Accomplishments
2023 NCAA Regionals - individual
2022 Patriot League Coach of the Year
2022 Patriot League Champions
2022 NCAA Regionals
2019 Patriot League Coach of the Year
2019 Patriot League Champions
2019 NCAA Regionals
2015 Patriot League Champions
2015 NCAA Regionals
2014 Patriot League Coach of the Year
2013 MAAC Coach of the Year
Individual Accomplishments
6 Patriot League Championships
25 Individual Titles
2016 Patriot League Woman of the Year
6 Conference Rookie of the Year honorees
8 Patriot League Scholar-Athletes of the Year
21 First Team All-Patriot League selections
9 Second Team All-Patriot League selections
19 Academic All-Patriot League selections
Bruce Chalas, a three-time Patriot League Coach of the Year and 2013 MAAC Coach of the Year, completed his 17th season as the head coach of the women's golf team at Boston University in 2024-25 and has over three decades of coaching experience at Boston area colleges.
Chalas turned BU into the top program in the Patriot League as the Terriers have finished first or second in 10 of the 11 league championships they have taken part in. BU has won the PL crown three times - 2015, 2019, 2022 - under Chalas.
Since joining the Patriot League in 2013-14, Chalas has mentored six Patriot League individual champions, 21 First Team All-Patriot League selections and nine second-team honorees. In addition, seven of the conference's top 16 individual performances at the PL Championships have come from Terrier golfers.
Christy Chen, a two-time winner of both the PL Player of the Year and PL Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards, finished her career in 2025 with a program-record seven tournament wins and secured her card for the China LPGA Tour after qualifying in January of her senior year.
Over the past two seasons, the Terriers have collected a combined eight individual tournament wins from three different players while earning four team titles.
The 2022-23 squad finished runner-up at the PL Championships with Chen earning medalist honors as a sophomore en route to PL Golfer of the Year honors and a spot in the NCAA Regionals. Senior Alice Fan joined Chen on the All-PL First Team. Chen repeated as PL Golfer of the Year in 2024 as the Terriers placed second at the conference tournament.
BU's most recent league title came in 2022 as then-sophomore Flair Kuan's par putt on the final hole of the tournament secured a one-stroke win over Richmond. Kuan also won the individual title and was named PL Golfer of the Year while rookie Christy Chen and senior Hanako Kawasaki added top-10 finishes.
Despite his team not arriving on campus until late March in 2021, Chalas coached the Terriers to four victories in six appearances and six top-three finishes. Three of his players - Kuan, Fan and Kawasaki - earned First Team All-Patriot League honors, with Kuan and Fan doing so in their Patriot League Championship debuts. Chalas guided his players to a combined 18 top-five finishes, 22 top-10 performances and 32 top-20 showings.
BU enjoyed a record-setting spring 2020 season before it was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Terriers opened the 2020 portion of their schedule with an impressive showing at the 53-team Kiawah Island Classic. BU was the 36-hole leader of the largest collegiate golf tournament in the country and finished with a program-record 54-hole total of 871 (289-286-296). That score of 871 was 19 strokes better than the Terriers' previous 54-hole best of 890, which they set at the 2018 Yale Intercollegiate. The Terriers also shattered their 36-hole record by 20 shots, posting a score of 575 after two rounds, and their second-round score of 286 was also a new program best.
Four different Terriers (Katerina Doleckova, Kawasaki, Kristen Min Ju Kim, Annie Sritragul) earned Patriot League Golfer of the Week accolades in 2019-20. The Terriers claimed victory at the season-opening William & Mary Invitational, one of four top-five performances as a team during the year.
Chalas won Patriot League Coach of the Year following the Terriers' triumph at the 2019 Patriot League Championship. Kawasaki became the first rookie to win the individual Patriot League title with a 54-hole score of 222, the second-lowest mark in conference tournament history.
That spring success followed a terrific fall season that was capped by a victory at the Yale Intercollegiate. Under Chalas' guidance, three Terriers recorded the best 54-hole scores of their collegiate careers. That trio included Kawasaki, who won the Yale Intercollegiate with a program-record total of 211.
In 2017-18, the Terriers finished third at the Patriot League Championship, marking the fifth straight year BU placed in the top three of the conference tournament. In addition, sophomore Zhangcheng Guo became the eighth First Team All-Patriot League honoree in program history.
Chalas guided the Terriers to their second straight second-place finish at the Patriot League Championship in 2016-17. Adela Cejnarova became the first golfer, male or female, to win a third straight Patriot League individual title. Cejnarova, Phyllis Tang and Megan Carter finished 1-2-3 on the weekend in an impressive showing for the Terriers.
BU enjoyed a record year in 2016-17 under Chalas' leadership. The Terriers twice set a new 54-hole program record, with the new school standard at 896 after an impressive showing at the Harvard Invitational. That record came just one week after BU recorded a score of 898 at the Babs Steffens Invitational, breaking 900 for the first time in program history. The Terriers also finished the year with four top-five finishes over their last five tournaments.
In 2015-16, Chalas once again coached the Patriot League individual champion, as Cejnarova defended her title and broke her own scoring record in the process thanks to a 54-hole total of 219. BU also recorded a new 18-hole team low score of 290 and 2016 BU and Patriot League Woman of the Year and three-time defending Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year Emily Tillo carded a four-under 68 to set a new program low.
The Terriers reached new heights under Chalas in 2014-15, winning the program's first-ever Patriot League championship and earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals. Cejnarova won the individual title, her second straight victory, and three Terriers finished in the top five, including Tang, who was named Most Outstanding Rookie. BU broke its previous record low round of 297 with a 291 in the opening round of the Dartmouth Invitational.
Chalas led BU to another strong season in 2013-14, capped by a second-place finish at the Patriot League Championship in the program's first year in the conference. The team broke several records over the course of the year, including a low round of 297 and a 54-hole record of 907, which bettered the previous mark by 23 strokes. The Terriers also fired their combined lowest score relative to par at the Kiawah Island Classic, shooting a plus-11 after four players carded a 76 or lower for the first time in program history.
In addition to the team achievements, Chalas also oversaw a multitude of individual successes. Cejnarova was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Year, becoming the third straight Terrier to be hailed as a conference's top rookie. Tillo was the Patriot League Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year and joined Kristyna Pavlickova on the Academic All-Patriot League Team. Cejnarova, Pavlickova and Tillo were also each named Patriot League Golfer of the Month over the course of the season.
The 2012-13 season was a highlight as Chalas led the Terriers to three team titles and a second-place finish at the MAAC Championship, the program's highest-ever finish at the conference championship. BU won its first tournament since 2008 with its victory in the Bucknell Invitational to start the 2012-13 campaign. After a second-place finish at Dartmouth, the Terriers won the ECAC Championship and the Columbia Roar-EE Invitational. For the second straight season, Chalas coached the MAAC Rookie of the Year, as Tillo earned the honor. Tillo also joined Pavlickova on the MAAC Academic Honor Roll.
In 2011-12, Chalas led BU to a fourth-place finish at the MAAC Championship. He also guided Pavlickova to MAAC Rookie of the Year honors.
Chalas, a graduate of Babson College, received his degree in business administration, marketing and management in 1972. While at Babson he was a member of the varsity golf team all four years, serving as team captain during his junior and senior seasons. In 1993, he was inducted in the school's athletics Hall of Fame.
As a golfer, Chalas qualified for 14 USGA championships, the 1980 United States Open, two NCAA championships, the 1985 Bank of Boston PGA Tour event as well as numerous amateur championships. He has won two Southeast Amateur championships as well as the Hornblower and the 1985 New England Amateur tournament.
Chalas hosts a girls' golf clinic in Pinehurst, North Carolina. For more information, please visit BostonUniversityGirlsGolfClinic.com.
He also is a member of the Women's Golf Coaches Association and a former member of the USGA Mid-Amateur Committee.
