No. 1 is a familiar spot for the UCLA women’s golf team.

In their last seven trips to the NCAA regionals, the Bruins have only been seeded below No. 1 once. This year they kept up their high standards, securing the No. 1 seed in the Central Regional.

The competition will take place this weekend at the Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind., hosted by Notre Dame.

The top eight finishers from each of the three regionals – Central, East and West – will go on to the NCAA Tournament. UCLA has qualified for the last 11 NCAA Tournaments.

Several Bruins are familiar with the Notre Dame course. Course familiarity has been a positive factor for UCLA this year, often helping it to succeed. In April’s PING/ASU Invitational, the team took first place playing on Arizona State’s Karsten Golf Course, a course that the Bruins have experience playing on.

Senior Glory Yang is not one of the team members who has competed at the Notre Dame course before, but she is excited about the advantage that those members of the team have.

“They know what to expect,” Yang said. “They know when to be more cautious or aggressive on certain holes; that definitely helps.”

Junior Stephanie Kono, on the other hand, has competed on the course before. She said that remembering the course even just a little bit is helpful, and that she has a strong recollection of how it looks and works.

According to several online weather reports, there might be some cold and rain headed South Bend’s way over the next few days. This is a factor that has stood in the Bruins’ way in some past tournaments, as it is difficult to prepare for poor weather in sunny Los Angeles.Even with the threat of bad weather, the team is confident in its chances.

Kono said that the team is focused on working together as a team and doing well so that it can advance to nationals with confidence.

The Bruins will send a team made up entirely of All-Pac-10 selections to regionals. Kono, redshirt sophomore Lee Lopez and sophomore Tiffany Lua were named to the first team, while Yang and freshman Ani Gulugian were named to the second team. All five players are ranked in the top 35 nationally by Golfweek.

The team spent the weeks between the Pac-10 Championship and the upcoming NCAA Central Regional perfecting its short game and working on different techniques for the Notre Dame course.

“Our team is at a really good place right now,” Gulugian said. “We’re ready to show everybody what we can do.”