This is what the No. 14 Stanford women’s golf team has prepared for all season with every swing, putt and drop of sweat on and off the course.

Today, the Cardinal women make their 19th consecutive appearance at the 2007 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Held at the par-72, 6,351-yard Legends Course at the LPGA International, the championships will feature 24 of the nation’s top squads and six individual golfers, all of them vying for the top prize in collegiate play. The field includes nine teams ranked in the top 10 and 20 teams ranked in the top-25 in the most recent Golf World/NGCA Coaches Poll.

Five Pacific-10 Conference squads qualified for the tourney including the Pac-10 Champs, top-ranked Arizona State, No. 8 Southern California, No. 9 UCLA and No. 16 Arizona.

Twelve years ago, Arizona State captured back-to-back-to-back championships. This year, the Sun Devils have the difficult task of denying No. 2 Duke its third consecutive NCAA title.

Though faced with a tough field of competitors, this is exactly what Stanford wants, according to head coach Caroline O’Connor.

“We’ve been preparing for this all year long,” O’Connor said. “One of our goals at the beginning of the year is to be one of the top teams in the country and it’s difficult to quantify that.”

“As hard as we’ve worked in the gym for the last nine months, physically we’re in really good shape,”she added. “By being in good physical shape, that’ll greatly help our mental standpoint.”

Fortunately, the Card also has a lot of momentum on its side, coming off a resounding victory at the NCAA West Regional. The women’s strong play in the final round of the tourney clinched a share of the team title and secured a spot in this year’s championships.

Their victory came at the Snow Canyon Country Club in St. George, Utah, a golf course that meshed well with Stanford’s style of play. The Legends Course will be no different, according to O’Connor.

“Everyone feels really good coming off a big win at regionals, and we’re coming into a golf course that sets up again well for our golf team,” she said. “You have to really execute on this course, and one of our strengths is ball control. Our short game last week was spectacular, and if we make a few adjustments out here, we’re ready to go.”

Another key to the Stanford victory was a strong mental approach that had seemed to disappear during the spring season. Besides going head-to-head against the golf course, the Cardinal played inspired golf in the final round enabling it to catch up to Oklahoma State.

“In a team competition like this, we try to beat the course every day and at every competition,” O’Connor said. “We have to take it one day and one shot at a time. If we try to beat par on this golf course, we’ll be in good position.”

Stanford is not without its own arsenal of players. In fact, the depth of its lineup has carried the team for most of the season, giving hope for the squad’s first top-10 finish since 2001 and possibly an even higher showing.

“We have the depth that we haven’t had in some time, and that’s one of our greater strengths,” O’Connor said. “We’ve showed that off in recent weeks. Our entire lineup has the ability to shoot even-par or better.”

The Cardinal lineup is led by senior captains Lauren Todd and Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana in their final collegiate tourney. Following them is sophomore phenom Mari Chun, who leads the team with a 73.3 stroke average. Rounding off the five are freshmen Catherina Wang and Angela King, who are both gaining valuable postseason experience for the future of the program.

“Mari’s playing extremely well right now,” O’Connor said. “Lauren and Jennie have continued their outstanding play as well, and the freshmen have had a few postseason tournaments under their belts now with confidence at this level.”

Last year, the squad tied for 13th at the NCAA Championships, led by then-junior Tangtiphaiboontana who tied for 16th individually. The Cardinal’s best-ever finish at the championships was as runner-up in 2000.

On the season, Stanford has finished in the top 10 in all 10 of its tournaments, including five top-five finishes. The Cardinal also boasts three tournament victories at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, Peg Barnard Collegiate and NCAA West Regional.

Given the squad’s track record this season and the countless hours poured into the game, any finish outside of the top 10 could be seen as a sub-par end to the season for the Cardinal.

Stanford tees off today’s first round at 12:30 p.m. with USC and Duke.