Frustrated fans left in wait for hours trying to get onto Solheim Cup grounds for Day 1 – MASHAHER

GAINESVILLE, Va. – “Eye of the Tiger” blared to stadium levels as Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz emerged from a tunnel and onto the first tee for the first match of the 19^th Solheim Cup.

Fans on both the U.S. and European sides enthusiastically cheered — just not as many as anticipated.

Bussing complications left thousands of fans in wait for hours at a Jiffy Lube Live parking lot, five miles from the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club venue. The opening-hole grandstands, which officials said could accommodate 2,000 fans, had several hundred empty seats when Germany’s Esther Henseleit struck the first shot of the matches.

Henseleit and England’s Charley Hull were in the first of four opening foursomes matches Friday, facing Korda and Corpuz.

“We gotta fill this thing up a little bit more,” U.S. captain Stacy Lewis told Golf Channel’s Amy Rogers on the first tee.

LPGA officials sent out a statement at 9:21 a.m.

“We recognize and deeply apologize to all fans affected by the challenges with shuttling from parking to the golf course. We’ve made significant changes to our transportation system to mitigate these issues moving forward, and we’re working on ways to express our regret to those impacted,” the statement read.

Transportation — including buses and shuttle service to and from the course — has been an issue for both media and fans throughout the week. Thousands of attendees stood in line outside of the fan zone Thursday evening waiting multiple hours for buses following the opening ceremony.

Officials said, based on early ticket sales, that this could be the biggest ever Solheim Cup.

Fans, citing an inadequate amount of buses and volunteers using the same service and getting priority, took to social media Friday morning to show their situations and express their frustrations.