The pressure of the big stage wasn’t enough to rattle the Fort Lewis women’s golf team in Sunday’s opening round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Championships.
All five Fort Lewis golfers fired rounds better than their season averages and the Skyhawks are tied for seventh, right in the thick of things, heading into the all important second day at Avondale, Arizona’s Coldwater Golf Club.
The Skyhawks’ 34-over-par, 322 team score is 22 strokes behind first round leader Metro State. FLC is 11 shots behind fourth-place CSU-Pueblo, and the top four teams after Monday’s second round advance to play Tuesday.
Jessica Thulson and Isabella Martinez were sharp, as usual, for Fort Lewis. Thulson is in seventh place after an opening round 3-over, 75. Martinez’ 76 puts her right behind in a tie for eighth.
Lauren Trujillo shot a solid 11-over, 83 for Fort Lewis. Milena Singletary’s 88 and Lindsey Blythe’s 90 round out the scoring for FLC, and keep the Skyhawks within striking distance for a Day 2 comeback.
Metro State’s Lindsey Gullikson and Colorado Mesa’s Taylor Walters fired the best rounds of the day at even par. The Roadrunners (300) are five shots clear of second place University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (305) heading into the second round, with Colorado Mesa (310) and CSU-Pueblo (311) rounding out the top four.
Blythe will be first off Monday for Fort Lewis, starting on the 10th hole at 7:30 a.m. with her fellow Skyhawks following, every eight minutes, until Thulson’s 8:02 a.m. group.
The top two teams after Monday’s second round will play a team 18-hole match Tuesday for the RMAC title. The third and fourth place teams will play a team match for third place.
The RMAC Men’s Golf Championships start Monday at the nearby Golf Club of Estrella.
The No. 7 seeded Fort Lewis College men’s team opens Monday with a match against No. 2 Colorado Christian.
It is a single-elimination, match play tournament, which means the loser goes home and the winner will go on to play the winner between No. 3 CSU-Pueblo and No. 6 Colorado Mines.
jfries@durangoherald.com
