Senior staff writer
Erica Shepherd of Center Grove High School continued her phenomenal season on the links by reaching the final round of the Indy Women in Tech championship at the Brickyard Crossing course in Speedway.
Shepherd, the new U.S. Girls Junior champion, opened with two quality rounds – 71 and 68 – in the LPGA event and was an encouraging 5 under par. Her final-day 83 was a major disappointment, but she finished with a birdie on the final hole Saturday for a 6-over-par 222 over 54 holes.
The Greenwood golfer made the cut in only the second LPGA event of her young career. “It’s been great, just pro-am, practice round and turn around getting to play with such good players,” she said. “They do it for a living. Just getting to learn from them and see how my game compares to them.”
Shepherd, who does not play high school golf, has committed to Duke.
She capped her busy week by watching brother Ethan Shepherd, an Indiana University golfer, compete in the Wolf Run intercollegiate championship Sunday in Zionsville.
She returns to competition Sept. 24 in the 18-and-under World Junior Girls Championship in Ottawa, Ontario.
(Note: LPGA Communications contributed to this article.)