The Penn State women's golf team will use its last competition before the Big Ten championship as preparation for the highly anticipated tournament.

The Nittany Lions will compete in the Lady Buckeye tournament at 8 a.m. tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio, at the Scarlet and Grey course.

If the weather cooperates, the competition will begin with 36 rounds on Saturday, followed by 18 rounds on Sunday.

"We're looking forward to it," junior Christin Pacacha said. "They just finished renovations, which makes it a lot more challenging."

The Scarlet course is one of the top-ranked collegiate courses in the country. Last year's NCAA Championship and the Women's National Tournament were both held there.

"It's a great golf course, and we're lucky to play it," Pacacha said.

In preparation for the Big Ten championships, this weekend's competition will consist mostly of Big Ten schools, including Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Northwestern.

According to Pacacha, the Big Ten is a very good golf conference with a lot of talented and competitive teams, making this weekend's tournament and the championship tough events to play.

Even from my freshman year to this year, [the Big Ten] has grown leaps and bounds," she said. "So the conference championship is tough."

Pacacha said the team went back to business as usual this week after celebrating senior weekend with its families last week.

"We went out in the snow and rain, which was obviously very challenging, but we need to prepare for this weekend," she said. "What better way to do it than braving the elements."

The team is taking an attitude like "we got nothing to lose," Pacacha said.

"We all want to come together and salvage something," she said. "End the year on a more positive note and carry momentum into next season."

A tough course won't help matters.

"The course we're playing is one in which you have to be extremely patient," she said. "It's very long and more difficult. We can't get frustrated too quickly -- just take that for what it's worth and play well."

As for the Big Ten championship that is fast approaching, Pacacha said the team set a goal earlier in the year for what it would like to achieve.

"To place somewhere in top five, that would be a huge feat," she said. "We've got to go out trying to win every tournament."