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 valleyâs top young female golfers of the past three seasons, the 17-year-old from Âé¶čAV this fall committed to for the 2018-19 NCAA season.
âIâve never hit it off so well just talking to someone, we had a great conversation and that really swayed me,â said Sabbagh, a Grade 12 student at Âé¶čAV Christian School. âI like the way Nick runs the program there.
âThe 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.â
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 Âé¶čAV 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 wasnât really anything she liked about the sport.
âMy dad had to drag me to the driving range when I was in middle school, and I remember hating it,â Sabbargh said with a laugh. âNo one my age played golf in Cranbrook, so that was probably a big reason. It all changed when we moved to Âé¶čAV in Grade 8. There were a lot of other kids playing, I started playing and competing and really started to enjoy it.â
Sabbagh developed her game on the Okanaganâs Zone 2 Junior Tour, reaching a turning point in 2015 when she won the season-ending tournament at Gallagherâs 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 of ups and downs, one of Sabbaghâs better efforts came at the Future Links event in Fernie where she finished in seventh place. At the B.C. womenâs 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 Âé¶čAV teen looks forward to making the step up to NCAA golf next fall.
âIâm excited in tournaments at that level,â said Sabbagh. âNot a lot of people get the chance to play NCAA, so itâs a pretty cool opportunity.
â(Coach) Nick said âwe know youâve been struggling with scores a bit in the summer, but once we get pushing you, the sky is the limit.â Iâm excited to see what Iâm capable of.â
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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