Edgewood College to host 2008 NAC Women's Golf Championship

Courtesy of Edgewood College, Sports Information Department

JANESVILLE, Wis. -- Edgewood College will be the host of the 2008 women's golf Northern Athletic Conference Championship which is set to begin this Friday and Saturday at Glen Erin Golf Club in Janesville, Wis.

Two-time defending champions Aurora University were the preseason favorite to win its third straight and so far have not proven otherwise. The Spartans have won the two most important tournaments leading up to the NAC Championships, the Concordia University Wisconsin Invitational and the Lakeland College Invitational.

Last year, Aurora's two day score of 788 was 52 strokes better than second-place finisher Concordia Wisconsin. MSOE (934), Marian (956) and Wisconsin Lutheran (981) rounded out the top-5 at the 2007 championships.

Individually, 2007 NAC Champion and Player of the Year, Aurora sophomore Kristen Richardson is among the favorites to win it again this season, but freshman Muriel McIntyre of Concordia Wisconsin has emerged as the odds on favorite after winning both major tournaments at Concordia Wisconsin and Lakeland while averaging a combined score of 84 in those events.

Freshman Emily Densmore joins her Aurora teammate, Richardson, as a top-5 hopeful as does Edgewood College's Amanda Bliske whose second round score of 88 was second-best at the Lakeland Invitational. Lakeland's Nikki Commons is looking to improve upon her fourth place finish in 2007 while Wisconsin Lutheran's Emily Busler and Marian's Rachel Gavin are worthy of cracking the top-10.

For the first time, this year's Northern Athletic Conference team champion will be awarded an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III women's golf championships to be held May 13-14, 2009 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. at the PGA Golf Club hosted by Methodist University. Friday's first round tee-times are scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m.