PEORIA, Ill. ? Bradley and WeaverRidge Golf Club will serve as hosts for the 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Women's Golf Championship (April 15-17) as the Braves will attempt to defend their 2006 conference championship.
The MVC Women's Golf Championship will be played in Peoria for the third time in the 25-year history of the event. The Braves won the first of their four MVC Championships the last time the event was played in Peoria, Ill., claiming the 1999 crown at WeaverRidge Golf Club. Bradley and Peoria also served as host for the 1993 championship at the Country Club of Peoria.
Southern Illinois has been tabbed to win the 2007 State Farm MVC Women's Golf Championship in a poll of the league head coaches. The Salukis received 95 total points and five first-place votes to edge Missouri State in the pre-championship poll. The Bears received the remaining five first-place tallies and 88 points.
Illinois State was picked for a third-place finish with 80 points, while the defending champion Bradley Braves are picked for fourth, with 68 points. Northern Iowa is next with 63 points, followed by Wichita State (56), Indiana State (36), Creighton (25), Drake (21), and Evansville (19). Notably, this marks the first season in which all 10 members sponsor women's golf, as Drake and Indiana State are both in their first seasons of intercollegiate competition.
The 54-hole tournament will be played at Peoria's WeaverRidge Golf Club (par 72, 6,043 yards), with 18 holes each day (Sunday-Tuesday, April 15-17). Tee times begin each day at 7:30 a.m. WeaverRidge was ranked No. 2 in Golf Digest's "Best New Upscale Courses of 1998."
Bradley is the defending champion, having edged Illinois State by two strokes at last year's event in Wichita, Kan. Missy Linnens of Missouri State was a co-medalist last year with Bradley's Meaghan LeBlanc and Illinois State's Sam Richdale. Linnens and teammate Sally Hinton are two of the league's top-rated players heading into the tournament. Pre-championship favorite Southern Illinois is led by Kelly Gerlach, the 2004 medalist.
Live stats will be available via the internet on the Golfstat website (www.golfstat.com) at the following address:
http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=944
