On a sun-splashed holiday weekend at Inverness, Toledo threw the party of a lifetime.
It’s just too bad Team USA missed it.
Harsh? Maybe, because the Americans put up a nice fight late on the final day of its 15-13 loss to Europe in the Solheim Cup.
But seeing as they had eight of the nine highest-ranked players in the tournament — to say nothing of the biggest and most partisan crowd in the history of the event behind them — you would be forgiven for expecting a more climactic finish.
While Toledo and Inverness shined bright as ever, the home team could not say the same, robbing us of a thundering ending to an otherwise incredible event.
The scene Monday was like the calm before a storm that never arrived.
All day, the red, white, and blue galleries were ready to cut loose, beginning at the first tee, where the early scene — with fans filling the 2,500-seat stadium and lined 10 deep the length of the hole — had the place quaking.
And all day, the script did not oblige, beginning with the first groups.
With the Americans down 9-7 — and needing 7½ of the 12 points on the line in Monday’s singles matches to recapture the Solheim Cup — the blueprint was simple: They had to start fast, electrifying the crowds and setting off a wave of momentum.
Instead, they started slower than a horse-drawn sled ... on pavement.
Walking onto the course as the European blue began to fill up the scoreboards, my eyes and ears were at odds, the grounds packed but on mute. The U.S. won only one of the first six matches while the Euros took three of them, all in no-doubt fashion.
“The fans were unbelievable,” said Stacy Lewis, a U.S. assistant captain and Toledo native. “I wish we could have given them a little bit more to cheer about today and kind of help get the momentum in our favor.”
From there, the Americans either showed a lot of backbone or poured on a lot of window dressing, or both.
Either way, the result was the same, with Finland’s Matilda Castren clinching the Cup for the Europeans well before anyone could have anticipated. Playing in just the seventh group of the afternoon, Castren drained a 10-foot par putt on No. 18 to nab a 1-up win over Lizette Salas and secure at least a tie.
All you could say was: Well done, Europe, and ... damn.
I have to admit, I expected a thrilling, down-to-the-wire ending befitting of the dramatic Inverness finishes of yore, if only because everything else about the week had been so perfect.
Where to begin?
How about Inverness, a world-class course that was at the top of its game? Credit to everyone there, including a membership that is committed to keeping the fabled course in the modern championship picture and superintendent John Zimmers, who tends the track to perfection.
“This is major championship ready,” Nelly Korda said Monday.
Stay tuned.
Give it up, too, for Toledo, which, in its corporate support, community enthusiasm, and open-armed welcome to visitors, proved a big-event city in every way.
How cool was it to see the downtown riverfront rocking on Friday night and Inverness roaring the past three days?
The golf drew 130,000 fans to the Dorr Street course, breaking the Solheim Cup attendance record previously set in 2017, when 124,426 fans filled Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Iowa. (And, remember, this was with next to no Europeans because of travel restrictions. If the usual thousands of blue-and-yellow-clad supporters had made the trip, Inverness would have put the mark out of reach.)
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said he couldn’t count how many out-of-towners told him, “Wow, we never expected Toledo to be so fun.”
“That’s not damning with faint praise,” he said. “It's just the disconnect between the perception of Toledo and what they’re seeing.”
Added Lewis: “The city of Toledo killed it.”
And, in the end, that’s what matters more than the ending.
First Published September 7, 2021, 1:32 a.m.
