Carin Koch on gearing up for the challenge in Germany

The year of the matches is finally here and now it really feels like the countdown is on.

I have visited the St. Leon-Rot course a few times now and the facilities are amazing, some of the very best in Europe, and the course is really fun and in great condition.

There is a lot of variation and we’ll adjust the set-up after we know who will be in the team. At this stage there is only so much you can do but we have looked at the run-offs around the greens already and I’ve had a chat with the greenkeeper about green speeds.

Fanny Sunesson, best known for her four Major wins with Nick Faldo and more recently with Henrik Stenson, is also helping me and she has already made some really helpful suggestions.

There is nobody better than Annika Sörenstam to pore over the stats It used to be the case that Europe had the longer hitting team so that would play a part when setting up the course but that has probably evened out now so the main emphasis is to try and make the course as exciting as it can be with some interesting pin positions.

We have also asked them to build an extra tee at one of the par 4s so most players can go for it with the driver.

When we do know the team there is nobody better than Annika Sörenstam to pore over the stats so all of that side of things will be done in good time.

In Colorado two years ago our team would only play nine holes a day because of the course’s location above sea level.

In Germany we have set aside a day in August as, during the week of the matches, there will be so many demands with photoshoots, dinners and every player being involved in the daily press conferences.

With everyone playing all over the world it will be great to have a look at the course as well as being able to acclimatise to where everything is.

My favourite Solheim courses would either be Barsebäck G & CC in Sweden or Loch Lomond where I made my debut – I’d love to go back to Scotland as we played there late in the autumn and the weather was so bad.

Barsebäck is just stunning and has so many parts to it being both by the ocean and in the trees.

We won both of those matches so let’s hope that I have some equally incredible memories of Germany.

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