The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Thousands of golf fans at Gleneagles for Solheim Cup start.
Emphasis on inclusion as official opening ceremony enjoyed by supporters from USA and Europe
Thousands of visitors from across Europe and America descended on Gleaneagles as Scottish rockers Texas headlined the opening ceremony of the Solheim Cup.
Sharleen Spiteri and her bandmates took centre stage as the biggest sporting event in women’s golf officially got under way in Tayside.
Organisers expect around 85,000 spectators to visit the Perthshire event before the final putt is holed on Sunday.
They include USA fan David Fantozzi, who travelled with his wife and three other couples from Delaware after planning the trip for more than a year.
David said: “We’re on a two-week vacation all packaged around the Solheim Cup.
“We plan on golfing here in Scotland for a week and then over to Ireland.”
Fellow American Marilyn Manahan travelled with her husband and another couple from Florida to take in her third Solheim Cup. Marilyn said: “We were also in Des Moines and Colorado. We’ve been planning this since the last one two years ago.”
She added: “We came here on a golfing trip 20 years ago, so this is all about the Solheim and tourism. We had three days in Edinburgh and we were at St Andrews yesterday.”
The opening day of the international tournament also marked a special day for two brothers from Blairgowrie, Connor and Gregor Graham, who played five holes of the championship course in the Diversity Cup in the afternoon.
Connor, 12, played alongside former Scotland manager Gordon Strachan and Aimi Bullock of the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA) who has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Connor said: “It was a great experience. We birdied all the holes.”
Aimi praised this year’s Solheim Cup for including female golfers from the EDGA in the programme. She said: “This is the first time that ladies from the EDGA have been able to take centre stage.”
Inclusion is one of the main concerns for tournament organisers this year as they strive to make the Gleneagles event the most accessible Solheim Cup ever.
Organisers introduced an autismfriendly quiet room, as well as a host of other initiatives including free tickets for the carers of disabled spectators.
Caroline Warburton, VisitScotland regional leadership director, said: “The 2019 Solheim Cup promises to be a fantastic event for all the family and it is wonderful to have the event so focused on providing a world-class experience for everyone.
“The extra measures the team are taking are exemplary and we know that visitors with disabilities and additional needs appreciate events and tourism businesses considering their requirements so that they can be as inclusive as possible.”