SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – An automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Golf Tournament is on the line this weekend as the Skidmore College golf team heads to Verona, N.Y. for the Liberty League Championship. The 54-hole tournament will begin Friday and last through Sunday at the Turning Stone Resort's Kaluhyat Course.
 
Live stats are available for the event, which will begin at noon on Friday. The second round will also begin at noon on Saturday. The third and final round will begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
 
Skidmore enters the championship weekend after a valiant showing at the Discover Dekalb Emory Tournament last weekend. Competing against the nation's best teams, the Thoroughbreds finished 12^th, outpacing 34^th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan by 18 strokes.
 
Individually, Gabriel Rossi was Skidmore's best finisher, placing 24^th after three rounds. Harry Grosso finished in a tie for 57^th. Both student-athletes were honored by the Liberty League this past Monday. Rossi was named the league's Performer of the Week, while Grosso earned his first league Rookie of the Week honor.
 
Skidmore projects to bring its quintet of Rossi, Grosso, Damian Hammond, Jacob Hempel, and Walker Stroud to Verona. Hammond provides some championship experience, as he was in the lineup when Skidmore won its last league title in 2016. Hammond finished in a tie for sixth place during that tournament, which was held at the Timber Banks Golf Club. The Thoroughbreds are looking to earn their 19^th Liberty League/UCAA men's golf title this weekend.
 
Competing against the Thoroughbreds are league foes St. Lawrence, Rochester, Rensselaer, Hobart, Clarkson, and defending champion New York University.
 
The winner of the league championship will receive an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament, held at the Keene Trace Golf Course in Nicholasville, Ky. May 14-17. Skidmore's last NCAA appearance was in 2016, where the Thoroughbreds finished 30^th in Rochester, N.Y. The Thoroughbreds have finished fourth in 1989 and 1994, finished third in 2000, and was the national runner-up in 1996.