But it’s not too soon to look at which players are likely to be competing Aug. 16-18 at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, where the biennial team competition between the best women’s players from the U.S. and Europe will take place.

As American captain Meg Mallon said late last summer in a visit to Colorado, “It’s a pretty exciting time for women’s golf. We’ve got veterans like Angela (Stanford) and Cristie Kerr playing (well), then you’ve got young players like Lexi Thompson that are coming up and trying to make the team. It’s going to be fun to see how it develops” in the months leading up to the event.

While players have been accumulating qualifying points for the Solheim Cup since 2011, 2013 tournaments will take on extra importance. European players will earn twice as many points as before, while American will receive 1.5 times as many points as before, with points doubled at major championships.

The 2013 LPGA Tour schedule begins Feb. 14 in Australia, while the Ladies European Tour debuts Feb. 1, also Down Under.

The 12-player U.S. team will consist of the top eight golfers on the points list through the Women’s British Open (Aug. 1-4), the next two highest-ranked Americans from the Rolex Rankings, and two captain’s picks divulged by Mallon in early August.

If the points were finalized now, here’s what the automatic qualifiers for the American team would look like: 1. Stacy Lewis (pictured) 518 points; 2. Kerr 294; 3. Paula Creamer 264; 4. Stanford 234; 5. Brittany Lincicome 203; 6. Brittany Lang 154; 7. Thompson 132; 8. Katie Futcher 97; and from the Rolex Rankings: 9. Morgan Pressel; 10. Michelle Wie.

The Europeans’ roster will be made up of the top four players from the Solheim Cup points list, the four next-best Europeans from the Rolex Rankings, and four captain’s picks announced by Liselotte Neumann in early August.

Here’s how the European automatic qualifiers would look like if the qualifying period ended today: 1. Caroline Masson 79.5 points; 2. Carlota Ciganda 78.2; 3. Pernilla Lindberg 60.21; 4. Giulia Sergas 58.38; and from the Rolex Rankings: 5. Suzann Pettersen; 6. Catriona Matthew; 7. Azahara Munoz; 8. Anna Nordqvist.

At least on paper, the U.S. should have a leg up with the 2012 LPGA Rolex Player of the Year on its roster. Lewis, who won four LPGA Tour events last year, was the first American to earn the Player of the Year honor since Beth Daniel in 1994.

Lewis figures to be playing in her second Solheim Cup, after the Europeans edged the U.S. 15-13 in Ireland two years ago.

“Things didn’t quite end the way we wanted them to (in 2011), and I’ve been wanting to get points every week and get back on the team (for this year) so we can take the Cup back,” Lewis said at Colorado Golf Club.

The top six players on the American Solheim Cup standings have 39 LPGA Tour victories among them, with Kerr (15) and Creamer (nine) leading the way. Thompson, the youngest LPGA Tour event winner in history (16 years, 7 months), is also a fan favorite, as is veteran Wie, winner of two LPGA events in her career. Another player who falls into the fan-favorite category, Natalie Gulbis, will need a strong year to automatically qualify for the team as she’s currently 12th on the U.S. points list with 74.

U.S. players earn points through top-20 finishes at official LPGA Tour events.

On the European side, a good bet to find a spot on the team one way or another is Laura Davies, a 25-time LPGA Tour champion who has played in every Solheim Cup since its debut in 1990.

The Americans will have 18 LPGA Tour events before the Solheim Cup, while the European will have about a dozen Ladies European Tour tournaments to earn additional points.
 

Colorado has hosted U.S. Opens, U.S. Women’s Opens, PGA Championships, U.S. Senior Opens and a myriad of other PGA, LPGA and Champions Tour events over the last 75 years.

But when it comes to professional tour players representing their country or continent in team events, that’s something the Centennial State hasn’t experienced first-hand.

That will change Aug. 16-18 of next year when the Solheim Cup comes to Colorado Golf Club in Parker. And some of the competitors who know about the event from the inside believe that Coloradans are in for a treat when the best U.S. and European female golfers square off.

“I personally think it’s the biggest event we have in women’s golf,” German-born player Sandra Gal said Tuesday at a “Year to Here” Solheim Cup event at Colorado Golf Club. “You really can’t compare it to any regular tour event or major. Even seeing how involved the fans are in the tournament, in the event, with dressing up and chanting songs. You get goose bumps when you’re there. You just have to be there to see it.”

Added U.S. captain Meg Mallon, a veteran of eight Solheim Cups as a player: “If you’ve never been to a Solheim Cup, you’ll never see anything like you’ll see on the first tee. It’s even different than the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup has a wonderful atmosphere, but we have our own unique experience where there’s singing on the first tee, and they’re signing songs in Europe and they’re singing songs in the USA. And as soon as that person (gets ready to) tee off, you can hear a pin drop. And as soon as they hit it, they’re cheering and chanting again. There’s nothing like it.”

The Solheim Cup, like the men’s Ryder Cup, is held every two years, with the sites alternating between the U.S. and Europe. The last Solheim Cup held in the U.S., near Chicago in 2009, attracted more than 100,000 people for the week.

“It is one of the coolest atmospheres,” American Angela Stanford said. “I was blown away in Chicago because my previous two (Solheim Cups) were both in Europe, and the European fans are amazing. They bring it, that’s for sure. That’s why it’s so tough (playing for the Cup) over there. And I wondered what was going to happen in Chicago, and they were outstanding. So (there are) high expectations here in Colorado.

“People love it. You can tee off on the second tee box and you can hear them singing on 1. So you really have to be aware when you’re taking the club back (that) they could start signing. It’s so cool.”

Not surprisingly, it’s been very difficult for the visiting team to win the Solheim Cup on foreign soil. The Americans are 6-0 in the U.S., and the Europeans have won four of six on their continent.

“It’s hard to bring a lot of people over from Europe obviously,” said European captain Liselotte Neumann (pictured laughing at left, next to the Solheim Cup). “We’re trying to make some connections (in Colorado). We met some people here today. We’re trying to tempt everybody. We could maybe put an ad in the paper, maybe pay people to come out and cheer for us. We’ll see. We pay good, by the way.”

Joking aside, though, the competition can be very pressure-packed — and in a unique way — for the Solheim Cup, as it is for the men in the Ryder Cup.

“It’s very intense actually,” Gal said. “I think (the players) get along well off the course in regular tour events, but you could definitely feel the tension once the Solheim Cup came around. We stayed at the same hotel, but we were on different floors. We’d never cross those borders. It’s definitely a huge rivalry. Once that week starts, everyone just wants that cup.”

Added Stanford: “It is kind of a cool feeling that week. You play against each other all the time. Then that one week you get to come together as 12. And all of a sudden you get to root for those people that you want to beat every week. It’s a different feeling, and by far my favorite event.”

Sorenstam, Koch Named Vice Captains for European Team: World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam, who posted her first LPGA Tour victory in Colorado at the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open, was named a vice captain for the European Solheim Cup team for the second straight time on Tuesday.

European captain Liselotte Neumann said she’s chosen fellow Swedes Sorenstam and Carin Koch as her vice captains. The three have competed in a combined 18 Solheim Cups.

“Next year’s Solheim Cup in Colorado is very important for Europe as we need to keep the momentum going after winning the Cup last year in Ireland,” Sorenstam said. “I look forward to helping Lotta in any way possible.”

U.S. captain Meg Mallon previously announced that Dottie Pepper will be one of her vice captains, with another being introduced early next year.

Notable: Americans Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford and Europeans Sandra Gal and Anna Nordquist played in a three-hole Solheim Cup exhibition Tuesday at Colorado Golf Club (pictued at top), competing in the three formats: singles, four-ball and foursomes. The Europeans prevailed in the match. … The Junior Solheim Cup, held in conjunction with the regular Solheim Cup, will be played at Inverness Golf Club in Englewood Aug. 12-14 of next year. The event features a dozen Americans and a dozen Europeans age 18 and under. … The 2013 Women’s British Open, set for Aug. 1-4, will be the final event in which American and European players can earn points for the Solheim Cup. Points, accumulated via top-20 Tour finishes, are accumulated over two years. After the Women’s British, Mallon and Neumann will announce captains’ picks — two for Mallon, four for Neumann — for their respective 12-player teams.