Defending champion Mike Lawver is one of the 160 players registered to compete in the 36-hole Cape Coral City Golf Championship this weekend at Coral Oaks Golf Course.

Also in the field is Gigi Higgins, a two-time women’s flight champion looking to make it three in a row. The field tees off at 7:30 a.m. Saturday and again Sunday after being re-paired according to first-round scores in their respective flights.

“This is the second-largest number of entries in the history of the tournament,” said Coral Oaks head professional Allen Manguson. “Second only to the 178 we had in 2008. We are very pleased with that.”

Manguson expressed his gratitude to TIB Bank for stepping up to become the title sponsor, replacing Embarq.

“We are happy to have them on board,” said Manguson. “All the money from their sponsorship goes back to the players.”

Even with Lawver, a four-stroke winner last year, and Higgins, who won by 20 strokes, in the field this year’s tournament championships are wide open, as usual. One other defending champion is in the field. That’s Mike Christensen, who claimed the A Flight by six strokes. By rule, Christensen must move up to the Championship Flight opening the door for a new flight winner.

“Mike (Lawver) is a very steady player , but we expect several new winners this year,” said Manguson.

In tourney history, only two players have won back-to-back titles. Donnie Hopper is the last player to do so in 2005-06 while current PGA touring pro George McNeill is the only player to win three times in succession (1995-97).

The field, which includes five men’s flights and one women’s flight, lists as many as a dozen area high school players competing for flight titles.

The entire Ida Baker boys’ team is in the mix along with several from Mariner, North Fort Myers and Bishop Verot, including three girls entered in the women’s flight.

“I’m very happy about that,” said Manguson. “We hope for good weather. The course is playing good and the greens are rolling well. It has dried out some with no rain, so it will play hard and fast.”

Just three years ago, Connor Arendell won the overall championship as a high school player. He still holds the course record score of 66 as well as the tournament record 18-hole score of 136.