Key takeaways
- The All-Star Challenge is Thursday, September 10 at 2pm. It is a separate three-hole exhibition at Bernardus, the day before the Solheim Cup.
- Gian van Veen is world No. 3 in darts. Suzann Pettersen, Heather Knight, Carly Telford, Anthony Watson and DJ Spoony join him.
- The format is deliberately short. A Q&A, a tee shot each, then holes 1, 6 and 18 with prizes on the final green.
- The main event begins September 11. The first team to 14.5 points wins the Solheim Cup.
- Three holes is a useful amateur format. Concentrate, add a little pressure, and stop before the fun goes sour.
The Solheim Cup has 28 matches, 24 players and a 14.5-point target. The day before it starts, the same golf course hosts three holes, a microphone and a man whose day job is throwing at a board from seven feet nine inches.
The 2026 Solheim Cup All-Star Challenge takes place at Bernardus Golf on Thursday, September 10 at 2pm, the day before the Solheim Cup begins. Confirmed participants include darts player Gian van Veen, two-time European captain Suzann Pettersen, former England cricket captain Heather Knight, footballer Carly Telford, rugby international Anthony Watson and DJ Spoony.
That's the line-up. What it doesn't tell you is why a three-hole celebrity knockabout is the most honest golf event of the week, and what it has to do with your own game. That's in the fourth section.
Built on: the Ladies European Tour's official announcement, Golf News' coverage of the event, Sky Sports' Solheim Cup guide, the official Solheim Cup USA site, and Wikipedia's record of the 2024 contest.
What's actually happening on September 10
A Q&A, a tee shot each, then three holes. That's the whole format.
The Ladies European Tour's announcement says the afternoon starts with a short Q&A on the first tee hosted by BBC Sport broadcaster Andrew Cotter, featuring van Veen, Pettersen and Anne van Dam, a former Solheim Cup player who the LET describes as this year's Team Europe vice-captain and captain of the European PING Juniors.
Then the stars hit shots off the first tee in front of spectators before taking on a three-hole challenge across the first, sixth and 18th holes, with prizes on the final green.
Golf News confirms the 2pm start and frames it as a curtain-raiser for the Solheim Cup, which begins the following day.
One small tangle worth flagging: Sky Sports' guide names Caroline Hedwall and Mel Reid as Anna Nordqvist's vice-captains, while the LET calls van Dam a vice-captain too. Both sources are credible, and neither contradicts the other outright. Three vice-captains is the likeliest reading.
Who's in the line-up
Six sports, and only two of them involve a golf swing.
Gian van Veen, per the LET, is a Dutch darts player known as The Giant and ranked world No. 3 in the Professional Darts Corporation. He's the home nation's name on the card, at the first Solheim Cup ever held in the Netherlands.
Suzann Pettersen brings the golf pedigree. The LET lists two major championship wins and nine Solheim Cup appearances as a player, the last of which ended with her holing the winning putt at Gleneagles in 2019 before retiring. She then captained Europe in 2023 and 2024.
The British contingent: Carly Telford, a former England goalkeeper with 28 caps. Heather Knight OBE, the former England cricket captain who led her country to the 2017 World Cup and became the first player, male or female, to score a century in all three formats. Anthony Watson, 56 England rugby caps and a two-time British and Irish Lion.
DJ Spoony, a founding member of the Dreem Teem with a long BBC career, completes the confirmed field.
Why a celebrity three-holer is worth your attention
Because it's the only moment of the week where world-class athletes play golf badly in public, and that's rarer than it should be.
The LET frames the Q&A around the shared experience of performing under pressure. A darts player at the oche, a cricketer walking out to bat, a keeper facing a penalty. Then they're asked to hit a ball off a first tee with a crowd behind them.
I've watched a lot of these. The interesting bit isn't the good shots. It's watching a man who can hit a treble 20 under lights discover that a stationary white ball on a peg is a completely different kind of nerve.
That's the thing this event does that the Solheim Cup can't. It puts the fear you feel on the first tee of your Saturday medal onto someone famous, and lets you see it.
The format you should steal
Three holes. Prizes at the end. Nobody keeps a full card.
The All-Star Challenge covers the first, sixth and 18th at Bernardus, which Sky Sports describes as a Kyle Phillips-designed heathland course with tricky water hazards and a compact layout, close to Eindhoven.
Here's my opinion, and I've held it for decades. Most beginners play too many holes too early. Eighteen holes for someone who can't yet get airborne consistently is four and a half hours of being reminded they're bad at something.
Three holes with something small on the line is a better game. It's short enough to concentrate, long enough to build a little pressure, and it ends before the frustration sets in. The pros run it as entertainment. You should run it as practice.
The main event it's warming up
Twenty-eight matches over three days, and the first team to 14.5 points wins.
Sky Sports' guide breaks it down: two sessions of foursomes, where each pair plays one ball and alternates shots, two sessions of fourballs, where each player uses her own ball and the better score counts, and 12 singles on Sunday. September 11 to 13 at Bernardus Golf.
The United States holds an 11-8 series lead, per the official Solheim Cup USA site, after winning 15.5-12.5 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in 2024 for a first victory since 2017. That followed the first tie in the event's history, 14-14 at Finca Cortesin in 2023.
Nordqvist captains Europe, succeeding Pettersen. Angela Stanford leads the American defence with Kristy McPherson and Paula Creamer as vice-captains and Brittany Lang as an assistant.
The teams, briefly
Twenty-four players, seven debutants between them.
Sky Sports lists Europe's automatic qualifiers as Charley Hull, making an eighth consecutive appearance after topping the LET points list, Esther Henseleit, who edged Chiara Tamburlini by 0.9 points, debutant Lottie Woad, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, Celine Boutier, Carlota Ciganda and Nanna Koerstz Madsen. Nordqvist's picks: Leona Maguire plus three rookies in Julia Lopez Ramirez, Nastasia Nadaud and Mimi Rhodes.
For the USA, Nelly Korda leads the qualifiers for a fifth appearance, with Angel Yin, Jennifer Kupcho, Yealimi Noh, debutant Auston Kim, Lauren Coughlin, Allisen Corpuz, Andrea Lee and Alison Lee. Stanford picked Megan Khang, Rose Zhang and debutant Lindy Duncan.
The event has moved back to even-numbered years to avoid clashing with the Ryder Cup, which is why it was played in consecutive years in 2023 and 2024.
Five things about this week that people will get wrong
- “The All-Star Challenge is part of the Solheim Cup.” It isn't. It's a separate exhibition on Thursday, September 10. Competition starts Friday.
- “Pettersen is captaining Europe.” She captained in 2023 and 2024. Nordqvist has the job now, per Sky Sports, and Pettersen is at Bernardus as a participant in the celebrity event.
- “Europe needs 14 points to win.” Fourteen only retains the cup for a holder. Sky Sports states the first team to 14.5 wins, and Europe isn't the holder this time.
- “It's a full round for the celebrities.” Three holes, per the LET: the first, sixth and 18th.
- “You can just turn up.” The LET states tickets must be purchased in advance via the official Solheim Cup ticketing page.
Verification block
Confirmed: the LET announcement supplies the exhibition line-up, date, time and three-hole format; Sky Sports and Golf News provide the event framing and main-match format; Solheim Cup USA supplies the 2024 result and series record.
Read with a label: the vice-captain discrepancy is retained because both the LET and Sky Sports publish credible but different lists.
The Raw Verdict
A three-hole game with a darts player, a cricketer and a Solheim Cup legend is the least important golf played at Bernardus next week, and probably the most watchable. Nothing in the main event will show you what nerves look like as clearly as a world-class athlete from another sport standing over a tee shot.
If you're new to the game, that's your permission slip. Play three holes. Put a coffee on it. Stop when it's done. The professionals run this format as entertainment because it works, and it works for the same reason it'll work for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the 2026 Solheim Cup All-Star Challenge?
Thursday, September 10, 2026, starting at 2pm at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands, per the Ladies European Tour. It runs the day before the Solheim Cup itself, which is played from September 11 to 13 at the same venue.
Who is playing in the All-Star Challenge?
The LET's confirmed line-up includes darts player Gian van Veen, two-time European captain Suzann Pettersen, former England cricket captain Heather Knight, former England goalkeeper Carly Telford, former England rugby international Anthony Watson, and DJ Spoony. Anne van Dam joins the opening Q&A.
What is the format of the All-Star Challenge?
A Q&A on the first tee hosted by Andrew Cotter, then each star hits a shot off the first tee, followed by a three-hole challenge over Bernardus Golf's first, sixth and 18th holes. Prizes are awarded to the winners on the final green.
Who is Suzann Pettersen?
A Norwegian two-time major champion with nine Solheim Cup appearances as a player, who holed the winning putt at Gleneagles in 2019 before retiring, then captained Europe in 2023 and 2024. Europe tied 14-14 in 2023 and lost 15.5-12.5 in 2024 under her.
How do I get tickets?
Through the official Solheim Cup ticketing page at solheimcup2026.golf, per the LET, which states tickets must be bought in advance and that limited availability remains. Sky Sports notes both grounds passes and hospitality are on general sale.
Sources
- Ladies European Tour announcement: date, line-up, Q&A and three-hole format.
- Golf News: All-Star Challenge timing and curtain-raiser context.
- Sky Sports Solheim Cup guide: Bernardus, match formats, captains and points.
- Solheim Cup USA: series record and 2024 result.
- Wikipedia's 2024 Solheim Cup record: historical score context.
- GOLFRAW Tournaments desk: schedules and course context.
- GOLFRAW search: find more Solheim Cup and women's golf reporting.
How we reported this. GOLFRAW Editorial separates the LET's confirmed event details from the vice-captain discrepancy and labels the exhibition as separate from the Solheim Cup competition.
Author. GOLFRAW Editorial is GolfRaw's golf news and verification desk.
Corrections. None at publication. Corrections policy.
Last updated. .