KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The WMU Golf team will play in its first tournament of the season this weekend at the 2012 Mary Fossum Invitational hosted by Michigan State University at the Forest Akers West Golf Course.

The tournament is a two-day event that will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15 and 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 16. Saturday WMU will play 36-holes, and then play 18-holes on Sunday. The par 72 course spans 6,236 yards.

Golf Digest gave Forest Akers West Course a four and a half star rating. The Detroit News ranked Forest Akers West Course number six in the state of Michigan's public courses. The Lansing State Journal gave Forest Akers West Course first place in their Best of the Best rankings for the past two years.

This will be the first time since 2009 that the Broncos played in this tournament. In 2009, they finished 14th out of 17.

The Mary Fossum Invitational features the top teams in the Midwest and is played on one of the premier collegiate golf course in the country. The host school Michigan State is the 2012 Big Ten Champions and has dominated their own event winning six of the last seven years.

This year's field includes five Mid-American Conference schools including WMU, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State and Toledo. Kent State was the second MAC team to win the tournament back in 2002, with the first being Northern Illinois in 1991. Rounding out the field is Ferris State, Louisiana-Monroe, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, Notre Dame, Oakland, Purdue, Texas State and Wisconsin.

Kaylee Imel will be the only returning senior this year for the WMU squad. The tournament line-up will include Imel along with juniors Melissa Beurmann and Heather Marks as well as sophomores Kelsey Carney and Laura Moutrey.