Virginia Alum Brittany Altomare Represents Team USA in the Solheim Cup

The 17th Solheim Cup was played at the Inverness Club in Toledo over the weekend, bringing together the best women professional golfers from the United States and Europe for a three-day match play competition. Former UVA golf star Brittany Altomare represented Team USA in the Solheim Cup for the second time, competing in four of the five events and turning in a record of 2-2.

Altomare, who played for the Virginia women’s golf team from 2009 to 2013, was an All-ACC selection all four years and was the first Cavalier to win ACC Women’s Golf Player of the Year, an award she won unanimously in 2013. She had sixteen top-10 finishes in her collegiate career, just two off of the UVA record and she owns the school records for career stroke average and rounds below par.

Currently ranked 55th in the Rolex rankings, Altomare has 15 top-10 finishes in her professional career, including three top-10 finishes this year.

Altomare was selected to be on Team USA for the Solheim Cup for the second time after going 2-1-1 and finishing third among Team USA players with 2½ points at the 2019 Solheim Cup, which Europe won 14½ to 13½.

On selecting Altomare to be on the team again in 2021, team captain Pat Hurst said, “Brittany proved that she’s the ultimate team player in 2019 and really came through for us at Gleneagles.”

In the first event, Saturday Foursomes, Altomare was paired with Lexi Thompson, who is ranked No. 13 in the Rolex rankings, against Charley Hull (England, ranked No. 38) and Emily Pedersen (Denmark, ranked No. 67). In foursomes, each two-player team plays just one ball per hole, alternating taking each shot until the hole is complete and the team with the lowest score wins a point for that hole. If the lowest scores are tied, then the hole is halved. The two teams were tied heading into the 18th hole, but Hull and Pedersen won the final hole to claim the match by one stroke. Europe won three out of the four Saturday Foursomes matches outright.

Later that day in the Saturday Fourball event, Altomare was paired with 30th-ranked Yealimi Noh and played against Georgia Hall (England, ranked No. 28) and Leona Maguire (Ireland, ranked No. 67). In fourball, each competitor plays her own ball such that four balls are played on each hole. The lower score of the two players on each team is counted and the team with the lowest score out of the four players wins the hole. Once again, Altomare and her partner lost to their European counterparts by one stroke. Europe and the U.S. split the four Saturday Fourball matches and after the first day of competition, Europe held a 5½-2½ advantage.

In the Sunday Foursomes, Altomare was again paired up with Lexi Thompson against Charley Hull and Emily Pedersen. This time, the American duo prevailed in 17 holes as they went up by two with only one hole to play. The United States won three out of the four Sunday Foursomes matches to cut the deficit to 6½-5½.

Altomare did not compete in the Sunday Fourball event. Europe won two of the matches, the U.S. won one, and one match was halved, giving Europe a 9-7 lead heading into the final day of competition.

On Monday, there were twelve different singles matches, each worth a point in the Solheim Cup. Brittany Altomare faced Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, No. 41 in the Rolex rankings. Altomare won four of the final five holes to win the match.

Unfortunately, the U.S. only won six of the singles matches. Europe won six as well and the other two matches were halved, giving Europe the Solheim Cup victory by a final score of 15-13. It is the second consecutive win for Europe in the Solheim Cup, but the United States leads the all-time series 10-7.

Altomare finished the 2021 Solheim Cup with a record of 2-2 in four matches played.