“I love being able to say we’re done with exams and can just focus on golf,” senior Aimee Neff said. “It just kind of frees you up a little, and that way you’re not stressed out about anything and you kind of have a clear mind.”

For the Spartans, there’s no better time to have a clear mind than this week, as they prepare to compete in the program’s 13th consecutive NCAA appearance.

Neff and the four other MSU golfers making their way to the Legends Course at LPGA International in Daytona Beach for the May 5-7 regional will have finished their exams by Monday, although Neff said she might have to take one on the road.

That leaves nothing else for the Spartans to worry about other than finishing in the top eight out of 24 teams in their region in order to move on with their postseason.

“It will be good to have our full focus on the tournament,” sophomore Caroline Powers said. “Not that it isn’t usually, but we’ll absolutely having nothing else to be concerned with, so that will be fun for us, too.”

MSU is coming off its first Big Ten championship since 2007 two weekends ago. Prior to that, the Spartans picked up a win in the Lady Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, OH.

Thanks to those two straight tournament wins — particularly the Big Ten Championships — head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said her teams is full of confidence and ready to compete in the talent-rich regional.

“As in any sport, when you win like that, especially a conference championship, you’re riding high,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “Ultimately, they believe in our team and what we’re doing, and even though we tell them everyday how good they are, sometimes it takes a win of that magnitude to help them really truly believe.”

MSU’s lineup at the regional will feature a mix of experienced veterans and youthful newcomers. Joining Neff and Powers at the regional will be junior Lindsey Solberg and freshmen Allyssa Ferrell and Christine Meier.

Slobodnik-Stoll said Ferrell and Meier, who both stepped up in a big way two weekends ago at the Big Ten Championships, will benefit the most from the confidence brought on by the last two tournaments.

Powers, who traveled to the regional as a freshman last season, said Ferrell and Meier also will have the support of their more experienced teammates throughout the regional tournament.

“They played in their first Big Ten Championship, and I know there were probably a lot of nerves with that,” Powers said. “But they have so much experience behind them. So we’ll have our pep talks to keep them calm, but I have full faith in their abilities.”

For all five golfers headed to Daytona Beach, Slobodnik-Stoll said the most important thing to remember this week is that it simply is another tournament. And much like every other tournament this year, the Spartans need to focus on their games and nothing else.

However, there likely will be one major difference between this week and almost all of the other tournaments MSU played in this season: the weather.

Throughout what has been a cold and rainy spring in the Midwest, the Spartans will have a chance to play in some warm weather this week in sunny Florida.

“One of the No. 1 things we’re excited about is the weather,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “We’ve been playing in interesting conditions all year. So to look at the forecast and see it’s going to be 80 and sunny everyday is pretty exciting.”

But MSU won’t be satisfied with simply going to play golf in warmer temperatures. The Green and White fell short of an NCAA Championships appearance last season, and despite coming away with a conference title — one of their main goals on the season — the Spartans said they’re hungry to keep playing further into the spring.

“We achieved (the Big Ten championship), but the season is not over yet,” Powers said. “The postseason — just like all the other sports — is the most exciting. I’m just ready to get going and keep proving ourselves to the whole golf country.”