Austin Country Club's Claudia Pilot will be the two-time defending champion when the Minnesota Golf Association's seventh annual Women's Mid-Amateur Championship begins this morning at Dahlgreen Golf Club in Chaska.

Pilot, fresh off a state Mixed Overall tournament championship won with her husband Dave, earned the 2002 Mid-Am title at Cannon Golf Club in Cannon Falls with a four-stroke victory over Julie Kalina-Jensen of Bent Creek Golf Club.

Pilot has also earned the MGA Women's Player of the Year award each of the past two years and three times since 1999.

Thirty players will compete in the two-day tournament with 18 holes on slate for both today and Wednesday. Tee times start at 10:30 a.m. this morning. Pilot's threesome tees off at 11:40 a.m.

Pilot overcame a four-stroke first-round deficit en route to last year's title, carding an even-par 72 to top Kalina-Jensen, who shot an 8-over 80 on the final day.