Friday Feature: Getting Warmer
April 22, 2011 | Women's Golf
April 22, 2011
By Scott Weighart, Special to GoTerriers.com
The Boston University women's golf team is quite literally the coolest program in NCAA Division I golf.
Third-year coach Bruce Chalas figures that no other university has a golf program based in a less hospitable climate for the sport. Most Boston-area golf courses open in mid-April--roughly two weeks before the end of the academic year. D-I women's golf historically has been dominated by the likes of Arizona State and Duke, where the sport can be played all or most of the year. In fact, last year marked the first time ever that a school north of North Carolina had won a championship in the sport, as Purdue took home its first title.
On top of that, Boston University is located in the thick of a thriving metropolis. If the average BU student ever picks up a golf club, it most likely would be a putter hoisted beneath the orange dinosaur that promotes miniature golf on Route 1 in Saugus.
Regardless of the challenges, the Terriers women's golf program is getting warmer in more ways than one. To tee things off, let's note that the golfers are now regular players at tournaments in the relatively balmy weather of the southeastern US.
"We've changed our schedule dramatically," Chalas says. "We play nine, ten tournaments a year: five in the fall and five in the spring. We've been fortunate and lucky enough to move our travel schedule so that we're playing top teams on hard golf courses against hard competition... We travel from here to the Carolinas and Georgia and Florida."
The program is also getting warmer in terms of taking major strides as a program. It's just not obvious from the current scorecards.
"In the last few years, if you look at our results, we're kind of at the bottom of where we're at with tournaments," Chalas acknowledges. "But that's okay. We need a starting point. Our schedule is a Patriot League/Ivy League schedule, which is very competitive."
The best news is that the program's recent conference jump has upped the ante for the program.
"We changed conferences two years ago, leaving the three-team America East, which didn't really get you anywhere if you won the conference," Chalas says. "Now we're in the six-team MAAC [Metro Atlantic Athletic] conference. We're getting ready to play our conference championship next weekend down at the Magnolia course at Disney. That's a 54-hole championship.
"This is our second year in the conference, so starting next year the winner of the conference automatically qualifies for the NCAA Regionals," he adds. "That's quite a boost there, and it's helped recruiting dramatically. We've got a very doable conference that we can win and get ourselves to the NCAAs--no timetable on that, but we are getting closer."
While the prospect of playing in an NCAA Regional is a nice enticement for prospective Terrier golfers, Chalas believes in a recruiting approach that emphasizes candor over a glossy sales pitch.
"I probably scare some recruits away by talking about the cold, lousy weather," he admits. "When I'm talking to a recruit, one thing I don't do is try to convince them or sell them to come to Boston University. Boston University is an easy sell academically; it's one of the top schools in the world.
"I'm really looking for someone who wants to come to Boston University and wants the diversity of city life and--coupled with that--who wants to play high-end Division I golf. I don't want to have to talk someone into coming here; they have to have the thirst and passion and desire to want to come here and study here and to play competitively here."
This is consistent with his coaching philosophy, which puts an enormous emphasis on effort. His coaching mantras tend to revolve around time management, desire and passion to do well, eating well, sleeping, and taking care of yourself. "If you're tired the second day [of a tournament], it shows then."
On top of making sure his players are trying hard and physically prepared to play, Chalas also emphasizes the technical side of the sport.
"Clearly the impact that I have on players is with lots of time on course management and mental skills. With good players, that's the biggest area of improvement: knowing the yardages, knowing what clubs to hit, playing realistic shots, thinking positive--not criticizing yourself and not telling yourself you're a bad player when you miss a couple of shots."
On this year's team, the player who is the best at all of those aspects is senior Ana Johnson (Oconomowoc, Wisconsin).
"Ana's very well organized," Chalas says. "She's graduating this year, but she'll be here two more years, getting her doctorate in physical therapy."
Johnson's rigorous course load makes it challenging for her to keep up with the sport's time demands, but she can be relied upon to go down to McGolf in Dedham at night or on a Saturday to work on her form at the driving range.
Chalas has signed "one real good player" for next year to help offset the anticipated loss of Johnson but needs to pull in one more recruit with senior Dana DeStefano (Melville, N.Y.) also ending her BU career. On the whole, though, things are looking up.
"I enjoy it immensely," Chalas says. "I love the kids. They're a lot of fun. The program needed a lot of attention. That's why I took the job; I love a challenge. We've made an awful lot of progress in the last three years. The program looks nothing like it did three years ago. The athletic department has made it so much easier in terms of help and personnel and funding."
The team hopes to finalize an arrangement with a local private club soon, which would make practicing--always a challenge--that much easier. Between that and the conference switch, this program is poised to gain more national attention.
"We're not going to be under the radar too much longer. We're going to make some noise."
Given the church-like atmosphere on many golfing greens, it will have to be a very quiet sort of noise. Still, it's exciting to envision a New England team making any sort of noise in NCAA D-I golf.
Even for those whose golf experiences in Boston are limited to putting a ball past through a whirling windmill, the BU community could warm up to that idea.
