After being forced to withdraw from the James Madison University Invitational April 8 and 9 due to a flight cancellation, the Irish women's golf team looks to rebound next Monday and Tuesday at the Big East championships in Dade City, Fla.
The tournament is the final event of the spring season before the NCAA Regionals and will be important in determining whether the Irish earn an NCAA bid.
"We're a bubble team right now," Irish coach Debby King said. "[The NCAA tournament committee] will certainly look at our scoring average."
The Irish will not have an opportunity to improve their NCAA head-to-head record because no other teams from the Mideast Region compete in the Big East.
Notre Dame expects stiff competition as the tournament will feature all seven Big East teams, whereas in the past only four qualified for the event.
"We're especially excited to face South Florida and Louisville," King said. "Those are both pretty strong teams."
The Irish are scheduled to arrive in Florida Saturday afternoon and plan on playing a practice round Sunday.
The two-day event gets underway Monday at the Lake Jovita Golf Club.
"This is our biggest tournament of the year besides the NCAAs," King said.
Before the spring season began, King said that the team's long-term goal was to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.
"A win [in the Big East Championship] sure wouldn't hurt us [in earning a spot]," King said.
