PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Georgia’s Chantal El Chaib captured medalist honors at the White Sands Invitational on Sunday at The Ocean Golf Club after wrapping up the tournament at 2-under 141. The Bulldogs finished sixth in the team field in their final event of the fall campaign.
Fast Facts
• El Chaib tied Purdue’s Momo Sugiyama atop the individual leaderboard in the tourney that was shortened to 36 holes after Friday’s first round was canceled due to rain.
• El Chaib began her day at No. 5 with a shotgun start. She was even through four holes after opening with a bogey, followed by birdies at No. 6 and No. 7 and a bogey at No. 8. From there, El Chaib birdied No. 9, No. 10, No. 13 and No. 2.
• The victory was the ninth of El Chaib’s college career, following eight victories in three seasons at Sacred Heart before transferring to Georgia.
• El Chaib’s 4-under 68 on Sunday equaled the best 18-hole score of her collegiate career. She also posted 4-under tallies in the second round of the Illini Invitational this fall, the second round of the 2024 NEC Championsihps and the third round of the 2024 Prospect Bay Intercollegiate.
• Georgia shot 10-over as a team on Sunday, also counting an even-par 72 from Kate Song, a 76 from Morgan Smith and an 82 from Zixin “Candice” Lou.
• Song provided the Bulldogs’ with an additional top-20 finish, shooting 6-over 149 to tied for 13th individually.
• El Chaib captured the 90th individual title in Georgia Golf history, becoming the 40th different UGA golfer to earn medalist honors.
Key Quote
“Chantal was lights out and it’s a testament to her outlook and perspective in very challenging conditions,” head coach Erika Brennan said. “Mentally, she wasn’t going to be beat so to see how she stayed in the fight was special. Her leadership is valued so much on this team, and it was an awesome exclamation mark to end the fall season. We continue to show flashes of brilliance, and it’s going to take making that more consistent this off season to have the type of spring we know we are capable of.”
Up Next:
The Bulldogs now will enjoy a just over a three-month break from competition before the 2025 calendar portion of their schedule. Georgia will return to action with the Lady Bulldog Invitational, a one-day, individual event on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the UGA Golf Course. The Bulldogs’ next team event will be the Collegiate Invitational at Guadalajara Country Club on Jan. 31-Feb. 1.
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