A year ago, Western didn't have a women's golf team.

Next week, they go for a national championship recognized by Canadian Interuniversity Sport and for the first time, a championship sanctioned and run by the Royal Canadian Golf Association.

"This is a huge step forward for women's golf but also to have an official national championship for university golf teams," says coach Alan Edmunds, a professor of education at Western. "There's been a national championship, but this (the RCGA) will give it a profile. In a couple of years, it will be a highly- ranked event."

The meteoric rise of the Western women's program culminates at the Whistle Bear Golf and Country Club in Kitchener next Tuesday through Friday. Western's men's team, in existence for years, is also competing. Sixteen men's teams and four women's teams are competing along with men and women not on their golf teams playing for individual titles. The field will total 130.

The team titles will be decided over 54 holes. The individual championship is 72 holes. The field will be cut when the team competition ends before entering the final round.

Neither Western team receives financial aid from the school since they're considered a Tier-3 sport under funding guidelines.

But this year, with the help of alumni, the men have received about $3,000. Jim Waite, who coaches the men's team, and John Nash, wrote letters to ask alumni golfers to support the team.

The women, with no legacy or alumni to call on for support, will be paying their own expenses to all events.

The women's team has the support of Sunningdale, which allows use of their facilities for playing and practice. Sunningdale's director of golf, Patty Howard, also is helping the women with their game.

Heading to Whistle Bear for Western's women's team are Lindsey Edmunds, Lisa Volchoff, Shannon Maltrop and Michelle Dunkel. The men's team consists of Russ Armstrong, Pat and Joe Lindsay and Ryan Pope.

The women's program started last year after Edmunds phoned Western athletic director Dan Smith to ask if the school had a women's team.

Smith told her there wasn't a team but she could try out for the men's team.

"That wasn't good enough for her," said her father Alan. "She told him, 'I'll start a team.' "

Last year, Edmunds competed in the CIS tournament in Winnipeg and later in the world university championship in Taiwan. She also played in the OUA championship at Sutton Creek near Windsor, beating eight others to take the individual championship.