This weekend is one all the players on Western Michigan University's women's golf team have circled on the calendar for a long, long time.

Hosting a tournament in Arizona where the temperature should be in the upper 70s will do that. And the fact that each team stays with a host family, where a lot of team bonding and home-cooked meals will happen, are other perks of the annual Rio Verde Invitational, held at the Rio Verde Country Club, just northeast of Phoenix.

The sponsors of the tournament are Jeff and Stephanie Bergeron, who this past October donated $1.5 million to construct the Jeff and Stephanie Bergeron Golf Performance Center in the Donald J Seelye Center on WMU's campus. The center is scheduled to be finished this August, according to WMU head coach Kim Moore.

It will include a hitting lab, chipping area and putting lab to go along with a renovation of the existing locker room.

''The environment of this tournament is unique and very special because all the teams stay with host families who want their teams to return to their homes every year,'' Moore said. ''We have the same host family this year as we've had for a long time.

''They not only host the team, they volunteer at the tournament, they will put the team's banner in their yard and have their team's flags on their golf carts they drive around the tournament. It's a great golf course and typically we run a really good event. We must be doing something right because everyone keeps coming back.''

The field along with Western Michigan is Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Bradley, Butler, California Baptist, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Evansville, Illinois State, Kennesaw State, Loyola (Ill.), Missouri State, Oakland, Ohio University, South Dakota, Utah State, Wichita State and Xavier.

Being the host team, Western Michigan will take all nine players – graduate students Alissa Fish and Natalie Samdal; juniors Ally Barth and Madeline Blum; sophomores Jenna Hayes, Megha Vallabhaneni and Kailey White and freshmen Macy Beeson and Isabella Brooks. By taking everyone, Moore will have two teams of WMU players as it takes just four golfers to score as a team.

''In fact, I have such a waiting list of teams who want to get in and I was able to bump it to 20 teams this year by adding Evansville and Utah Tech,'' Moore said. ''That's makes it special because everybody wants to return.

''We are some grateful for Jeff and Stephanie for their commitment to this tournament, and their commitment to our program with the Performance Center.''

Fish is looking to keep her streak of improving every year in the tournament going this season. In fact, she was 10 shots better last season than in 2021-22 and 16 shots better than her freshman season (2019-20). Her best round last season in the Rio Verde was a 1-over par 73.

''I've done OK at the tournament, but being the host, I'd like to do even better, especially as a team,'' she said. ''This tournament is definitely our favorite because the host families go above and beyond for us every year.''

Even though Fish and Samdal will use up their eligibility after this season, Fish is excited where WMU golf is headed because of the Performance Center.

''This new facility, we're super, super blessed to have this,'' she said. ''I'm going to be an alumnus and it makes me proud to be a part of the program.

''It's exciting to see the future of the program because it's not only going to help the girls who are here, but will help in recruiting. It will be monumental for the program and it will change the trajectory of the program.''

Added Moore: ''The Performance Center will change the way we can recruit, the way we can prepare for a tournament, and we are very excited to have the facilities we need to compete not only in our conference, but nationally. It's going to be huge for us. It will allow us to be more flexible with our practice schedule and the players will have something on campus to call their own. The Center is part of the program growing and Alissa and Natalie are part of that growth.''

The Broncos hope that growth continues this weekend at a venue they all love.