SPOKANE, Wash. - The stars are aligned for the Whitworth women's golf team to win its first-ever Northwest Conference title. The Pirates won both the NWC Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic and hold a four-point lead over Puget Sound in the 2009 NWC Standings.

Click here for the official NWC Tournament website.

Krystal Pitkonen

But Whitworth cannot take anything for granted. As many as four other schools could make a run at the NWC Tournament title and stake a claim to the conference championship. The Bucs will have to play well to secure the title. Puget Sound gained confidence by claiming a one-stroke win over Whitworth at last week's NWC "North" Tournament played on the same course. Pacific University is the defending conference champions. George Fox has won several tournaments this year and Linfield is a dangerous squad.

Krystal Pitkonen (Jr., Colbert, Wash.) and Liz Martin (Fr., Portland, Ore.) have led the Pirates in scoring average this year with an identical scoring average of 88.56. Mariesa Stombaugh (Jr., Salem, Ore.) has not been far behind, posting a per-round average of 91.0.

The Pirates (16 points) have a four-point lead over Puget Sound (12 points) in the current standings. The NWC Fall Classic and NWC Spring Classic both count 25% toward the final conference standings, while the end-of-the-year NWC Tournament counts 50%.

Current NWC Golf Standings (Through NWC Spring Classic):
School	Fall Classic	Spring Classic	NWC Tourn.	Final
Whitworth	8	8	--	16
Puget Sound	5	7	--	12
Pacific (Ore.)	7	4	--	11
George Fox	6	5	--	11
Linfield	4	6	--	10
Willamette	2	3	--	5
Pacific Lutheran	3	0	--	3
Whitman	0	2	--	2
Lewis & Clark	0	0	--	0

NWC Spring Classic Results

Whitworth Golf Schedule / Results

Whitworth Roster