Golf
Shepherd advances to quarters
Erica Shepherd won a pair of matches on Thursday to move into the quarterfinals of the Women’s Western Amateur at Prestwick Country Club in Frankfort, Illinois.
The fourth-seeded Shepherd, a Center Grove grad entering her sophomore year at Duke, rolled past Tristyn Nowlin, 6 and 4, in the round of 32. She then fell behind early against No. 13 seed Alexandra Swayne before taking control midway through and holding on for a 2-and-1 victory.
Quarterfinals and semifinals will take place today. Shepherd faces fifth-seeded Sophie Burks in the round of eight.
Shepherd remains in hunt
Ethan Shepherd started hot, briefly moving into the top five for the tournament, before settling in with a second-round 71 at the Northern Amateur in Chesterton on Thursday.
Starting on the back nine Thursday, he Center Grove grad and rising Indiana University senior was 4 under through his first 10 holes before a bogey-double bogey combo cooled him off a bit. Shepherd heads into today’s final round with a total of 141 (3 under par), tied for 12th and seven strokes behind leader Brendan O’Reilly.
Three other former Center Grove golfers are also in the field: Noah Gillard (145, tied for 32nd), Alex Heck (152, T-63rd) and Luke DeHaven (158, T-78th).
Young moves up at Women’s Open
A final-round 82 helped Center Grove alum Lucy Young climb a few spots up the leaderboard Thursday in the Indiana PGA Women’s Open at Rock Hollow in Peru. Young’s two-day total of 168 tied her for 45th place.
