The Penn State football team is not the only group of Nittany Lions expecting big things from new people this weekend. However, it gets the advantage of dealing with the learning curve at home.

The women's golf team must work out its players' new roles outside of the friendly confines of Happy Valley, as it travels to Lexington, Ky., for the Lady Kat Invitational. Not only must the team face the host Kentucky Wildcats, but also a field composed of many of the top teams and most talented individuals in the region.

Time for a veteran to step up.

Katie Futcher, the Lions' top performer a year ago and a seasoned team member, should be very familiar with a game she has been playing all her life. But there's an interesting twist: she's suddenly playing "a new game."

Fortunately for the golf team, she didn't decide to switch to curling over the summer.

She did, however, fill her bag with plenty of new shots, new goals and a new outlook for the season. Futcher hopes the time she spent learning to fade and draw the ball more accurately and learning new techniques for specific shots will take several strokes off her game.

"Golf to me is like a totally new sport," said Futcher about her new shots. "I have so many ways to get the ball in the hole."

If adjusting to a new game isn't challenging enough, Futcher hopes to put herself in good position on the green, where her goal is to average 30 putts per round.

In addition to Futcher, the Lions will take seniors Kerri Dugan and Megan Mull, junior Rosemarie Fuster, and freshman Amber Weinreth and Katrin Wolfe.

Not only are the players' roles new, but the event has a new home. Hosting the tournament for the first time, the University Club of Kentucky looks to be an interesting challenge. Consequently, preparation is a key component for the Lions, and their practice round today will be vital.

"Coach [Denise St. Pierre] says [the practice round] is like getting shown the test the day before the test," Dugan said.

"You get to take notes before taking the test."

The Lady Kat Invitational is more of a trial by fire for the two freshman members of the squad, Weinreth and Wolfe. This will be their first collegiate golf tournament.

New to the whole atmosphere of a college game week, Wolfe experienced a pre-game battle of nerves leading up to departure.

"I'm very nervous," Wolfe said. "A lot of those nerves were eased [at the team meeting Tuesday night]."

In addition to a team meeting, Wolfe enjoyed dinner with her parents, who just happened to be coming up to University Park on Tuesday night. The visit was a welcome one for Wolfe, who hadn't seen her parents since the start of classes. As for the tournament, she has very specific goals.

"My goals are to have fun and to represent Penn State the best I can," Wolfe said. "If that's not through a good score, it'll be by being a good person."

The Lions will need to be all sorts of good to contend with the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, who come into the event ranked No. 19 in the nation.

Boasting nationally-ranked individual players Jessica Shepley and Mary Jan Fernandez, the Lady Vols are another team looking to break new talent into their line-up. Golda Johansson, a freshman from Sweden, will be taking on her first collegiate action as Tennessee's No. 1 starter. This comes coupled with the losses of second-team All-American Young-A Yang and Tina Schneeberger to graduation from a team that finished eighth in last year's rankings.

"Replacing Young-A and Tina is difficult," Tennessee women's golf coach Judy Pavon said. "I feel like this team is going to be almost as strong though as the team last year. Each of our players has improved and we added two great players to our roster."

Other strong teams in the field include the Miami Hurricanes, Louisville Cardinals and Maryland Terrapins.

The Hurricanes boast returning starter Camilla Hilland, who, in 2002, became the first Miami player to win the Ryder/Florida Women's Collegiate Golf Championship since Tracy Kerdyk in 1988.

With such a talented field, there is no question the Lions must be on top of their game to stay in the hunt for the tournament win.

"We have to shoot [a combined] 295 to 305 to stay competitive," St. Pierre said.

For that, the Lions will have to get used to their new roles fairly quickly.