RIO VERDE, Ariz. - Western Michigan golf will host the 10th Annual Rio Verde Invitational (March 9-11).  The Broncos look to capture the team title for the first time since the tournament's inaugural year of 2003.

The Broncos, coming off an eighth-place finish at the Red Rocks Invitational in Sedona last weekend, play host to 16 teams in this year's event.  Eastern Michigan looks to become the first team to ever win back-to-back titles as the Eagles captured the crown in 2011 with a three-day score of 910, one stroke better than Northern Arizona.

Missouri State's Catherine Dolan returns to Rio Verde looking to become the first individual to earn medalist honors twice at the event.  She outlasted Ball State's Brittany Kelly and Akron's Kristin Hill by four strokes (218) in 2011.

Throughout this week, WMU will be posting videos of golf coach Cindy Trout talking about the tournament, how it got its start, the reason for its longevity, this year's field and the course itself.  The video series culminates on Friday with Trout talking about what the Broncos need to do to reclaim the team title.

THE FIELD ... The 2012 Rio Verde Invitational Field consists of 16 teams.  Wichita State and Yale are new to the tournament in 2012 - Akron, Arkansas-Little Rock, Ball State, Bradley, Eastern Michigan, Kansas, Missouri State, Northern Arizona, Ohio, Penn State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Toledo, Western Michigan, Wichita State, Xavier and Yale.

THE COURSE ... The Rio Verde Invitational returns to the Quail Run course at Rio Verde Country Club.  It will play to a par of 71 with the front nine stretching 3,094 yards and the back, 3,166 for a total of 6,260 yards.

THE FORMAT ... The tournament is a 54-hole event spanning three days with 18 holes of golf played each day.  There is a practice round on Thursday (March 8) beginning at 1 p.m.  Friday's (March 9) first round is also a 1 p.m. start, while Saturday (March 10) and Sunday (March 11) begin at 8 a.m.  All rounds, including the practice round, begin with shot gun starts.  There will be three golfers in each group.

LIVE SCORING ... Live scoring with be available via Golfstat.com.  Please click here.  Results will be made available to all schools and to the media at the conclusion of each round.

HISTORY ... There are three past champions in this year's field (Eastern Michigan, Kansas, Western Michigan).  EMU is the defending champion, while Kansas and WMU captured the team titles in 2009 and 2003, respectively.  No team as ever successfully defending its title and no individual has ever repeated as medalist.

VIDEO OF THE DAY ... WMU golf coach Cindy Trout  discusses what the Broncos need to do to claim the 2012 Rio Verde title.