Four former Duke women’s golfers are in the mix as the 2026 Solheim Cup gets underway Friday in Cromvoirt, Netherlands, with Bernardus Golf hosting the event Sept. 11-13.
Celine Boutier and Leona Maguire will suit up for Europe, while Lindy Duncan and Brittany Lang are part of the United States side. Boutier and Maguire are both former Blue Devils, and Duke’s presence once again runs through one of women’s golf’s biggest stages.
Boutier, who graduated from Duke in 2016, is set for her fifth straight Solheim Cup and brings a 7-6-1 career record into the week. Maguire, a 2018 Duke graduate, has been even sharper, posting an 8-3-1 mark while preparing for her fourth consecutive appearance.
Duncan, a 2013 Duke graduate, is making her Solheim Cup debut. Lang, meanwhile, is serving as an assistant captain for the United States.
The 2026 event is the 20th Solheim Cup, which began in 1990. The biennial match-play competition pits the best players from the LPGA Tour against the best from the Ladies European Tour, and the U.S. holds an 11-7-1 edge in the series. That gap has narrowed in recent years.
Duke’s reach in the event has been steady. The Blue Devils have had at least one player in each of the last 10 Solheim Cups, and one of their own has helped lead a team to victory in five of the last six editions - Maguire and Boutier in 2023 and 2021, Boutier in 2019, and Lang in 2017 and 2015.
Friday’s foursomes feature a pair of Duke connections. Boutier will team with Nanna Koerstz Madsen against Alison Lee and Lauren Coughlin at 1:52 a.m., while Maguire and Esther Henseleit will face Duncan and Andrea Lee at 2:04 a.m.
The Golf Channel will carry live coverage Friday and Saturday from 1:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, with Sunday’s action airing from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET.
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