University of Georgia Athletics
Smith, El Chaib Start Strong At Invitational
January 26, 2025 | Women's Golf, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
As the Georgia women's golf team and players from nine other programs competed in the Lady Bulldog Invitational at the UGA Golf Course on Saturday, a few small patches of snow could still be seen in shadowy spots around the grounds.
Athens is experiencing a real winter this year, with lots of low temperatures in recent weeks and even two days of snow. Such weather doesn't typically make for great golf conditions, but you wouldn't know it by the play on Saturday. Nine players shot par or better in the tournament, three of them Bulldogs, and the winner, Chloe Kovelesky of Wake Forest, poured in six birdies during her 5-under round of 67.
Georgia's Morgan Smith and Chantal El Chaib each shot 69 to finish tied for second with three other players. Another Bulldog, Celine Brovold Sanne, shot an even-par 72 to finish ninth.
"Based on the weather and the things that we've had going into this spring, it was absolutely awesome to see them come out and just kind of refuse to quit," first-year Bulldogs coach Erika Brennan said. "I think that especially Chantal and Morgan, with their mental games and just their outlook when they approach a round of golf, being so steady, it doesn't really matter what the course throws at them or what the weather throws at them, they're going to find a way.
"To see them both get rewarded right out of the gate was really cool."
A Florida native, Brennan came to Georgia after seven years as the head coach at South Florida. She said she'd seen snow four times in her life, two of those coming in Athens this month.
Saturday's event was scheduled to be 36 holes, but with overnight lows in the 20s and the course frozen or covered with frost in the morning, the starting tee times were pushed back to noon and the one-day tournament was shortened to 18 holes to get it all in. By the time the players teed off in a shotgun start, the temperature was entering the 40s — and it eventually edged up around 50 as the players began their back nines.
The course was calm and quiet as a handful of players battled for the lead, including El Chaib and Smith, who each spent time at the top of the leaderboard during their final few holes.
"I think it was solid today, shooting under par," El Chaib said. "I'll take under par on this course any time."
A native of a decidedly not snowy place, Abu Dhabi, UAE, El Chaib spent the past three seasons playing at Sacred Heart in Connecticut, before joining the Bulldogs this season. She had to get used to the cold during her time at Sacred Heart, and golfers do have to adjust their games to the conditions.
"It's very hard. We're hitting like two clubs more (per shot) than we're used to," she said, "so if it's 150 yards to the flag, we have to play like it's 170."
For Smith, the cold is nothing new. She's from Westford, Mass., and spent last year at Georgetown in Washington, D.C., before transferring to Georgia.
"Being from Massachusetts, today was like a fall day," Smith said with a smile.
After El Chaib birdied the par-3 16th, she was in the lead at 4-under alongside Kovelesky, with Smith two shots back. However, a three-put bogey on the next hole dropped El Chaib back to 3-under. Smith, playing in the group ahead after starting her round on No. 2, teed off on 18 needing to make something happen on the par 5. And she did.
Smith hit a good drive and then hit a 3-wood that came up about 25 yards short of the green. Now it was time for a chip, something she and El Chaib said they hadn't been able to work on too much this week due to the weather.
"I was a little bit left of the pin, so I had a little bit more green to work with," Smith said. "And then I hit a good chip. It looked like it was going straight at the pin, but I was lower, below the level of the green, so I couldn't see."
Smith could hear people around the green cheering and clapping, however. She'd chipped in for an eagle and moved into a tie for the lead with Kovelsky.
"That felt pretty good," she said.
Smith still had to finish out her round on No. 1, while El Chaib needed a birdie on the 18th to finish at 4-under. A wayward second shot meant El Chaib was hitting off pine straw under a tree on the right side for third. She hit a good shot and had about a 20-footer for birdie, which she narrowly missed. Smith, meanwhile, wound up bogeying No. 1 to drop back to 3-under.
"I feel like I played very steady on the back nine today," Smith said. "I bogey the last one, and that's always kind of a bummer, but I feel good about how I played overall. You always want to win, obviously, but it wasn't too bad for getting the spring season going."
Professional golf tournaments held in January in the United States tend to happen in places like Florida, California or Hawaii — for obvious reasons. Over the past two weeks, former Georgia men's golfers Sepp Straka and Harris English have won PGA Tour events in California.
The good news for the Georgia women's team is that they head to Mexico this week for their next tournament. They can leave the parkas behind and pack shorts and sunscreen instead.
Â
Staff Writer
As the Georgia women's golf team and players from nine other programs competed in the Lady Bulldog Invitational at the UGA Golf Course on Saturday, a few small patches of snow could still be seen in shadowy spots around the grounds.
Athens is experiencing a real winter this year, with lots of low temperatures in recent weeks and even two days of snow. Such weather doesn't typically make for great golf conditions, but you wouldn't know it by the play on Saturday. Nine players shot par or better in the tournament, three of them Bulldogs, and the winner, Chloe Kovelesky of Wake Forest, poured in six birdies during her 5-under round of 67.
Georgia's Morgan Smith and Chantal El Chaib each shot 69 to finish tied for second with three other players. Another Bulldog, Celine Brovold Sanne, shot an even-par 72 to finish ninth.
"Based on the weather and the things that we've had going into this spring, it was absolutely awesome to see them come out and just kind of refuse to quit," first-year Bulldogs coach Erika Brennan said. "I think that especially Chantal and Morgan, with their mental games and just their outlook when they approach a round of golf, being so steady, it doesn't really matter what the course throws at them or what the weather throws at them, they're going to find a way.
"To see them both get rewarded right out of the gate was really cool."
A Florida native, Brennan came to Georgia after seven years as the head coach at South Florida. She said she'd seen snow four times in her life, two of those coming in Athens this month.
Saturday's event was scheduled to be 36 holes, but with overnight lows in the 20s and the course frozen or covered with frost in the morning, the starting tee times were pushed back to noon and the one-day tournament was shortened to 18 holes to get it all in. By the time the players teed off in a shotgun start, the temperature was entering the 40s — and it eventually edged up around 50 as the players began their back nines.
The course was calm and quiet as a handful of players battled for the lead, including El Chaib and Smith, who each spent time at the top of the leaderboard during their final few holes.
"I think it was solid today, shooting under par," El Chaib said. "I'll take under par on this course any time."
A native of a decidedly not snowy place, Abu Dhabi, UAE, El Chaib spent the past three seasons playing at Sacred Heart in Connecticut, before joining the Bulldogs this season. She had to get used to the cold during her time at Sacred Heart, and golfers do have to adjust their games to the conditions.
"It's very hard. We're hitting like two clubs more (per shot) than we're used to," she said, "so if it's 150 yards to the flag, we have to play like it's 170."
For Smith, the cold is nothing new. She's from Westford, Mass., and spent last year at Georgetown in Washington, D.C., before transferring to Georgia.
"Being from Massachusetts, today was like a fall day," Smith said with a smile.
After El Chaib birdied the par-3 16th, she was in the lead at 4-under alongside Kovelesky, with Smith two shots back. However, a three-put bogey on the next hole dropped El Chaib back to 3-under. Smith, playing in the group ahead after starting her round on No. 2, teed off on 18 needing to make something happen on the par 5. And she did.
Smith hit a good drive and then hit a 3-wood that came up about 25 yards short of the green. Now it was time for a chip, something she and El Chaib said they hadn't been able to work on too much this week due to the weather.
"I was a little bit left of the pin, so I had a little bit more green to work with," Smith said. "And then I hit a good chip. It looked like it was going straight at the pin, but I was lower, below the level of the green, so I couldn't see."
Smith could hear people around the green cheering and clapping, however. She'd chipped in for an eagle and moved into a tie for the lead with Kovelsky.
"That felt pretty good," she said.
Smith still had to finish out her round on No. 1, while El Chaib needed a birdie on the 18th to finish at 4-under. A wayward second shot meant El Chaib was hitting off pine straw under a tree on the right side for third. She hit a good shot and had about a 20-footer for birdie, which she narrowly missed. Smith, meanwhile, wound up bogeying No. 1 to drop back to 3-under.
"I feel like I played very steady on the back nine today," Smith said. "I bogey the last one, and that's always kind of a bummer, but I feel good about how I played overall. You always want to win, obviously, but it wasn't too bad for getting the spring season going."
Professional golf tournaments held in January in the United States tend to happen in places like Florida, California or Hawaii — for obvious reasons. Over the past two weeks, former Georgia men's golfers Sepp Straka and Harris English have won PGA Tour events in California.
The good news for the Georgia women's team is that they head to Mexico this week for their next tournament. They can leave the parkas behind and pack shorts and sunscreen instead.
Â
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
Players Mentioned
Georgia Women's Golf Liz Murphy Invitational Video Recap
Monday, March 30
Women's Golf - Coach Brennan and Coach Stevens Feature
Monday, April 28
Georgia Women's Golf - Lady Bulldog Invitational Highligths
Saturday, January 25
Georgia Women's Golf - NCAA Regionals Round Two Recap
Tuesday, May 07