The Penn State women's golf team expects to set the tone for the rest of its season this weekend. Scoring low in a highly competitive tournament seems to be the only way the team can accomplish this.

This weekend, the Penn State women's golf team will head to Palm Springs, Calif., to play in the Northwestern Invite. The invitational will take place at the Gary Player Signature Course at the Westin Mission Hills Resort. The practice round will take place tomorrow, and the 54-hole tournament will be Sunday and Monday.

The tournament is one of high competition. Eight of the 14 participating teams are ranked nationally in the top 50, including No. 41 Penn State. Also, three Big Ten teams, Northwestern, Michigan and Michigan State, will participate in the tournament.

Penn State head coach Denise St. Pierre acknowledges the competition and realizes any win in the tournament will help greatly towards the team's standings.

"Every team at this tournament is respectable," she said. "Every Big Ten team we can beat will be a boost of confidence as we head towards the championship. Any other school we beat is just as important because we are looking to improve our rankings."

The University of California-Irvine tournament, in which the team participated two weeks ago, ended up being a disappointment to everyone, including St. Pierre. Of the eight teams, Penn State finished fourth.

"We were caught off guard," St. Pierre said. "The course was very difficult. We certainly would have liked to perform better."

The focus of the team's game right now is on the scores of the squad as a whole. Because only five members participate from the whole team, it is imperative to post low scores to achieve a better standing.

St. Pierre expressed her concern for the team to score less than 300 cumulative. She stated that doing so would put her team toward the top.

The team did not suffer a blow to its confidence at its last tournament. Instead, it learned its lessons and hopes to recover this weekend.

"The attitude of our team is very good," St. Pierre said. "The weather is much better, which makes it easier to go outside. I don't think anyone has lost confidence or is really concerned. Everyone feels pretty good about this next event."