Andy DevaneyThe Solheim Cup 2026 Friday tee times leave little room for a leisurely opening at Bernardus Golf.
The first foursomes match is away at 7.40 am, the fourth follows just 36 minutes later, and by 1.05 pm the format has switched to four-ball.
For first-time captains Anna Nordqvist and Angela Stanford, the strategic part of the job begins before much of the audience has finished its first coffee.
Friday morning packs four matches into 36 minutes
Europe send Charley Hull and Lottie Woad out first against Allisen Corpuz and Nelly Korda at 7.40 am.
Twelve minutes later, Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Céline Boutier face Alison Lee and Lauren Coughlin.
At 8.04 am, Esther Henseleit and Leona Maguire meet Andrea Lee and Lindy Duncan, before Maja Stark and Linn Grant take on Rose Zhang and Jennifer Kupcho at 8.16 am.
It is a compressed opening. There is barely time for one match to establish a mood before another group is walking onto the first tee.
In foursomes, that places an immediate spotlight on the partnerships each captain has trusted with Friday morning.
Korda and Corpuz get Stanford’s first call
Stanford has put the world number one alongside Corpuz in the opening American pairing, and her explanation focused as much on the partnership as the obvious star name.
“Allisen and Nelly seem to have a nice rapport. I felt like they’ve earned the right to go out first. We can talk about Nelly and her being the number one player in the world but don’t sleep on Allisen.”
Europe answer with Hull and Woad.
Nordqvist’s decision to send Hull first is hardly a tentative beginning either.
“Charley has been such a great player at this event over the years. This is her eighth Solheim Cup, and it’s really grown on her.”
So Friday begins with an immediate focal point: Korda on one side of the opening match, Hull on the other, and two rookie captains making their first competitive pairing decisions.
Four-ball takes over from 1.05 pm
The morning foursomes are only half of Friday’s programme.
The four-ball session starts at 1.05 pm, with four matches scheduled at 15-minute intervals through to 1.50 pm.
That change of format also changes the nature of the afternoon. The morning foursomes demand trust between partners; four-ball invites rather more aggression. It also hands Nordqvist and Stanford another round of pairing decisions before Friday is remotely finished with them.
For viewers planning the day, the important windows are simple: the foursomes tee off between 7.40 am and 8.16 am, followed by the four-ball starts from 1.05 pm to 1.50 pm.
The Friday broadcast begins at 7.30 am local time, ten minutes before Hull, Woad, Corpuz and Korda are due on the tee.
Saturday uses exactly the same timetable
Saturday follows the same rhythm.
The foursomes again begin at 7.40 am, with four matches starting at 12-minute intervals through to 8.16 am. The four-ball session then runs from 1.05 pm to 1.50 pm, with 15 minutes between starts.
The symmetry is tidy. Team golf generally develops an allergy to tidy plans by about lunchtime.
By Saturday, pairings are no longer being judged in isolation. Captains have Friday’s performances, momentum and the emotional temperature of the contest to consider before deciding who goes again, who changes partner and who waits.
Bernardus gets its first Solheim Cup morning
The Netherlands is staging the Solheim Cup for the first time, with Europe attempting to reclaim the trophy after the United States won the previous edition in 2024.
Bernardus Golf adds another consideration. Its large, undulating greens place a premium on precise approach play and putting before match-play pressure starts interfering with otherwise sensible decisions.
For Nordqvist, nine Solheim Cups as a player provide considerable experience of that pressure. Stanford played in six and then served as an assistant captain in three consecutive editions.
Neither, in other words, needs introducing to the peculiar atmosphere of this contest. Only the job title has changed.
At 7.40am on Friday, captaincy becomes a clock rather than a title.
