2014 SSC Golf Championship Set for April 13-15 at Lake Jovita

DADE CITY, Fla. - The 2014 Sunshine State Conference Golf Championship is set to return to Dade City's Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club Sunday, April 13 - Tuesday, April 15. Eckerd College is serving as host for this year's tournament.

The tournament will consist of 54 holes for both men and women. For the second-straight year, the event will be broken into three days of 18 holes. There will be split tee times off of hole No. 1 and hole No. 10 beginning at 8:15 a.m. each day.

Live scoring for the championship will be available on Golfstat.com and can be accessed at the Golf Championship Central page here.

The SSC Championship has always promised to be a competitive even with the majority of the conference teams ranking among Division II's best.

In the latest Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches' Division II Men's Poll, the SSC has five teams ranked in the top-20 and two others receiving votes. Barry and Lynn rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in Division II while Nova Southeastern is also in the top-10 with a No. 8 national ranking. Florida Tech (No. 17) and Florida Southern (No. 19) also rank in the national poll. Saint Leo received 36 votes and Rollins received 21 votes in the latest rankings.

In the recent Golf World/NGCA Coaches' Division II Women's Poll, the SSC has seven teams ranked in the top-14. The conference claims the top four spots as Lynn ranks No. 1 followed by Barry (No. 2), Florida Tech (No.3) and Rollins (No. 4). Nova Southeastern ranks No. 7, while Florida Southern (No. 13) and Saint Leo (No. 14) round out the top-14.

The SSC has dominated the national competition in women's golf by winning all 14 of the NCAA National Championships since Division II began its own championship event in 2000. From 1996-99, Division II and III competed in a combined championship. In 11 of those 14 championships, SSC teams also finished runners-up. Lynn is coming off its first national title in 2013. Nova Southeastern won four-straight from 2009-12. Rollins won five national titles in the time span, including four-straight from 2003-06, and Florida Southern claimed three-straight from 2000-02 and one in 2007.
On the men's side, Barry defeated Lynn in the 2013 NCAA Championship to win its seconds since 2007. Nova Southeastern won in 2012 to sweep both the men's and women's national titles. Florida Southern last won in 2010, but the Moccasins won five of the six national titles from 1995-2000 and have claimed a total of 12 national titles. Rollins claimed its second national title in 2002.

Combined, SSC men's and women's golf teams have won 37 national titles and earned national runners-up 26 times.

In last year's conference tournament, Florida Southern won the women's title to end Nova Southeastern's consecutive conference titles at three. The Moccasins and Sharks both have four conference titles, while Rollins has won the other seven since the first championship in 1999.

On the men's side, Barry claimed its first SSC Championship in 2013 to end the Sharks' run at two straight. Florida Southern leads the conference with 16 conference titles, while Rollins and Nova Southeastern both have five. Lynn has claimed two.

Admission to the SSC Golf Championship is free. Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club is located at 12900 Lake Jovita Bouelvard, Dade City, FL 3325.

The 2014 SSC Golf Championship Central page can be viewed here.