For possibly the first time in the four-year history of the event, the 2011 CAC Golf Championship Tournament is wide open and the team trophy could go home with any of the five competing teams.

The 36-hole championship is being held at Piney Branch G.C. in Hempstead, Md., beginning Friday (4/15).  The second round will start just after noon Saturday (4/16), and a champion will be crowned at the awards ceremony later that evening.

Wesley is the defending champion and has won two of the first three team titles.  Clayton Bunting, the 2010 CAC Rookie of the Year, as well as returning first-team All-CAC honoree Robert Ehrhardt, are expected to lead the Wolverines in this year’s championship.

York, which won the 2009 team title behind the efforts of Player and Rookie of the Year Adam Dupler, will contend for the title.  Dupler, who is a two-time first-team all-star, and 2010 CAC Co-Player of the Year Andrew Schmehl, are top players for the Spartans.

All five teams competing for the title last year finished with 44 strokes of each other, and spring results this year indicate the 2011 championship might be even closer than that.  Wesley’s winning total was just 11 strokes over York last year, and Stevenson, Marymount and Hood were all within 15 shots of each other.

Tournament hosts Stevenson, along with Hood and Marymount, have had strong spring seasons and could end up on top of the standings.  Marymount’s Peter Johns will battle for a second-straight All-CAC nod.

Here is a quick look at each team heading into the 2011 CAC Golf Championship.

HOOD seniors Evan Chaney and Andy Alger lead the Blazer contingent into their fourth CAC championship. The Blazers finished fifth in 2008 and 2010. Alger has averaged an 83 in his six rounds of CAC champion ship play, while Chaney has followed closely behind with an average of 84. Junior Tyler Fairley carded the lowest round of his collegiate career at the 2010 CAC championship and is also coming off one of his best rounds of the 2001-11 season last Thursday at Elizabethtown. The Blazers' lowest single round in a CAC championship is 322 set a year ago at Wesley.

MARYMOUNT heads into the CAC Championships playing some of its best golf of the year.  Battling Mother Nature throughout the spring season, the Saints put together their second best round last time out and look to build on their momentum for the weekend.  Sophomore Peter Johns, a Second Team All-CAC member last year, leads MU with an 82.3 stroke average.  Junior Adam Kleinschmidt is right on his tail at 84.0 while sophomore Nick Ryerson is also just a few strokes off with an 85.3 average.  Rounding out the Saints squad, freshman Jeremy Brenton has made strides from the beginning of the year, cutting seven strokes off his average for the spring compared to the fall campaign.

STEVENSON looks for its first CAC championship after finishing third a year ago and second in 2008. The Mustangs bring a whole new team to this year's conference tournament as only one of the team's five players have experience playing in the CAC championship. Sophomore Justin Hughes returns for his second conference championship after finishing 16th last season with a 162. Among the four newcomers for the Mustangs at this year's championship include freshman Ben Lukehart and senior Brian Spinazzola who carded a 74 and 75, respectively, in a dual match with Hood at Piney Branch Golf Club earlier this season. Meanwhile, sophomore Kyle Gerard, who joined the team prior to its spring schedule, has led the team with a 79.0 scoring average in four matches since. The fifth member of the Mustangs' conference tournament team will be freshman Micheal Ercolano whose lone top-10 finish this season came versus Hood at Piney Branch earlier this season. Stevenson is serving as host for the 2011 CAC Golf Championship for the third time in the last four years.

WESLEY will look to defend its CAC crown behind the play of Robert Ehrhardt, who currently leads the conference with a 77.9 scoring average.  The sophomore was a first team All-CAC pick last year and recently finished tied for third at the District II Mid-Atlantic Region Invitational.  Also back is Clayton Bunting, the reigning CAC Rookie of the Year, was also an All-CAC first teamer last season.  The Wolverines will look to sophomores Brady Demey and Erik Shellenhamer and freshman Matthew Lank to round out the line up for their title defense.

YORK one year removed from their CAC Championship, bring an experienced squad into this weekend's CAC Championship Tournament. Former Player-of-the-Years Andrew Schmehl and Adam Dupler lead the Spartans while junior Adam Burkhart gives York a trio of veteran players that head coach Jeff Gamber hopes can lead the Green and White back to the title. Freshman Kevin Long has played well in his first year as a Spartan while newcomer Tyler Skovron give York a deep and talented squad. Schmehl leads the team with a 79.5 stroke average while Long is the other Spartan in the 70's with a 79.6 stroke average. York has won one team title this spring while they also own a second place finish in their four tournaments.