 countries. To ensure scholarship
opportunities for all junior golfers who have the skill, the AJGA created the
Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program to provide financial
assistance to young players in need.
PING designs, manufactures and markets a complete line of golf
equipment including metal woods, irons, putters and golf bags. The family-owned
company was founded in 1959 by the late Karsten Solheim. Solheim is the only
person to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as a golf club
manufacturer. Today, the Phoenix-based company is under the direction of
Solheim’s youngest son, John A. Solheim. PING game-improvement products can be
found in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit pinggolf.com.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and
professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 400 victories on
the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson,
Stewart Cink, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.
For more information, please contact Chris Richards
(crichards@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department at (770) 868-4200.
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