The Solheim Cup is fast approaching, pitting the top 12 female European golfers against the 12 best American golfers. 

The Solheim Cup format sees the teams compete across three days with a mixture of fourballs, foursomes and singles to decide the winning side. 

Team Europe are the current defending champions after a 15-13 victory at Inverness Club, Ohio in 2021. The European team were led by a superb performance from Leonna Maguire who picked up 4.5 out of a possible five points. 

This year the match takes place at Finca Cortesin in Spain with Suzann Pettersen's side looking to make it three Solheim Cup victories in a row. 

Despite the biennial tournament taking place in September 2023, the winner only gets to keep the trophy for 12 months, with the next Solheim Cup scheduled to take place in September 2024 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia.

The reason for this quick turnaround is a scheduling conflict with the men's equivalent - the Ryder Cup.

After having to postpone the 2020 edition of the Ryder Cup due to Covid-19, the organisers moved it to 2021, which was the same year as the Solheim Cup. 

Moving forward, however, it was decided that the tournaments should move back to alternate years. The Ryder Cup will remain in the odd years, therefore meaning that the Solheim Cup would have to play two tournaments in as many years and then continue to be held on even years after 2024. 

That means European Solheim Cup fans will have to wait just three years for the return of a home tournament with the 2026 edition set to take place at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands.