Inside The Solheim Cup

The 20th Solheim Cup, one of golf’s premier international team events, was staged at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands from 10–13 September. Contested biennially between Europe and the USA by teams of 12, it mirrors the Ryder Cup format with 28 matches: eight foursomes and eight fourballs across the first two days, followed by 12 singles on the final day.

With global interest in women’s sport surging, Gravity Media supported European Tour Productions (ETP) to ensure millions could follow every moment as Europe regained the trophy.

For Gravity Media, the Solheim Cup formed part of a much wider three-week schedule. With the Walker Cup also falling on its biennial cycle this year (5–6 September), the company delivered facilities across five events: the Omega European Masters in Switzerland, the Walker Cup in Ireland, the Solheim Cup, the Irish Open, and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

That programme demanded large-scale mobilisation of people, trucks and specialist technology across Europe. As facilities provider to the DP World Tour, Gravity Media has honed the process of moving from one major to the next, underpinned by months of planning, detailed logistics and constant communication to position hundreds of staff and equipment worth millions in the right place at the right time.

With one team needed across two Irish weekends, seven HGVs double-drove from Switzerland to the Netherlands, with crews rotated en route to meet European driving-hour regulations. In practice, the golf operation ran almost continuously across thousands of miles, multiple countries and five flagship events, with tight coordination essential to keep plans on schedule.

This year marked Gravity Media’s first full-IP workflow at the Solheim Cup. ETP’s world feed ran from the upgraded NOVA 112 fleet: NOVA 112A, a UHD triple-sleeve expanding scanner with 42 operational positions; NOVA 112B, adding a further 20; and a third tender functioning as a mobile data centre. The TV compound itself was powered by hydrogen.

Running everything on fibre significantly cut the need for copper cabling, trimming rig and de‑rig times and keeping the compound tidier. Even so, the production remained a substantial undertaking requiring disciplined, staged deployment.

More than 120 personnel were on site, including over 50 technical specialists and a 45-strong camera team. A crew of 25 riggers positioned the trucks and deployed over 20 km of 24‑core fibre to SMPTE-to-fibre converter hubs, plus approximately 17 km of SMPTE cable from those hubs to individual camera and microphone points around the course. In total, close to 40 km of fibre and SMPTE were installed, alongside RF infrastructure, comms, the tender and other facilities.

Rigging and de‑rigging were completed within a 17‑day window, reflecting the squeeze created by back‑to‑back events. On‑site delivery lead Ben Woodgate produced the first compound draft two years earlier at the Czech Masters, refining it many times since. This year’s site also accommodated Sky UK, the BBC, Sky Germany, Ziggo Netherlands and Canal+ France, plus a dedicated Solheim documentary unit.

On course, 25 cabled line cameras were deployed, including two TrackMan units positioned behind tees to generate the ball‑trace graphic. Across the week, they covered 56 distinct camera positions, with nine on the opening hole alone. Unlike the Open, where positions are fixed, cameras at the Solheim Cup commute between locations; most covered around three positions, while each TrackMan moved between four.

Coverage also featured a slow‑motion X‑Mo, a Steadicam and a UAV for aerials. Thanks to the flat Dutch terrain, the RF system ran through just three receive and transmit crane hoists — a light footprint compared with the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth from 17 September, which requires 12 dedicated RF sites across its hillier, wooded landscape.

One critical pre‑event task involved frequency coordination with the Dutch authorities. Narrow bandwidth allocations made planning challenging, and Gravity Media processed frequency applications for all on‑site broadcasters, not only its own operation. The level of service provided to partners varied widely, from a clean feed and monitor to a full comms set‑up.

First‑tee presentation was handled separately, with Gravity Media's specialist camera division supplying two minicams and two lipstick cameras for the announcer. For the first time, the Opening Ceremony on Thursday night was also covered, using a seven‑camera set‑up.

The Solheim Cup exemplifies the blend of experience, technical expertise and international scale behind Gravity Media’s deliveries. While the golf crew moved between Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK, other company teams simultaneously produced major football, rugby and tennis events across the UK, Europe and the US — reflecting the depth of specialist skills and resources available.

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