Associated Press
Thursday, October 5

LUSS, Scotland -- For a team that has dominated the Solheim Cup, the United States has a score to settle with Europe.

Solheim Cup at a glance

What: Solheim Cup, biennial matches between top women professionals from the United States and Europe. When: Oct. 6-8. Where: Loch Lomond Golf Club, a 6,338-yard, par-72 course designed by Tom Weiskopf. Format: Eight alternate-shot matches Friday, six best-ball matches Saturday and 12 singles matches on Sunday. One point available from each match for a total of 26. The United States needs 13 points to retain the Cup. Europe needs 13½ to win. Last time: The U.S. won 16-12 in 1998 at Muirfield Village in Ohio. Series: The United States leads 4-1. Europe's only victory came in 1992 at the Dalmahoy in Scotland. Captains: Pat Bradley (U.S.), Dale Reid (Europe). U.S. team: Brandie Burton, Beth Daniel, Pat Hurst, Juli Inkster, Becky Iverson, Rosie Jones, Meg Mallon, Dottie Pepper, Michele Redman, Kelly Robbins, Nancy Scranton, Sherri Steinhauer. European team: Helen Alfredsson, Raquel Carriedo, Laura Davies, Sophie Gustafson, Trish Johnson, Carin Koch, Patrice Meunier Lebouc, Janice Moodie, Liselotte Neumann, Alison Nicholas, Catrin Nilsmark, Annika Sorenstam. Television: Friday, 1-5 p.m. (TGC); Saturday, noon-2 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (NBC). All three days are tape delayed.

Its only loss since the women's version of the Ryder Cup began in 1990 came in Scotland, golf's homeland.

Europe beat the Americans in the Sunday singles -- the only time that has happened -- on its way to an 11½-6½ victory at the Dalmahoy in Edinburgh.

"It's a plus being on home soil, and we have the experience advantage," said European captain Dale Reid, a four-time Solheim player.

Reid was part of the only European victory, handing Dottie Pepper her only singles loss.

She now is captain of a team that features a six-pack of Swedes and has much more experience, determined to prove that gap between American and European players is not nearly as wide as the Solheim Cup suggests.

"I definitely think our team will have more strength in depth than the American team," Reid said. "I don't see us as the underdogs and to be quite honest, it makes no difference who goes in as favorites. It's what happens on the grass that counts."

The Loch Lomond Golf Club will be wet and long when the matches begin Friday. No one knows the course as well as Janice Moodie, a Solheim Cup rookie but also a member at Loch Lomond.

Pepper returns as the only American to play in every Solheim Cup. She has become a favorite target, especially after last time, when her cheerleading so incensed the Europeans that they put her picture on a punching bag.

It didn't help, and no one thinks the Solheim Cup is turning as ugly as its male counterpart.

"I don't think any of us want it to become like the Ryder Cup," Reid said. "I'd rather forget what I've seen lately at the Ryder Cup."

She would also like to forget some of the results in the Solheim Cup.

The Americans are led by Pepper, who set a Solheim record by winning all four of her matches two years ago when the Americans retained the cup, 16-12, at Muirfield Village in Columbus, Ohio.

Pepper was out for 2½ months with a back injury sustained in the U.S. Women's Open. She returned last week, much to the relief of U.S. captain Pat Bradley, and had a chance to win the Safeway Championship in Portland, Ore.

"Watching Dottie come back after 2½ months of not playing, it was the best that we could have all seen," Bradley said. "It was a nice shot in the arm for all of us."

Bradley expects to get the same emotion Pepper takes everywhere, but in smaller doses.

"I've talked with Dottie many times," Bradley said. "We have great friendships with the Europeans, and Dale and I have talked numerous times and we have pledged to one another ... that we will play with the integrity of the game in hand."

The good-natured Reid jokes "that too much blood has already been spilled in Scottish history ... for this competition to cause problems."

"Many of our players live and play in the States and there are friendships here across the lines," said Reid, who had dinner this summer in France during the Evian Masters with U.S. Solheim players Meg Mallon and Beth Daniel.

"That shows how close we are, though I must admit Meg paid for the dinner."

While Pepper is the only American to play in every Solheim Cup, Europe has five players with that kind of experience -- Trish Johnson, Laura Davies and Alison Nicholas, all of England; and Sweden's Helen Alfredsson and Liselote Neumann.

A very wet September will make the American-style, 6,338-yard course play a lot longer. Designed by Tom Weiskopf, Loch Lomond Golf Club opened in the early 1990s.

	“	I don't think any of us want it to become like the Ryder Cup. I'd rather forget what I've seen lately at the Ryder Cup. ”
		— Dale Reid, European captain

The greens could be tricky.

In late July, a chemical treatment to kill meadow grass "severely stressed the greens, a human error," said Colin Campbell, the club professional.

Campbell said the greens were recovering, with 70 percent to 80 percent of the surfaces green. The rest has been touched up with green dye, but whatever the color, he said they are rolling fine.

The final five holes should invite match-play gambling. The 310-yard 14th can be reached off the tee by the big hitters, such as Davies and Becky Iverson. The par-5 16th measures 451 yards and can be reached in two, but it has a small creek in front of the green.

The closing hole is 401 yards and has the famous loch on the left, the best line to the green but a dangerous one.

"There is a tremendous variety of golf holes that will really make the players think," Bradley said. "There are holes that might entice them to give it a go."