Flair Kuan (Questrom’24) hits off the fairway at the Boston College Intercollegiate on September 27. Kuan is returning to defend her Patriot League Player of the Year title at the conference tournament which begins April 21 in Midlothian, Va.

BU Athletics

Women’s Golf Team Looks to Defend Patriot League Title This Weekend

Terriers will compete in Midlothian, VA

On the Patriot League links, the Terriers are top dog. Winners of three Patriot League championships and only finishing outside of the top-two spots once since joining the conference in 2014, the Boston University women’s golf team’s play speaks for itself. But this year, the BU golfers have set their sights on a new goal: winning back-to-back championships.

Beginning Friday, April 21, BU will face the Patriot League field in a three-day, 54-hole tournament at Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Va. Hosting the tournament is the only other team with three titles to their name: University of Richmond. 

The Terriers will send six golfers to the tees Friday morning, with their top-four scores contributing to their three-day team total. The lowest score of the six Patriot League teams will win the trophy. 

Head coach Bruce Chalas plans to send cocaptain Alice Fan (CAS’24) off the tee first, followed by Christy Chen (CAS’25) and Annika Manjunath (CAS’25). Patriot League’s 2022 Player of the Year Flair Kuan (Questrom’24) is next, followed by Kristen Min Ju Kim (COM’23) and Victoria Takai (Questrom’25). 

“I’m really pumped up and excited, I’ve been looking forward to this weekend all year,” Chalas says. “Fan has been leading the charge all year, playing number one. I’m also really impressed with that four-five-six. This is probably the deepest team that we’ve had at BU.”

Looking to repeat as champions

During last year’s Patriot League championship, the Terriers saw a seven-stroke lead disappear late to the Richmond Spiders on matchday three. That mattered little to Kuan, who sank an eight-foot putt on hole 18 to win the tournament by just one stroke, edging Richmond 928-929. Kuan took home both Golfer of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year, finishing atop the field, four strokes ahead of Richmond’s 2021 Golfer and Rookie of the Year, Rory Weinfurther. 

Joining Kuan in the accolades was Chalas, who earned his fourth Patriot League Coach of the Year honor. 

“I really only saw us winning that tournament last year,” Chalas says. “I never saw us not winning a tournament, never once.”

Fan says her long game is going to be her greatest strength leading off for the Terriers. Chalas agrees that his team is strongest off the tee, but adds that the roster’s experience will be an advantage this weekend.

“We’re a good driving team, we drive the ball straight,” Chalas says. “Maybe even ahead of that, we’re a veteran team. We’ve got four players that played in the NCAA regionals last year, so they know what they’re playing for and they know we’re going down to Richmond to defend that title and get back to the NCAA regionals.” 

Another advantage for the Terriers: they’re familiar with Richmond’s home track, Independence Golf Club. The Patriot League championship was played there in 2019. That year, the Terriers finished four strokes ahead of second-place Navy to clinch their second Patriot League title. 

To bolster their familiarity with the course, the Terriers spent part of their spring break playing at Independence. 

“We got ourselves familiarized with the course beforehand,” Fan says. “And the weather wasn’t great, so we know we have an advantage if the weather goes bad, because we know how to play it.”

2023 has been rocky for the Terriers, who have been unable to win any regular season tournaments. In 2021–22, BU won the SHU Classic and Georgetown’s Hoya Invitational. However, they have bested Patriot League opponents in every outing, save for the Colombia Classic, where BU fell a stroke behind Richmond, 615-616.

“It is a bit unusual to not win a tournament before the Patriot League tournament,” Fan says. “But we have put a lot of effort into it. We’re a very driven team right now and I think everyone shares the same mindset. I feel very secure going to the tournament.”

Fan and Chalas both give credit to Claire Edwards (Sargent’26), who is serving as the first ever assistant coach to Chalas as a graduate student. 

“Edwards has had a major influence on every single player on our team and how they compete,” Chalas says. “A big reason why we are so well prepared and ready to go is because of her efforts. I can’t state enough the major positive impact that Claire has had on my golf team. We’re really lucky to have her with us this year.”

The Boston University women’s golf team will tee off at 8:30 am in the 2023 Patriot League championship tournament at Independence Golf Course in Midlothian, Va. Live statistics will be posted here, and updates will be posted live via Twitter @BUGameDay and @TerrierGolf.