HOLLYWOOD, S.C. ? The 2008 Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship will be played April 20-22 at The Links at Stono Ferry in Hollywood, S.C.

Nine teams will compete for the Southern Conference crown, including defending champion Western Carolina, which claimed a four-stroke victory over Furman in last season’s rain-shortened event at Patriot’s Point Golf Links in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. The Lady Catamounts are led by sophomore Desiree Karlsson who has two top-five finishes under her belt this season.

Furman, the league’s top rated team in 2008 according to Golfstat, will be looking to break a two-year drought at the event, it’s longest such dry spell since the SoCon first held a women’s golf championship in 1994. The Lady Paladins are led this season by Blair Lamb, the 2007 SoCon Tournament champion, who is the third-rated individual in the league this season with a 74.43 stroke average.

Chattanooga, which will be participating in its first-ever SoCon women’s golf tournament, boasts the league’s top-rated golfer in freshman Emma de Groot (73.43 stroke average). The Coffs Harbour, Australia native has won two individual tournaments this season while the Lady Mocs have claimed a league-best four team titles.

Also participating in the event is the host school, College of Charleston, which is rated second in the SoCon heading into the tournament. The Cougars’ top player, junior Steffi Kirchmayr, is the reigning league Player of the Year, and she has claimed two tournament titles this spring.

Six Southern Conference teams are ranked in the top 100 of Golfstat’s ratings, including Furman (41), College of Charleston (57), Elon (62), Chattanooga (66), UNC Greensboro (80) and Western Carolina (87).

The winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, an event in which a record three SoCon schools competed in 2007.

The tournament tees off at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning, and fans can follow the action at www.golfstatresults.com.