Durango native and Fort Lewis College women’s golfer Jessica Thulson ended the fall season with a grinding performance by winning the individual title Monday at the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Invitational at Meadowlake Golf Course in Enid, Oklahoma.
The victory was Thulson’s first win of the 2015 season and her college career.
Thulson, a senior studying history education, opened the tournament with an 82 on Sunday and followed up that performance by coming back Monday with a 79. Thulson finished the tournament with a combined score of 161, which was five strokes better than second place. The win was Fort Lewis College’s first women’s tournament victory in the program’s history.
“I think I played pretty good overall,” said Thulson in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It was a grind on the back nine so today was a tough round, but a good round.”
According to Thulson, the Meadowlake Golf Course is a fun, laid back, municipal course with some challenging and long par-4 holes.
“I really enjoyed the course,” said Thulson. “The front is old fashioned with a lot of tree lines on the fairways. The greens were fun and tough.”
Thulson grew up in Durango and went to Durango High School, didn’t play golf for the Demons, but instead played soccer because of conflicting schedules. Soccer and girls’ golf are in the same season in high school. After enrolling in Fort Lewis College, Thulson participated in the club golf team before FLC put together a varsity golf program.
When Thulson became a junior, a team was formed and Thulson competed. According to Thulson, the golf program is on the way up.
“We’re only in our second year and we’re bringing in new players,” said Thulson. “We have a good coaching staff and good recruiting especially with how pretty Durango is. I think we’ll grow as a program.”
As a team, the Skyhawks finished third out of six teams with a score of 716. Southern Arkansas University won the team title with 679.
Rounding out the rest of the Skyhawks were freshman Isabella Martinez who shot a 171, which was good enough for sixth place. Junior Lauren Trujillo shot 184, junior Lindsey Blythe finished with 200 and freshman Brooke Schultz posted a 205.
The NWOSU Invitational Tournament was the final tournament of the fall season for women’s golf at Fort Lewis College. Skyhawks’ golf will return in the spring of 2016.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
