GREENVILLE, Tenn. - (Live Statistics) The 2012 NAIA Women's Golf National Championships are scheduled to get underway Tuesday from Link Hills Country Club in Greenville, Tenn., at 7:30 a.m. EDT. The 18th annual event is a 72-hole stroke play tournament that will be played over the course of four days, concluding with the final round on Friday.
Among the teams competing for a national title is first-year program Point Loma Nazarene. The No. 23-ranked Sea Lions participated in eight tournaments so far in 2011-12, with a team-best second-place finish at the Cal Pac/Cascade/GSAC Unaffiliated Qualifying Tournament.
Oklahoma City, Shorter (Ga.) and College of Idaho kick off Tuesday's morning action on No. 1, while Lee (Tenn.), Cal State San Marcos and Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) start simultaneously on hole 10. First round afternoon play opens with Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Bethel (Ind.) and Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) setting out at No. 1 and SCAD Savannah (Ga.), Wayland Baptist (Texas) and Milligan (Tenn.) at No. 10. Live scoring throughout the event will be available by clicking here.
Link Hills welcomes an expanded field of 144 players - up from 129 players in 2011 - representing 32 institutions from across the NAIA, including 18 teams that participated in the event last season. Among those qualifying teams is 2012 national runner-up Embry-Riddle. Last year, the Eagles fell to former NAIA member California Baptist in the event's first national championship decided by a playoff hole. This season, Embry-Riddle earned one of the tournaments 13 at-large selections following a third place finish at The Sun Conference Tournament at LPGA International Golf Course in Daytona Beach, Fla., on April 20 - 21. The Eagles carded a 316-312 - 628, 16 strokes behind Sun Conference champion SCAD Savannah's 309-303 - 612.
Perennial power Oklahoma City enters competition following a seven stroke (299-301 - 600) victory at the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament at Lincoln Park (Okla.) on April 16 -17. The Stars, who own an NAIA-best five team titles, are led by junior Jessica Schiele. Schiele, a native of North East Lincolnshire, England, paces the NAIA with a 74.6 average scored in 22 rounds, including a season-best 68 at the Lady Chap (Texas) Fall Invitational on Sept. 19 - 20. Oklahoma City finished fourth in the team standings at last year's championships.
Kylie Barros of British Columbia returns to the field to defend her 2011 individual title. Barros, who became the first individual medalist in program history, won top honors with a four-round score of 297 (73-74-75-75), which bested runner-up Danielle Bellet of Dakota Wesleyan by four strokes (77-74-75-75 - 301). Barros, whose only victory this season came at the Association of Independent Institutions Tournament at the Victoria Country Club in Victoria, Texas, will look to become the first player in the event's history to win back-to-back individual crowns.
The 144-player field is comprised of 15 automatic qualifying teams from conferences/independents/unaffiliated group tournaments and 13 at-large selections, which were determined using the final NAIA Women's Golf Top 25 Poll released May 3. Additionally, four individuals earned a spot in the event as either a medalist at their respective conference/independent/unaffiliated group tournaments or as an individual at-large selection.
For complete schedule and results information, click here.
For more information on the National Championships, click here.
