"Sjanna's been so keen to get that spot, she's been texting me for the last two months wanting to know if she's going to be number one," Dangen said.
Former professional Kylie Jacoby (nee Wilson) was thrown into No 1 last year and made the best of it but was short of golf going into the tournament.
"She hadn't played for quite a few years but we played her at number one anyway and although she did well, she wasn't at her best," she said.
With a year's golf under her belt Jacoby is playing better and will be a real asset at number-three.
"Having her at three is good for the team and having Jodi [McCalister] come in at five is another bonus because she's such a good little player," Dangen said.
The team is always short of top-grade matchplay practice before the tournament.
Unlike their male counterparts, who have three interprovincial quadrangular tournaments, they only have one interprovincial matchplay tournament as a warm-up.
So the team organised their own fundraiser last month which doubled as a final warm-up match against a top men's team including some current and past Northland players.
World No 1 amateur Lydia Ko, who won the player of the tournament award at the interprovincials last year , will miss the event because she has been invited to play a professional event in Taiwan.
Northland will kick off the tournament against Tasman and Wellington this afternoon.
Northland: Sjanna Bonnington , Samantha Dangen, Kylie Jacoby, Jo Taylor, Jodi McCalister, Brooke Kingi (reserve) .
