Women's Golf Aiming for Patriot League Title this Weekend at Saucon Valley

4/18/2014 11:04:00 AM | Women's Golf

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell women's golf squad heads to Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem this weekend for the Second Annual Patriot League Women's Golf Championship. The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Saturday and 18 more on Sunday, and live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.

Feuled by the disappointment of finishing second to Lehigh by just three strokes at last year's Patriot League Championship, the Bison will start the exact same six-player lineup this weekend in an effort to bring home the first conference championship in program history. Among the returnees are three seniors -- Lauren Bernard, Kasha Scott and Bridget Wilcox -- who are already considered three of the best players ever to wear the Orange & Blue, and now they are looking to cement their legacy with a championship.

A year ago Wilcox was the individual runner up at the league championship. Bernard finished tied for third despite playing in a boot due to a broken foot, and Scott finished fifth. All three earned All-Patriot League honors after shooting 76 or better on Sunday.

Bernard has the top scoring average on the team this season at 79.8, followed by Wilcox at 80.0 and Scott at 82.7. Bernard finished T-4th at the Bison Challenge at Paiute in Las Vegas in March. Wilcox has a team-high four top-20 finishes in 2013-14, including a T-14th at the Rutgers Invitational in the fall. Wilcox has a pair of 73s to her credit this year, and she still holds the Bucknell record with a 69 at the Penn State Invitational in 2010.

Junior Emily Timmons (9th) and sophomore Jen Lee (10th) also finished in the top 10 at last year's Patriot League Championship. Timmons has once again been a regular in the Bison lineup, but Lee will be making her first appearance of 2013-14 after recovering from shoulder surgery. Lee had a promising rookie year that included a low round of 74, and now she will tee off in an official competitive round for the first time in exactly one year.

Timmons has had her best year as a Bison in 2013-14 and has played to an 83.0 average (80.3 in the fall) this season with a low round of 77 at the Yale Invitational.

Sophomore Meghan Garanich will round out the Bucknell lineup in the play-6, count-4 format. Garanich has a low round of 80 and an average of 86.3 in 2013-14.

The Bison have endured some harsh weather this spring that has resulted in some inflated scores, and they have played some very difficult golf courses at Kiawah Island, Pinehurst, Paiute GC in wind-swept Las Vegas and the lengthy Trump National GC at the Seton Hall Invitational earlier this month. Head coach Kevin Jamieson feels those tests will have his team well-prepared for Saucon Valley, another long course that has played host to the U.S. Women's Open in 2009 and the U.S. Senior Open in 2000.

Last year's Patriot League Championship was a two-team race between Bucknell and Lehigh, with Navy and Holy Cross finishing well back. This year Boston University is added to the mix, and the Terriers come in with the top Golfweek ranking in the league at 159. Bucknell is next at 214 with Lehigh right behind at 215.