Albane Valenzuela in action at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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Albane Valenzuela will be the first Swiss golfer to play in either the Solheim or Ryder Cup, the biennial tournaments between Europe and the United States.
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The Geneva golfer will be part of the European squad for the Solheim Cup, the women’s equivalent of the Ryder Cup, in mid-September in Gainesville, Virginia. She is one of Suzann Pettersen’s four captain’s picks.
“It’s a childhood dream come true,” Valenzuela, 26, said in a press release. “Representing Europe in the Solheim Cup or the Ryder Cup is one of the greatest honours a golfer can have. Back when I played in the Junior Solheim Cup, it was clear that I wanted to do the same with the adults. I’ve played all the Majors, the Olympics, and now I’m going to play in the Solheim Cup. That’s huge!”
In Gainesville, Valenzuela and Team Europe will be looking to retain the Solheim Cup trophy, a year after sharing the spoils with the United States in Andalusia (14-14).
Valenzuela was born in New York City to a Mexican father and French mother and became a Swiss citizen at the age of 14. She played college golf at Stanford University before turning professional in 2019. She represented Switzerland at the 2016 Rio Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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