If you thought the Pacific-10 Conference Championship field was tough, you haven’t seen what the No. 14 Stanford women’s golf team will face this weekend.

Starting today, the Cardinal matches up against 21 squads at the 2007 NCAA West Regional. Eight of those teams are ranked in the top 25 of the latest Golf World/NGCA Coaches Poll. In comparison, the perennially strong Pac-10 boasts only five teams in the same range.

Stanford is seeded sixth in the tourney, and the recently crowned Pac-10 Champ, top-ranked Arizona State, holds the No. 1 seed. The Sun Devils are accompanied by No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 7 Florida, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 18 New Mexico, No. 20 Denver and the host, No. 15 Brigham Young.

However, Stanford head coach Caroline O’Connor isn’t very concerned with the strength of the Cardinal’s opponents.

“In this tourney, our competitor is really the golf course,” O’Connor said. “It’s a different type of golf because you’re not going head-to-head against the different teams. You’re just going head-to-head against the course, and our focus right now is managing ourselves out there.”

Even if it were a head-to-head deal, the Card would be well prepared. Pac-10 opponents in the field include ASU, California and Washington State, and each has tested the Cardinal many times this season.

“We play in the most competitive conference in the country,” O’Connor said. “The schedule that we play is one of the most difficult in the country.”

Three top individuals from across the West will also the join the regional field, including Kay Hoey of Long Beach State, Jennifer Shipley of Fresno State and Lehua Wise of New Mexico State.

The regional is at the par-71, 6,234-yard Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club in St. George, Utah. A total of 18 holes will be played over a span of three days. As O’Connor mentioned, the course will be Stanford’s main opponent.

“It’s pretty much a target golf course,” O’Connor said. “If you’re not in control of your ball out there, you can certainly end out in the lava rocks or out in the desert. You’ve got to know your target golf tees and yardages.”

“Our goal is to just break par,” she added. “The trouble here lies in different spots. Our focus is hitting our targets and moving the ball from point A to point B.”

The top eight squads and top two individuals from the West will advance to the 2007 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships, May 22-25 at the LPGA International Golf Course in Dayton Beach, Fla.

This year’s appearance at the regional marks Stanford’s 15th consecutive selection since the 1993 season. Last year, Stanford finished fourth at the Regional, led by then-freshman Mari Chun, who tied for 13th individually.

The Cardinal eventually finished 13th at the NCAA Championships, with Duke taking home the team title. At the Championships, then-junior Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana paced the Cardinal attack, tying for 16th individually — the best NCAA finish of her collegiate career.

This year, the Cardinal boasts an intimidating lineup of youth and experience. That experience is a by-product of two longtime leaders, seniors Lauren Todd and Tangtiphaiboontana.

“They’ve been very solid and steady for us all year,” O’Connor said. “Jennie and Lauren have been such strong emotional leaders and tremendous captains for the team.”

Meanwhile, the youthful element is provided by freshmen Catherina Wang and Angela King.

Sandwiched in the middle is perhaps Stanford’s strongest golfer, Mari Chun. The sophomore leads the squad with a team-low 73.6 stroke average per round. She also holds seven top-25 and five top-10 finishes this season.

Chun’s accolades include a first-place finish at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, second at the PING/ASU Invite, third at the Topy Cup and third at the Pac-10 Championships.

“Mari’s had an outstanding year as well,” O’Connor said. “Those three [Todd, Tangtiphaiboontana and Chun] will be leading the way.”

Recently, the trio was named to the All-Pac-10 Second Team.

“Being in the top crop of players in our conference says a lot about your abilities,” O’Connor said. “I’m very pleased with their performances year round.”

“My expectation is for them to continue their spectacular play and to lead us through this tournament,” she added.

At the moment, things appear in the Cardinal’s favor, according to O’Connor.

“We have had a positive energy this entire week,” she said. “The Pac-10 Championships exposed our weaknesses, and we’ve learned a lot about ourselves and the team from that event. We’ve worked hard the last 10 days or so working on our game.”

Judging from today’s practice round, the Card looks to advance yet again to the NCAA Championships.

“We’ve had a fantastic round of practice today,” O’Connor said. “Everyone was striking the ball well, our putting was really good. The energy is definitely good right now.”