Fresh off its best finish of the spring season, the No. 9 Stanford women’s golf team hopes to carry its momentum back home for the Peg Barnard Invitational this weekend. The tournament will be held at the par-71, 6,030-yard Stanford Golf Course, today and tomorrow.

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Sean Lee

Mari Chun finished just two strokes shy of the overall leader at last weekend’s PING ASU Invitational to earn second place. Chun and the Cardinal close out their home season this weekend at the Peg Barnard Invitational.

Stanford will play host to 12 other teams as UC-Davis, Hawaii, Fresno State, Denver, Eastern Washington, Long Beach State, San Francisco, Oregon State, Portland State, San Jose State, Washington State and Santa Clara visit the Farm. The field, as head coach Caroline O’Connor acknowledges, is not the star-studded opposition found during previous tournaments.

“This field isn’t nearly as strong as any of the other portions we’ve played all year,” O’Connor said. “When you look at our rank of schedule, we have the toughest-ranked schedule in the country.”

However, O’Connor believes that this is not a time to let up, especially during the Cardinal’s last tourney before the postseason.

“This is definitely a weaker field, but there are certain things we want to accomplish as a team,” she said. “We’re going out and trying to beat par. We have certain goals and objectives that don’t necessarily relate to the field.”

Playing at home is certainly another advantage in the Cardinal’s favor. This will be the second tournament on the Stanford Golf Course, as it follows the Stanford Intercollegiate last October. In the Intercollegiate, senior Lauren Todd led the Cardinal attack with a third-place individual finish.

“We always love playing at home,” O’Connor said. “This is one of the best golf courses in the country and we feel really comfortable here. In the past, Lauren had a great tournament here in the fall and she’s looking to go out and improve upon that.”

Stanford is entering the Invite with some momentum of its own. Last weekend, the squad tied for sixth at the PING ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., and sophomore Mari Chun finished second individually, just two strokes behind the leader. The win marked Stanford best placing of the spring season, which had been marred by some earlier sloppy play.

“We’re in a good place right now,” O’Connor said. “We had a stretch of tournaments where we didn’t play great, but we’ve had a good year. Everyone’s frame of mind is very positive moving into this weekend.”

Of Stanford’s players, Chun should be especially positive headed into this weekend. Though she has played below expectations for most of spring, Chun’s second-place finish suggests that her troubles are behind her — very good news for the Cardinal.

“Mari’s strong play is very important to the team,” O’Connor said. “[Seniors] Lauren and Jennifer [Tangtiphaiboontana] have played so well and consistently all season. It’s nice to see Mari step back up and play well again. It’s absolutely what we expected from her, and I anticipate that it will continue for the rest of the spring.”

Chun’s resurgence in Tempe came with an uncharacteristic performance by Tangtiphaiboontana. Tangtiphaiboontana notched unexpectedly elevated scores on all three rounds of play, despite leading the team for most of the spring season. Still, O’Connor expresses the utmost confidence in one of her team’s leaders.

“Jennie struggled a little with that golf course,” O’Connor said. “It’s been a course that has not set up well for her, and where all four years she has not been able to dominate. She’ll bounce back — she’s feeling good and she has a good frame of mind.”

Last year, Southern California and Irene Cho swept the team and individual fields, while Stanford finished third overall. The Cardinal last won the tourney in 2004, and will look to reclaim the title after a two-year drought on its home field.

“We’ve had a great week out on the golf course, and we’ve had some good practices,” O’Connor said. “Importantly, we feel comfortable around the green, which is going to be key. It’s nice to play at home and have home-court advantage. We’re looking forward to the weekend.”

As the last tournament before postseason play, the Stanford squad is looking for a final tune-up. The event will also serve as a final home farewell to the Cardinal seniors, Tangtiphaiboontana, Todd, Saana Rapakko and Jenna Seki.

“Our seniors feel like they can come out and have a fantastic event,” O’Connor said. “We want to go out and win this one at home to have confidence going into the postseason.”