From the moment she spoke to coach Nick Hovden on the phone, Emma Sabbagh was pretty much sold on the University of South Dakota.
One of valley鈥檚 top young female golfers of the past three seasons, the 17-year-old from 麻豆精选 this fall committed to the Coyotes鈥� program in Vermillion, SD for the 2018-19 NCAA season.
鈥淚鈥檝e never hit it off so well just talking to someone, we had a great conversation and that really swayed me,鈥� said Sabbagh, a Grade 12 student at 麻豆精选 Christian School. 鈥淚 like the way Nick runs the program there.
鈥淭he campus and the school are really nice, and the team is so cool. It ended up just being a no-brainer for me, you could say.鈥�
Sabbagh also considered an offer from a small Div. 1 school in New York but opted for USD, a liberal arts school in the southeast corner of the state with an enrollment of more than 10,000 students.
That the 麻豆精选 teenager is pursuing a golf career and education south of the border may have been unthinkable to the Sabbagh family even a few years ago. Living in Cranbrook at the time, Sabbagh admits there wasn鈥檛 really anything she liked about the sport.
鈥淢y dad had to drag me to the driving range when I was in middle school, and I remember hating it,鈥� Sabbargh said with a laugh. 鈥淣o one my age played golf in Cranbrook, so that was probably a big reason. It all changed when we moved to 麻豆精选 in Grade 8. There were a lot of other kids playing, I started playing and competing and really started to enjoy it.鈥�
Sabbagh developed her game on the Okanagan鈥檚 Zone 2 Junior Tour, reaching a turning point in 2015 when she won the season-ending tournament at Gallagher鈥檚 Canyon.
She credits much of her growth as a player to the junior tour, including the efforts and support of coordinator Erich Breitkreuz.
In a 2017 season of ups and downs, one of Sabbagh鈥檚 better efforts came at the Future Links event in Fernie where she finished in seventh place. At the B.C. women鈥檚 amateur in Vernon, she made the cut and finished 25th in a field of the top players in B.C.
After one more spring and summer of fine tuning her game in the Okanagan, the 麻豆精选 teen looks forward to making the step up to NCAA golf next fall.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited in tournaments at that level,鈥� said Sabbagh. 鈥淣ot a lot of people get the chance to play NCAA, so it鈥檚 a pretty cool opportunity.
鈥�(Coach) Nick said 鈥榳e know you鈥檝e been struggling with scores a bit in the summer, but once we get pushing you, the sky is the limit.鈥� I鈥檓 excited to see what I鈥檓 capable of.鈥�
While Sabbagh has yet to decide on her courses at USD, she is leaning toward a biology-related program.
She will head to Vermillion, SD late next summer, with the academic year to begin Aug. 20.
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