EL PASO, Texas — The Fort Lewis College golf program received a handful of big-time performances this week down in Texas, competing in the Lone Star Conference-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout, hosted by Western New Mexico at Butterfield Trail Golf Course in El Paso.

Fort Lewis fielded two teams, mixing and matching top players between the nine spots, in an effort to maximize opportunities for FLC golfers to make a mark before the team whittles down the lineup card to five players in two weeks for the Sam Proal Invitational in Pueblo.

"I'm extremely pleased with what I saw this week. This course was 7,300 yards and we don't typically get to play on bent grass, on Bermuda greens. I thought our players adjusted really well, which is what you have to do if you want to win golf tournaments," said FLC head golf coach, Jim Foltz. "I think if we'd have played our starting five together instead of split teams, I think we could have been pushing for a top-5 finish. But we did that for a reason. We want to take a good long, hard look at what we've got and we did see a lot of good individual showings."

Highlighting the week for the Skyhawks was junior co-captain Darren Edwards, who rocketed up the leaderboard over the final two rounds to finish in a tie for 2^nd place overall at -6 (210), just seven strokes back of tournament winner Garrett Leek from Midwestern State.

Edwards shot a +1 (73) in Monday's opening round before firing a career-best -5 (67) in Round Two — tied for the best individual round of the tournament — to put himself in contention. He ended the three rounds with a total of 11 birdies and one eagle to go with 36 pars, thanks in large part to his work with the putter.

"Darren is a different player this year. I know he did a lot of hard work this summer playing in professional events and state opens, doing his due diligence to raise the bar," said FLC assistant golf coach, Devin Schreiner. "He hits the ball really consistency. On top of that, he just needs to have a good putting day. If his putter is on like it was this week, he can put himself in contention every time out."

Edwards was joined in the top-20 by fellow junior Samuel Salisbury, who also took advantage of playing on the Bermuda grass as he carded a -1 (71) during Tuesday's final round to move up into a 19^th place finish at +2 (218).

Senior co-captain Blake Kuzava, who shot a -3 (69) in Round One to take an early tournament lead, finished tied for 44^th overall to lead the FLC "B" Team at +12 (228), while freshman Nicholas Krantz and sophomore Kellen Kudrna each tied for 47^th overall at +13 (229) to round out the Skyhawks in the top-50.

"I was really happy to see some strong rounds out of Blake and Kellen. They line up to be guys in that 3-4 range on our lineup that will go to Pueblo," Foltz said. "Over time, I think the more they get to play together as a top-5 unit, the more they'll feed off of each other."

Foltz added he is hopeful the players will be able to build off the positives from this week as they head into the Sam Proal Invitational, set for Oct. 5-6 at a similar style course (Walking Stick Golf Course).

"I think we have a strong five who will be going to Walking Stick, which is going to play a lot like the course we saw this week," Foltz said. "I truly think we're going to fare well. We want to be challenging for a top-5 or a top-3 finish in Pueblo."