Women's Golf Begins Patriot League Title Defense Saturday in Annapolis

4/16/2015 10:23:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell women's golf team has a conference title to defend, and the Bison will attempt to do so this weekend when the Third Annual Patriot League Championship is held at the Naval Academy Golf Course in Annapolis, Maryland. The 54-hole tournament consists of 36 holes on Saturday and a final 18 holes on Sunday. Live scoring will be available at GolfStat.com.

The Bison hosted the inaugural Patriot League Women's Golf Championship in 2013 and finished a close second to Lehigh. Last year it was Bucknell's turn to claim a narrow victory, holding off league newcomer Boston University by three strokes at Saucon Valley CC.

This year there will be another addition to the field, as Richmond has joined the Patriot League as an associate member in women's golf. The Spiders will tee off against Bucknell, Boston University, Lehigh, Holy Cross and the host Navy. The team champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

The Patriot League Championship calls for six-person lineups for each squad, with the four best scores counting toward the team total in each round. Bucknell's lineup will have a decidedly different look than last year's title-winning group, as standout seniors Lauren Bernard, Bridget Wilcox and Kasha Scott have all graduated. That trio finished 3-4-5 in the individual standings last year, and all three earned All-Patriot League honors in both 2013 and 2014.

Senior Emily Timmons and junior Jen Lee are the only Bison with postseason experience. Timmons and Lee have played in each of the last two Patriot League Championships, with Timmons finishing as high as T-9th in 2013. Lee's opening-round 79 proved to be a pivotal counting score for the Bison last year, and it came in her first round of the year after missing time with a shoulder injury. Lee has Bucknell's third-best scoring average in 2014-15 at 84.5.

Sophomore Emily Larson will make her championship debut this weekend, and she will do so from the No. 1 spot in coach Kevin Jamieson's lineup. Larson has made incredible improvement this year, dropping her scoring average from 88.1 as a freshman to a team-low 81.7 this year. She fired a career-best 76 at the Nittany Lion Invitational in the fall, and she posted her first career top-20 finish (18th) at the Lonnie Barton Invitational in Daytona Beach back in March.

Freshman Lindsay Dodovich has pieced together some good rounds this spring, most notably a 76 at Kiawah Island. Her 83.6 average is second-best on the team behind Larson. Sophomores Callie Nelson (86.5) and Nicole Mischler (86.9) will also be making their postseason debuts.

Tee times begin at 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday, and then again at 8:30 a.m. for Sunday's final round.