In the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) Erica Shepherd from Greenwood made the Friday cut and was in the final round played at Augusta National.
Over the first two rounds at Champions Retreat, she carded 74-71 to put her solidly in the top 30. Her round of four-over par 76 on Sunday at Augusta National left her with a tie for 22nd.
A senior at Duke University, this was Erica’s fourth start at the ANWA and her third crack at Augusta National. She finished T-23 in 2019 and T-16 in 2021 but missed the cut last year.
Shepherd was a five-time Junior All-American and represented the United States in both the Junior Solheim Cup and Junior Ryder Cup. In 2017, she won both the U.S Girls’ Junior Championship. Two years later she and her partner, Duke teammate Megan Furtney won U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.
In eight starts this season for the Blue Devils, Erica has five top-25 finishes. She was also invited to compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup for a second consecutive year last summer.
Indiana Junior Competed in the National Finals of Drive Chip & Putt
40 boys and 40 girls competed in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta National on Sunday, April 2. They had to make it through local, subregional and regional qualifying held at 342 sites around the country.
Conducted in partnership between the Masters Tournament, the PGA of America and the USGA, the Drive, Chip and Putt is a nationwide youth development program open to boys and girls age 7 to 15. The top three scorers in the local qualifiers advanced to subregional qualifiers, with the two top participants in each moving on to regional competition for berths in the National Finals at the home of the Masters.
“It’s very difficult to get to this stage,” said 2015 Masters Champion Jordan Spieth, who presented the prizes in the Girls 12-13 division. “To compete and win at Augusta National is always a good feeling.”
Elijah Lemmon from McCordsville made it to Augusta National out of the Great Lakes Regional and was in the Boys 14-15 age division. With a drive of 236 yards, chip total of 18 feet and putting of 12 feet he finished tenth in his age group.
The Wind By Any Name
By: Bo Links
When, at last
The sun has set
And dusk begins to grow
With all our strokes recorded
We’ll reflect, and smile, and know
That though the wind was raging
And stole from us the score
We’ll rise at dawn tomorrow
To battle it once more.
