Erica Shepherd of Greenwood, Indiana, qualified into an LPGA Tour event on Monday for the second year in a row. The Duke University verbal commit fired a bogey-free 5-under-par 67 at Brickyard Crossing Golf Club to qualify into the LPGA’s Indy Women in Tech Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the second time. Shepherd made her first LPGA appearance at last year’s event and even managed to make the cut. The 2017 Rolex Junior All-American won last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and owns two AJGA victories. Shepherd is currently No. 10 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Cade Breitenstine of Akron, Ohio, went low to win the AJGA Junior at Forest Lake presented by Tom Holzer Ford for the second-straight year. The Kent State University verbal commit held off Maxwell Moldovan of Uniontown, Ohio, by one stroke to earn his second AJGA victory. Breitenstine carded a hole-in-one during the first round and finished the week with 19 birdies. He is currently No. 107 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Kristen Gillman of Austin, Texas, won her second U.S. Women’s Amateur title at The Golf Club of Tennessee on Sunday. The University of Alabama junior carded nine birdies over 30 holes to defeat future teammate Jiwon Jeon 7 and 6 in the championship match. Gillman first won the championship in 2014 as a 16-year-old and is the first to win non-consecutive multiple titles since Vicki Goetze did so in 1989 and 1992. Gillman is a four-time Rolex Junior All-American who finished her junior golf career with three AJGA victories.
Evan Chien of Irvine, California, earned his first AJGA victory at the EMoney®.com / The First Tee of Greater Baltimore Junior Championship. Chien won by three strokes at 11-under-par 205. He was the only junior in the field to card three sub-70 rounds, despite entering the week having carded only two sub-70 rounds in previous AJGA play. Chien tallied 17 birdies for the tournament and qualified for the 2017 Drive, Chip & Putt Finals, where he finished T4 in the Boys 12-13 Division.