LPGA in Des Moines: The Solheim Cup is Coming our Way

It's official: the Des Moines Golf & Country Club is hosting the 2017 Solheim Cup!  For those of you who don't know, the Solheim Cup is an LPGA event similar to the PGA's Ryder Cup. It is a biennial competition between teams from the United States and Europe.  This year's Cup was held in Colorado, 2015 will be held in Germany, and then it's our turn!  This is exciting news for an golf lover and Des Moines native.

Photo courtesy: dmgcc.org

So, what goes in to planning a large scale event like a nationally (if not globally) televised, heavily attended tournament featuring some of the best and most talented female golfers in the world?

-no pressure-

Planning an event like this is much more long term than planning a wedding; DMGCC has been hinting at this since last  year, and were probably heavily involved with getting their course in the running a few years ago.  Now that it's official, event professionals for the course will be in full planning mode.  Teams will be formed to handle Marketing & Public Relations, Volunteer Coordination, Day Of Staffing, Media Coordinators, etc.
Event managers for the country club will be tasked with finding accommodations for players, coaches, trainers, and everyone else involved with the LPGA that will be attending.  They will set meticulous timelines delegating player arrivals, warm-ups, tee times, and estimated finish times.  Food and beverage options will be planned, budgeted, and approved; same goes for merchandise and souvenirs.

Ticket prices and spectator dress codes will be set, detailed estimations of public attendance submitted, and volunteers will be recruited for crowd control (think: the guys that hold up the huge "silence please" signs while players are putting).

As the day nears, timelines will be finalized, weather reports scoured, food, drinks, apparel, and merchandise ordered, staff schedules set, and so on.  The course will be mowed, watered, and picked over with a fine-tooth comb.  Everything will be as perfect as possible when the first swing of the day is broadcast to millions around the world.

Obviously this is a very streamlined, succinct summary of the huge task (and huge honor!) this is for the Des Moines Golf & Country Club, but I hope this gives you a slight idea of what all goes into planning for a large sporting event like the Solheim Cup!

It's great to see Des Moines getting global attention!  I am so excited for this event, and I hope I'll be able to attend.  Go USA!

www.lpga.com