CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) - Campbell University has secured the No. 1 seed in next week's Big South Women's Golf Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting, which will be hosted by Gardner-Webb University at The Patriot Golf Club in Ninety Six, S.C.  Campbell, making its return to the Big South following 17 years in the Atlantic Sun, receives the No. 1 seed based on its current Golfweek national ranking of 58, the highest among the 10 Big South women's golf programs.

Defending champion Coastal Carolina is ranked No. 63 in the nation by Golfweek and receives the No. 2 seed.  Charleston Southern is the No. 3 seed with its ranking of 143, while host Gardner-Webb earns the No. 4 seed with its national ranking of 159.  Associate member Bucknell, ranked No. 161, will be the No. 5 seed in the championship, with Winthrop (162) receiving the No. 6 seed.  Radford receives the No. 7 seed (No. 173), just ahead of High Point (No. 8 -- 179).  Associate member Holy Cross (No. 9 -- 251) rounds out the official championship field.  Presbyterian College, which is ranked No. 174 in the nation, will again participate in the event on an invitation-only basis, as the team is not eligible for the Conference Championship until 2013 due to its transition process to Division I.  PC's team and individual scores will not count in the official standings. 

The Patriot Club is hosting the Big South Women's Golf Championship for the sixth time, as the course hosted the event in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.  The 2012 Big South Women's Golf Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting begins this weekend with a practice round on Sunday, April 8.  The three-day, 54-hole event will be played April 9-11 and is free and open to the public.  In addition, fans can follow the action online via GolfStat's "Live Scoring" feature.  The 2012 champion will receive the Big South's automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals.  The Conference Championship schedule is as follows:

Date	Time		Event
Sunday, April 8	12:00pm		Practice Round
Monday, April 9	8:00am		First Round
	8:00-8:36am		#9 Holy Cross, Presbyterian College
	8:45-9:21am		#7 Radford, #8 High Point
	9:30-10:10am		#4 Gardner-Webb, #5 Bucknell, #6 Winthrop
	10:20-11:00am		#1 Campbell, #2 Coastal Carolina, #3 Charleston Southern
Tuesday, April 10	8:00am		Second Round
Wednesday, April 11	8:00am		Final Round

Meanwhile, the Big South Women's Golf Awards Banquet will be held Monday, April 9 at 7:00pm.  The 2012 annual award winners, the All-Academic Team and half of the All-Conference team (based on regular-season performance) will be announced at that time, while the remaining All-Conference performers will be determined by their finish in the Conference Championship.