The 12th annual Southern Conference Women's Golf Championship opens play on Friday, April 22 at the Furman University Golf Course, with Appalachian State University in search of its first-ever SoCon title.

The 54-hole tournament begins at 9 a.m. on Friday, with tee times for the second and third rounds slated for 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Appalachian, which finished seventh at last year's event in Greensboro, N.C., must overcome a powerful field to win its first-ever SoCon title, as the league boasts four of the nation's top 100 teams in No. 21 Furman, No. 63 College of Charleston, No. 70 East Tennessee State and No. 97 UNC Greensboro, according to the most recent rankings by Golfweek.

Head coach Bill Dicus' Mountaineers are led by junior Anna Stocker, who enters the weekend with a team-best scoring average of 82.00 on the season. She has matched the Apps' low round of 74 three times in 2004-05, most recently in helping ASU to a ninth-place showing at the Springlake Invitational March 11-12. Appalachian has produced three runner-up showings at the SoCon Women's Golf Championship, as the Apps finished second behind national power Furman in each of the first three events from 1994-96.

Furman has won 10 of the first 11 SoCon crowns, with Western Carolina taking the only other title in 2003. The No. 17 Paladins are loaded again in '05, as they enter the league championships ranked first in the Southern Conference with a 302.54 stroke average.

FU sophomore Jenny Suh, who lost in a playoff to teammate Sarah Johnston for medalist honors in 2004, is the league's top ranked individual with a 74.33 stroke average, good for 18th in the latest national rankings.