The ISU women’s golf team travels to Denver Monday to begin the University of Denver Invitational. Iowa State is the reigning tournament champion.

“I think winning there last year certainly can give you an advantage over other teams,” head coach Julie Manning said. “We’ve always played well there, and we have the confidence. I like that we’re going in there at this point in our season.”

Manning said the team’s place in the tournament could depend on how well Denver and Nebraska play.

Of the eight teams competing, she said, those are the two to watch for.

“It could almost be like a home-field advantage, because four of the five members competing for ISU have played on this course before,” Manning said. “Also, Leanne Owens was a medal winner last year here.”

Owens said she feels everyone on the team needs to compete well in this tournament.

“We haven’t been doing that well the last couple of tournaments, so we’re all going to need to play well,” she said.

The Denver tournament could be the place to do that, Owens said.

“I personally really like the course — a lot of birdies can be made on this course,” she said. “As a team, we just need to have confidence and put up some good scores and good swings.”

Manning said she thinks one of the keys will be to get her players playing together and playing comfortably, with consistency. Louise Kenney has missed tournaments while competing for the Scottish national team, while Lisa Meshke is playing with an injured wrist.

“We’ve been a little discombobulated without those two. They are our top two players and we need them to be able to play together and comfortably.”

Manning said because the tournament is in a two-round format, everybody has a shot.

“It’s really anybody’s ball game,” she said. “The players need to just come out swinging well and compete strong.”