A weekend of rest that might have made them soft only made the women’s golf team ready for this coming weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Bulldogs will be playing in the Harvard Invitational in Cape Cod, Mass. Among the teams competing against the Elis will be Harvard, Brown and St. John’s, all of which the Bulldogs have defeated in previous tournaments this season. Though captain Stephanie Wei ’05 is still out with an injury, the young Elis are looking to return home with nothing short of first place.

“Considering the ages of our starting five and being without two-time All-Ivy Wei, we have done pretty well,” Yale head coach Mary Moan said. “We are still working hard and we hope to improve each weekend.”

The Elis have taken the past two weeks and their time off last weekend to put in solid practicing time. January Romero ’06 said she was glad for this opportunity.

“The break was very helpful for us,” Romero said. “I was glad to work on my swing some more.”

Although the break was useful for the Bulldogs, some players are anxious to get back out and compete again. Lauren Ressler ’06 said she is especially excited for the upcoming tournament.

“I can’t wait to go out and have fun,” Ressler said. “It could be crazy weather, but we are going to play like we know we can. We are going up there to win.”

After finishing in second place in the Princeton Invitational and the Yale Invitational, the Bulldogs are ready to win. Moan feels confident that the girls can win by a commanding number of strokes if they work on certain fundamentals.

“As a team, we need to eliminate the bad holes, make putts, and be sharper overall,” Moan said. “Everyone has been working hard at this and this tournament will definitely be a team effort.”

Romero agrees with Moan, seeking to translate what the Elis have done in practice onto the greens.

“I think everyone has had a couple of rough rounds, but everyone wants to shoot low and show how hard we have been working,” Romero said.

Ressler acknowledged that a win at this point for the Bulldogs would help them finish the fall season strong.

“Winning a tournament would be great especially with how young we are,” Ressler said. “This win could help show us what we need to do always and build us up for Mid Pines, our last fall tournament.”

The victory at Harvard would come easier if the Bulldogs had Wei, team members said. Though Moan could not comment on the specifics of Wei’s injury, the coach was hopeful that her star player will make a full recovery.

“What I can tell you is she won’t be playing in the fall,” Moan said. “But I am optimistic that she will be playing during the spring.”

Even without Wei, though, the Bulldogs are expecting nothing short of first place in Mass.