Amellia Boyer of Suffolk is swinging her way through a time of significant change in her golf game, but she found some encouragement in her performance during Thursday’s final round of the 37th VSGA Virginias Women’s Stroke Play Championship.

She finished with a round of 83, after a round of 87 on Wednesday and an 89 on Tuesday at the Chantilly National Golf and Country Club in Centreville. The three-day total of 259 put her in fifth place in the third of three flights.

“I wish I could have done a little bit better, but day three, the last day of the tournament, I was actually pretty pleased with my score,” said Boyer.

While she did not compete in this Virginia State Golf Association event last year, she was a part of it the year before. She compared the experience with this year, noting a lot of things have changed.

“I think overall I’d say that this time was a lot better,” she said, as she now has better clubs and an improved swing.

The new swing has come courtesy of her new instructor, Butch Liebler, who works with his students at the Virginia Beach National Golf Club.

Giving his reaction to Boyer’s performance this week, he said, “I was delighted. Going through changes like she is, her positivity and her desire is as strong as any of my students.”

And the play of his other students serves as good reference material for Liebler. One of them was the winner on Thursday and leader for the final two rounds — 22-year-old Lauren Coughlin, a rising senior at the University of Virginia. She finished with a 1-under-par, three-day total of 218.

Liebler, who has also taught PGA players, has been working with Boyer for only about a month and a half, but can already see a bright future for her.

“When she came to me, she was quite a confused young lady, but the first thing I recognized was her tenacity and her willingness to change and her willingness to work on it,” he said.

He already said she has improved tremendously.

The 19-year-old Boyer, an Isle of Wight Academy graduate, is now a student-athlete at Longwood University. She opted to redshirt this past year, but is eager to hit the links for the Lancers.

“That’s my goal for this year is to get on the starting team,” she said.

Liebler said he is building a golf swing that will make it easy for her to use in college, while she works to maintain her impressive academic standing.

“I think she’s going have a successful college career,” he said. “I wouldn’t doubt by the end of her college career she’ll be playing No. 1.”

Boyer said she will return to action for a tournament during July.