It’s hard to imagine a better birthday call than the one Auston Kim of St. Augustine got from U.S. Solheim Cup captain Angela Stanford on Aug. 16.
Kim was whiling away a Sunday afternoon during a break from her LPGA schedule playing frisbee in the backyard of her St. Johns Golf and Country Club home with her sister, August. Kim then got the call from Stanford, who was at the site of the LPGA event in Portland, Ore., to let her know that she had qualified on points for the U.S. team that will play Europe Sept. 11-13 at the Bernardus Golf Club in Cromvoirt, Netherlands.
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“It was a good birthday present,” Kim said on Sept. 1 after a practice session at her home course. “Completely unexpected. If I had played a tournament that week, I would have been on-site, and it would have been a lot different. I wasn’t in a golf mode.”
More: These are the 12 members of the 2026 U.S. Solheim Cup team headlined by Nelly Korda
Auston Kim of St. Augustine tees off on the fourth hole during the third round of The Amundi Evian Championship 2026 at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 11, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France.
She will be in the Netherlands, where Kim will join U.S. teammates such as Nelly Korda, Jennifer Kupcho, Rose Zhang and Allisen Corpuz against Europe, led by Charley Hull, Lottie Woad, Celine Boutier and Leona Maguire.
Kim will be one of only two rookies, with Lindy Duncan, on an experienced U.S. team that is the defending champion. The U.S. won 15.5-12.5 in 2024 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Gainesville, Va., its first victory since 2017. The U.S. holds an 11-8 lead in the competition.
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The only other First Coast resident to play on the Solheim Cup was Deb Richard of Ponte Vedra Beach, who moved to the area after her college career at the University of Florida. But Kim came up through the First Coast junior ranks and was the Times-Union’s girls high school player of the year in 2016 when she won district and regional titles for Nease, then tied for fifth in the state tournament.
“It feels very cool,” she said about repping not only the U.S. but St. Johns County, the First Coast and her home club. “It’s an honor and a privilege and I’m very proud to have earned this opportunity.”
Auston Kim contended in two 2026 LPGA majors
Kim cracked the upper echelon of the points list with a series of strong finishes on the LPGA, including top-10 finishes in two major championships, a tie for fifth in the KPMG Women’s PGA at Hazeltine National (she tied for second in 2025) and a tie for ninth in the Amundi Evian Championship in France.
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Kim, in her third season on the LPGA after a college career at Vanderbilt in which she was on the SEC All-Freshman team and was honorable mention All-American, has earned more than $1.3 million to swell her career earnings to more than $3.5 million. She has four top-10 finishes and is 21st on the Race to the CME Globe standings.
Auston Kim of St. Augustine watches her shot during the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship 2026 at Hazeltine National Golf Club on June 28, 2026 in Chaska, Minnesota.
It gave her more than enough points to make the Solheim Cup team.
“It’s definitely something that I worked hard for a long time,” she said. “It was at the top of my list [of goals] at the beginning of the season to be able to qualify for the team and not have to wait around for a [captain’s] pick. Earning enough points automatically is an honor.”
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Auston Kim praises captain Angela Stanford
Kim said she’s looking forward to playing for Stanford, a seven-time LPGA winner, six-time Solheim Cup player. A bit laid-back and understated herself, Kim sees a captain with leadership qualities much the same.
“I played with her once in a tournament … I was just so amazed how composed she was, how calm a player she was, how talented a golfer she is. She’s very into it. She puts 100 percent effort every single day and all she’s thinking about is this cup and bringing it back home to the U.S. We’re all very fortunate to have such a great leader.”
Kim said she doesn’t have a preference as to doubles partners and is thankful her rookie Solheim Cup week will be spent with 10 veterans.
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“They know how everything goes,” she said. “We’re all team players, we’re all very competitive, so whoever the captain [pairs her with.”]
Auston Kim will make a late push
Kim said after the Solheim Cup she will play a busy fall schedule. There are seven tournaments left before the season-ending CME Tour Championship Nov. 19-22 in Naples and she wants to make sure she stays within the top-60 on the points list to punch her ticket to the Tiburón Golf Club.
Kim tied for seventh in the Tour Championship last year, a week after tying for fourth in The Annika. She said she can build on every close call in her effort to win her first LPGA title.
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“Every time I’ve been in that position, it’s a good experience,” she said. “I’m not going to lie … it kind of sucks going through it. But through a bit of heartbreak … you learn from those experiences. You have to go through those moments and learning what it takes and what you’re made of. Eventually you’ll get that one.”
Feeling the love from her home club
It’s been a fun summer at the St. Johns Golf and Country Club.
First, Kim and Sofia Rivera both played in the U.S. Open, Rivera becoming the youngest player in First Coast history to compete in a major championship.
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Now they’ve got Kim as a reason to get hyped about the Solheim Cup. Indeed, the club is planning an early-morning watch party on Sept. 13 to see her and the other American players in their singles matches.
Kim said she will feel the love all the way to the Netherlands.
“It’s very cool,” she said. “I’ve been here since I was a kid, basically. All the members, all the staff here … everybody has been so supportive since I was a kid. I grew up here, and it’s really amazing to feel the support of everyone here.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: LPGA star got a surprise birthday present from U.S. Solheim Cup captain
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