​CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — It wouldn’t be hard to look at the team attire from Wednesday evening’s Solheim Cup gala and get an idea of what’s transpired over the decades at the biennial contest.Team Europe emerged from their blue team bus wearing a matching navy ensemble. They looked comfortable in their pants and sneakers. The only real difference among them was who chose to tuck in their shirt. Charley Hull, for the record, was the only player to have half her shirt tucked in, which is apropos for the woman who marches to her own drum.Team USA, led by captain Angela Stanford, walks the red carpet at the Solheim Cup gala. pic.twitter.com/9AUYwEWbhx— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) September 9, 2026The Americans wore in the same colors – mostly red and black – in varying levels of decadence. World No. 1 Nelly Korda, who was worried about an uncooperative shoe, looked particularly elegant with a touch of white. The U.S. team was cohesive while still managing to show their individual styles.The evening at Theater aan de Parade in Den Bosch was a celebration of what has been, what is and what will be. The presence of the Junior Solheim Cup teams brought added energy, while several legends of the game offered comic relief and perspective.A quartet of past champions – Judy Rankin, Juli Inkster, Catriona Matthew and Helen Alfredsson – bantered about as they fielded questions from host Andrew Cotter.Team Europe chose a more relaxed, matching ensemble for tonight’s gala. pic.twitter.com/bMvpzRzW4k— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) September 9, 2026Inkster, at the behest of Rankin, offered a hilarious story about the 1998 contest at Muirfield Village, when she teamed up with Dottie Pepper to take on the long-hitting duo of Laura Davies and Trish Johnson. Rankin asked Inkster to relay the story from the first hole “with no bad language.””I know a lot of you guys know Dottie, she’s pretty intense,” said Inkster. “She was odd, so she was hitting the first ball, and she hit it right down the middle, and Laura was hitting odd, so she hit it. So I get up there, and Laura is like 50 yards past Dottie, who is just blowing smoke out of her nose. I said, ‘Geez, Dottie, did you take the head cover off?'”And she … said some words for me.”Stuff like that, you really get to know your partner and kind of what makes them tick,” Inkster continued, “and that’s the fun part about it, the banter. I love banter. That was pretty funny. We did win that hole.”And that, Rankin said, encapsulates the Solheim Cup in one small scene.Team USA gathers for photos ahead of the Solheim Cup gala. pic.twitter.com/gfRmQGSc4F— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) September 9, 2026Morgan Pressel and Dutch player Anne van Dam, the first former Junior Solheim Cup players to captain the event, also took part in a Q&A while the current Solheim Cup teams came on stage for a spirited game of trivia. Europe won that round, though the U.S. seemed to take issue with one o