CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — The 20th edition of the Solheim Cup is being hosted in the Netherlands for the first time in the tournament’s history.It will begin at a very loud first tee on Friday morning at Bernardus Golf, a 20-minute drive from ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the nearest city to the course, which is about an hour’s drive south of Amsterdam.The United States is seeking to defend the title won on home soil two years ago and add to a tally of 11 wins since the tournament was established in 1990.Dutchwoman Anne van Dam, who is one of Anna Nordqvist’s vice-captains, is hoping her home tournament, which has been four years in the making, will be a winning one for Europe, who have won eight and retained one. Van Dam is also hoping it can mark the beginning of a boom for women’s golf in a country not immediately synonymous with the sport.“I hope it does a lot because we need it,” Van Dam, who has twice represented her country at the Olympics and has five wins on the Ladies European Tour, told reporters.“We don’t have many new rising stars, which is unfortunate … as a young kid you need an event like this to motivate you or to pick up the sport. I just hope that a lot of kids pick up the sport, or parents that see this are like, ‘Wow, this is cool’. I can only hope it inspires them a lot.”Van Dam, who resides in her home city of Arnhem, was only the second Dutch woman to compete at a Solheim Cup when she made her debut in 2019. The first was Christel Boeljon, who represented Europe in 2011 when they won at Killeen Castle in the Republic of Ireland.As heavy rain showers flickered on and off throughout the day Wednesday, all 12 players from team Europe and the U.S. faced the media.Englishwoman Charley Hull, a tournament veteran about to tee it off in her eighth Solheim Cup, also hopes this weekend can be an uplifting week for Dutch golf.“It gives an opportunity to younger kids to start playing golf. And they’re going to come to Solheim — and it’s a really, really fun event to watch as well — and think golf’s super fun. Rather than a typical stereotype, old-man sport. When they come here, it’s more of an event and I just think this can’t not be good for golf. It’s really good for golf.“Hopefully in 20 years, there will be some junior who was walking around here watching us play and they’re hopefully on the team.”