The Penn State women's golf team knows how to be successful this spring. It has to play with consistency, but more importantly, it has to play with heart.

In the beginning of the season, Penn State coach Denise St. Pierre gave each player a small plastic heart. The little token was a way to remind the team to always keep its heart in the game.

"One of the things that gets in their way is fear, fear of missing a shot or a putt," St. Pierre said. "The opposite of fear is love. It is a reminder that you play because you love it, not because you're afraid of it."

She tries to instill in her players that success comes from believing in yourself. St. Pierre said the team has worked hard in practice, but needs to trust in its abilities to reach the pinnacle of its talent. The Nittany Lions hope to apply this philosophy in their upcoming matches when the competition will be tough. The team's top players are captains Lauren Lundy, a senior, and Amber Weinerth, a junior, as well as junior Katrin Wolfe. Other key contributors are sophomores Evelyn Paik and Maggie Lester. The five players are currently representing Penn State at the Puerto Rico Lady Classic in Dorado, Puerto Rico, which runs through tomorrow.

Weinerth, the team's No. 1 player, is well respected among her teammates.

"You can always count on her for a good round when you need one," Lundy said.

Compared to a year ago, the Lions said that they have all become more reliable on the green.

"We've made it a really long way as far as team unity. We feel more comfortable in the roles that we're in and that has helped our confidence," senior Sandra de la Cruz said.

The team may be more experienced, but it still had a disappointing fall. St. Pierre said that the players weren't able to jell on a regular basis and didn't do as well as they had hoped. However, she thinks that the team can certainly turn things around now. Weinerth cites consistency as a critical aspect of the game on which the Lions need to work. She would like to get the team's stroke average down to a consistent number in the low 300s for each tournament.

Staying calm and focused on the task at hand will also be important. In golf, it is easy to get frustrated and break down mentally.

"We have to be confident when we step up to the ball," Wolfe said.

Combining consistency and confidence will be necessary to challenge for top spots in the Big Ten. St. Pierre said that there isn't a weak team in the Big Ten and every school will be formidable competition. Lundy said that the team's goals are to place in the top three in the Big Ten Championships and qualify for Regionals.

"We'd love to go [to the Big Ten Championships] and really surprise some people. If we could put up some big numbers, that would be awesome," Lundy said.

To qualify for Regionals, the team has to finish the season ranked in the top 18 in the region. St. Pierre said that it will be difficult, but not impossible.

Two teams that Lundy and Wolfe hope to challenge are Ohio State and James Madison. Ohio State is the current Big Ten champion; James Madison defeated Penn State in its home tournament, the Nittany Lion Invitational, by one stroke in 2003.

The Edwin Watts Carolina Classic in Pinehurst, N.C., is the team's next competition March 7-9. St. Pierre said it will be a hard event but the Lions think they are ready to drive toward their goals.

"We have the girls and the talent to do well, we just have to have the confidence to do it," Wolfe said.

And that's the heart of the matter.