PUEBLO, Colorado — Following a four-week layout, the Fort Lewis College women's golf team was back in action this week at the Farmer's Insurance Sam Proal Invitational, hosted by CSU Pueblo at Pueblo Country Club.

The Skyhawks felt a bit of that rust in Round One, shooting a +73 (361), but rebounded in Round Two as they shaved off 22 strokes for a +51 (339) en route to claiming an 8^th place finish.

"The conditions were tough for everyone. The greens were fast and it's windy this time of year in Pueblo. But after that bad start, what I saw was the determination to come back and post a number that was respectable," said FLC head golf coach, Jim Foltz. "That showed me that we have a lot of girls who really want to go out and play, get better, and keep building this thing."

True freshman Molly Schwartz led all FLC players as she earned a 29^th place finish, posting a first-round score of +8 (80) that included three birdies and following that up with a +15 (87) during Tuesday's final round.

"I was extremely impressed by Molly. To go out and shoot an 80 in her first collegiate round was tremendous," Foltz said. "Those greens were so fast; a lot of teams and players were struggling with them."

Close behind for the Skyhawks were junior Emilia Manntz in 32^nd with a tournament score of +25 (169) and Molly's older sister, senior Sophie Schwartz in a tie for 37^th at +28 (172).

Manntz and Schwartz each moved up the leaderboard on Tuesday as Manntz shot a +11 (83) — three strokes better than Monday's round — while Sophie Schwartz improved by four strokes during the final round with a +12 (84).

"What I saw in Emilia is what I've seen since she came from Sweden and that's a beautiful swing. When she puts it all together in tough conditions, she can be a tough competitor," Foltz said. "The same things I saw from her I also saw in Sophie and Molly. They can each drive the ball, chip and putt well. It's just putting it all together."

The big improvements in Round Two continued up and down the lineup card. Freshman Kendal Gutierrez shot nine strokes better (93-84) on Tuesday to finish in 44^th overall at +33 (177), while sophomores Emma Tornroos and Madalen Meier each posted scores of +16 (88) in the final round to finish tied for 48^th and 50^th, respectively.

"All the girls just fought really hard to come back strong (Tuesday)," Foltz said. "We played our practice round in about 38-mile per hour winds and it's tough to gauge the greens accurately in those conditions and it showed we were used to them in that first round. But they were able to learn from that going into the second round and grinded through it."

Fort Lewis will get a chance to build off Tuesday's final round next week as the team heads to the RJGA Shootout in El Paso, Texas; the final tournament of the fall semester for the Skyhawks.

"I'm still looking for that top-5 that we'll play in the spring and get ready for the RMAC Championships," Foltz said. "The course is going to be tough in El Paso and we'll be bringing some of our longer hitters. There will be about five teams and about 10 individual players. We'll be looking to earn a top-3."