The character of some teams can be summed up in one word. Whether that word is positive or negative is up to the team itself. This year's Penn State women's golf team can fall under the category of relentless, stopping at nothing until it accomplishes its goals.

This weekend, the women's golf team will head out west to the University of California-Irvine to play in the UC-Irvine Anteaters Invitational Tournament. A practice round will be played tomorrow, while the tournament will officially begin on Monday and Tuesday at the Santa Ana Country Club.

The team just came off an intense Spring Break trip to Ireland in order to give it a few rounds of respectfully challenging rounds of golf.

"The Ireland trip provided venues and courses that were very challenging," Penn State head coach Denise St. Pierre said. "It caused the team to step up and remain focused. It is easy to be distracted if courses are not challenging enough. The experience gave us the ability to remain focused."

As well as providing a challenge, the trip also gave the team the ability to practice under harsh weather conditions. In a sport such as golf, the weather can greatly affect the outcome of a tournament.

Captain Lauren Lundy agreed.

"I think it was a great opportunity to play," she said. "It will benefit us a lot because it is difficult to play this time of the year. When you are playing in conditions like that, you play the game differently."

According to Golfweek.com, the Penn State women's golf team is currently ranked No. 42 in the nation. In addition, team members Maggie Lester and Amber Weinerth are ranked 104th and 125th, respectively.

However, St. Pierre said she believes in the depth of the team.

"Our leaders from the fall will be players to watch, but we are deeper with our talent. I don't want to single anyone out because any one of them could step up," she said.

Although things are looking up for the team, it still realizes the importance of playing a strong, consistent three rounds.

"A lot of time in the fall, we would have one or two great rounds. We want to have three great rounds this spring. Hopefully our consistency will improve," Lundy said.

This weekend's UC-Irvine Tournament will allow the team to play under better weather conditions without a tremendous amount of pressure, as the opposing teams are mainly from California and do not compete in Penn State's region.

However, the team is not taking the tournament lightly. It looks at this tournament as one step closer to hopefully making the NCAA tournament in the near future.

"The team is excited and ready for spring," St. Pierre said. "We have high aspirations moving into spring. It is important to set ourselves up this weekend in order to meet our goals."