Adversity is Par for the Course for Golf Team
May 21, 2019 | Women's Golf
by Meg Kelly
Statistically speaking, the odds were impossible.
Head women's golf coach Bruce Chalas' daughter, an A-student in statistics who double majored at Ohio State before obtaining a master's degree at Columbia, calculated that it was statistically impossible for the same event to happen twice with six different women, four years apart, in two different cities. It was 100% not possible.
"Wouldn't it be ironic if we made it two-for-two in NCAA regional robberies?" Chalas facetiously asked as the team was crossing the street to its rental van after spending the afternoon in Seattle prior to traveling to Cle Elum, Washington, for a four-day stay at the NCAA Regionals.
BU has a way of beating the odds. Backpacks, equipment, and laptops were gone without a trace. Fortunately, the clubs and equipment were left behind.
There is always a silver lining with Chalas. No matter how tough a situation is in life or on the golf course, there is something to be learned and something to be gained.
"Adversity makes you stronger," were his first words upon entering a vandalized van with glass shattered about.
Though BU has found itself as a lightning rod for postseason robberies, the journey to get to the NCAA Tournament and building the program has proved far more adverse. Merely 11 years ago, the Terriers were at the opposite end of the spectrum, finishing in last place in nearly every tournament they competed in.
Enter Chalas, who was well-known around the Boston golf circuit with previous coaching stints at Babson, MIT and Boston College spanning over 14 years.
"I got a call that BU needed someone to help them with their current golf swings," Chalas recalled. "I was supposed to come to BU for two hours a week twice a week for a month. On the first day I quickly realized we might need a little bit more work than that."
Always up for a challenge, more often than not seeking them out, Chalas assumed the head coaching position in January, marking the fifth coaching change in a four-year span.
"I knew the program needed some attention," Chalas said. "Most importantly, there were 10 girls on the team, but only a few had a passion for golf and really wanted some direction and help. That made me realize I was going to be in this role for awhile."
Leaving no stone unturned, Chalas reworked all aspects of the program. From recruiting, traveling and practicing, to even apparel, a new chapter in the program started to unfold. Slowly but surely, the Terriers started to recruit better players, play in better tournaments and finish higher, with each succeeding season serving as a chain reaction for growth and driving the program forward.
Enter Kristyna Pavlickova, a native of Prague, who arrived in Boston in 2011 with an intent to build the program and give it international credibility. Pavlickova broke onto the collegiate golf scene immediately, taking home MAAC Rookie of the Year honors. She followed that by winning the Bucknell Invitational as a sophomore, marking the first time an individual had won an event for the Terriers since 2008.
From there, talent started to ooze throughout the Terriers' roster throughout the years, as key players like Emily Tillo, Adela Cejnarova and Phyllis Tang elevated the program into a championship contender.
Finally, the pieces of the puzzle came together in 2015 as BU won its first-ever Patriot League championship and Cejnarova started her run of winning three straight individual crowns, becoming the first golfer, male or female, to win three straight Patriot League individual titles.
The Terriers came up short in the Patriot League championship the ensuing three seasons, finishing in second twice before sinking to a third-place finish at the 2018 championship in Annapolis.
On the plane ride back to Boston, Chalas ruminated on what needed to change in order to get back to the top. When the plane hit the runway, Chalas had a concrete list of 22 goals that would set the tone for when the team returned in the fall.
"I knew that if we made all the changes it would get us on the right track," started Chalas. "We needed to make changes head to toe. Visibility, apparel, what we do in the swing room, changes to our schedule, how we practice, travel. It dawned on me on the first day of practice when I saw our two new players and our returning veterans that we had a team that could win the Patriot League and get us back to the NCAAs."
One of those new players was Hanako Kawasaki, a freshman from Vietnam. Kawasaki and the Terriers made their presence known in October at the Yale Intercollegiate when Kawasaki claimed the individual title with a program-record score of 211, while her four-under 67 in the final round at Yale also broke the school record.
"This fall was our first win for everyone and showed how deep we can be," recalled junior Zhangcheng Guo. "I played so much better from the past two years. I felt coming into the fall that we were so much stronger."
Not only was the roster deep, it was diverse. Five of the 11 players on the 2015 Patriot League championship team were international. Comparatively, six of the eight players on this season's roster were international.
"The golf team reflects the diversity of the student body," observed Chalas. "With the way the world is now, you're going to be working and living with people from all over, so it's important that the girls have an experience of getting an education and playing competitive golf with players from all around the world. It's kind of cool and it's kind of fun. There can be six or seven languages going on in the van."
"It's like a mini BU," Guo commented on the team's diversity. "By being in this environment, you become more international, you learn more about culture from food, backgrounds and beliefs. By learning about each culture more, we learn about people more. It's all about communication and it takes time to understand another culture."
As the clock turned toward the spring, the Terriers continued to build momentum as the conference championship approached. In the final regular-season event of the year at the Navy Invitational, Kawasaki shattered the program's 36-hole record to claim the second individual title of her freshman campaign.
Just a week later, it was time to put the pieces to the puzzle together once again at the Patriot League Championship. The Terriers took the green at the Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Virginia, where they would fire on all cylinders from start to finish over a two-day span. BU eked out a one-stroke advantage over Navy after the first 36 holes before pulling away on championship Sunday, combining for a score of 293 to capture its second Patriot League crown by four strokes.
Kawasaki and sophomore Katerina Doleckova each earned First Team All-Patriot League honors, Guo and junior Abby Parsons earned second-team selections, and senior Megan Carter and junior Annie Sritragul played key roles in booking BU's second NCAA bid.
A key figure in thrusting the Terriers back to the top was director of leadership and career development Dr. Marissa Nichols, who has worked tirelessly over the last two years with Chalas and each student-athlete to help them maximize their performance.
"She's had a huge impact on our program," stated Chalas. "I don't think we win the Patriot League this year without her. Her ability to connect with players and help players with leadership, focusing and directing their efforts so that they can perform to their best of their ability, is invaluable. In terms of her helping players perform at their best level, that's been a very big and positive impact on our team."
"Bruce is very kind to share those testaments," Nichols said. "I've been honored to work with Bruce and the team in the capacity that I have. Some of those ways have been through leadership consultation on the direction of the program, managing and navigating individual personalities, and working towards building the most productive and meaningful culture we can build."
That culture would be tested and on full display as the Terriers headed to Washington to compete in the 16-team team 2019 NCAA Women's Golf Regional Championships at Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum.
BU departed from Boston Friday night, arriving in Seattle near midnight. Prior to heading to the course on that Saturday, the Terriers spent the day sightseeing in Seattle, taking in yet another culture and immersing themselves in the facets of the West Coast.
Though there was one reality that the Terriers did not expect to find themselves immersed in. A robbery.
"It for sure showed a different perspective of the world for me," observed Guo. "With finals, it added more panic to the team, but we saw how everyone handled that type of situation. Everyone was taking care of each other. I was very impressed at everyone getting over it and to know what we were doing in Washington. On the course, we were just golfing; it didn't affect us. We really have the ability to deal with adversity."
Upon acquiring a new rental van, the team went on as planned, clocking another near-midnight arrival as they touched based in Cle Elum. The following morning at breakfast, Chalas and the team addressed the robbery, got out the final words on the situation, and put it to bed.
"At the end of the day, it's life. It's something that happens in life," Chalas explained. "Every day in life there's challenges. Every single day there's challenge and adversity. We had to meet the adversity, realize what happened, develop a game plan, and continue on what our purposes for going to Washington were. It was to participate and do the best we can at NCAA Regionals. It was a goal we had all year. We talked about it, we worked hard, we had ups and downs during the year to achieve that goal and we finally achieved it. We were not going to be discouraged by an outside event or activity. It was just another adversity to address and overcome. That's what golf's all about and life's all about."
Adversity was just another part of the story. The only challenge left was the course itself, a beautiful 18-hole course located in a private mountain resort community of Cle Elum.
"It was one of the best courses I've played," Guo remarked. "The view was amazing, the course condition was very good and the field was one of the strongest we've played in."
Contending in its second-ever NCAA Regional, BU finished the 54-hole tournament in 17th place with a three-day total of 937 (307-318-312). All five Terriers that competed contributed at least one score during the week.
Coming off its best season in program history, the Terriers are looking to make another jump in taking the program to the next level. Adversity has been the bridge to guiding the Terriers to be the front-runners of the Patriot League. Now, no longer is the goal just to make to the NCAA Regionals. The goal is to climb the leaderboard and position BU into one of the top teams in the country.
"I am very positive on this program," Chalas said. "BU is a great academic school. For that, it already attracts a lot of people. We've got two freshman who are going to be in the lineup. A better team will attract better players. I see BU really getting into a top-50 or top-30 school. It might take a few years, but I have great hopes for this team. We can only get better."
Players Mentioned
