1. Shepley’s New Focus Renders New Rewards
It sounds almost mystical when JESSICA SHEPLEY tries to explain her recent metamorphosis and how she went from being a talented under-achieving golf professional who posted only one top-10 finish in three years, to already notching four top-10 finishes in nine events this year. In her fourth season, she has rocketed to fifth on the Duramed FUTURES Tour’s season money list, showing signs of what many always thought she could be.
When pressed for details, Shepley describes how she went to Mexico in January for a pro-am tournament and met a wise woman named “Rosalba,” who told the Canadian that she was giving away precious energy she needed for herself. The mother of three, whom Shepley had never met, seemingly laid out the pro’s life for her to see, then helped her understand where she needed to start if she wanted the 2008 season to be any different than previous years.
“I guess I had really sort of lost myself a little bit,” said Shepley, 25, of Oakville, Ontario. “This lady, Rosalba, helped me see that I needed to keep all of my energy centered within myself and that I wasn’t maximizing my time out here. I knew it was time for a change.”
First of all, there was no reason why Shepley, a strong 5-foot-9 player who had grown up playing high school basketball, volleyball and golf, couldn’t excel on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. The former two-time SEC All-Conference player from the University of Tennessee had finished fifth individually at the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. She had the goods.
But clearly, for a strong player like Shepley, there was a mysterious “disconnect.” And if she had been looking more closely, she would have seen it back when VIOLETA RETAMOZA showed up at Tennessee and took Shepley’s No. 1 spot on the team’s roster without a fight.
“Back in college, when Vi showed up, I was like, ‘OK, she’s No. 1 and I’ll just be No. 2,’” said Shepley. “But then, it was the same thing out here. I’m the kind of person that it’s very, very difficult for me to keep myself in the center, and sometimes I feel like a jerk when I do it, but what I’ve finally realized is if I want to be out here and be successful, I have to be No. 1 in my own life.”
That’s easier said than done for a gentle-spirited woman who is nurturing by nature. In the past, whenever life got rocky for any of her peers on the Tour, Shepley came to the rescue. If anyone was struggling with anything, Shepley was always there to lend a hand or an ear – often at her own expense.
“She has a heart the size of the universe and she still wants to mother people,” said fellow Tour member, LILI ALVAREZ of Durango, Mexico. “But she gives so much to others that there’s not always enough left for herself.”
And then there was the issue of trying to step up and be successful for her country. The last Canadian on the LPGA who has won or performed with significance has been Lorie Kane, who is well past her 20s. Of the rising Canadian pros, SALIMAH MUSSANI of Burlington, Ontario, has won on the Duramed FUTURES Tour and Tour alum ALENA SHARP of Hamilton, Ontario, had a career-best season last year on the LPGA. But where was Shepley, perhaps the one many thought could be the “next great Canadian?”
“I think I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and everyone was expecting me to qualify for the LPGA or to at least play better out here,” she said. “Everything was about results, results, results. Finally, it hit me that my golf score is just a number that I shoot and that’s it. I wish I’d realized that sooner.”
Of course, those numbers can tell golfers a lot if they are paying attention. In her first season in 2005, Shepley finished 106th on the Tour’s money list with a scoring average of 73.75. Those numbers dropped to 57th and 73.69 in 2006, and to 48th, rising to 74.44 in 2007. So far in 2008, she is ranked No. 5 on the money list with a stroke average of 72.23. Her four top-10s in nine events include runner-up finishes in Kansas and at last week’s Duramed Championship in Ohio, both played on two of the better courses during the season.
“I’m not sure when the lightning-bolt moment was, but you can tell by the way she’s playing that she is making golf her priority now,” said fellow Tour member ALISSA KUCZKA of Phoenix. “As far as she hits the ball and as well as she hits it, there’s no reason she should have been shooting the kind of numbers she was shooting last year.”
Last fall, Shepley moved to Orlando, Fla., where she began working in earnest with swing coach Seon Foley. The two began changing her swing alignment, swing takeaway at the top, and her weight shift during the swing.
Then she began working on her fitness and her mental approach to life. She read numerous “personal realization” types of books. And she dared herself to move beyond the stagnant place she had remained for the first three years of her professional career. Somehow, Shepley knew there was more out there for her to find.
“This universe holds so many laws that helped create us, so I have tried to learn how to use the energy that exists all around us to be positive and to find something bigger than my golf or myself,” she said.
And there were other realizations: “My favorite saying is that the only things in life that you truly enjoy are the things you work for and earn,” she added. “I wasn’t doing that. I needed to be more responsible to my sponsors, my teachers and myself. And I had to decide to do what I need to do, not always just what I want to do.”
Maybe it is maturity. Maybe it is a young pro finally getting it together. Maybe it was the blunt truth by a sagely Mexican stranger who rattled her consciousness. Or maybe it was simply a player who realized she was wasting her talent as the years clicked by.
“I have days now when I’m driving my car in the middle of nowhere and I can see myself winning, and the next thing I know, I have goose bumps and I’m crying,” said Shepley, still seeking her first professional win. “I definitely want it more.”
With that kind of passion now directed inward, that day could be here before she knows it.
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2. Jean Reynolds Gets Last Spot In The U.S. Women’s Open
JEAN REYNOLDS of Newnan, Ga., received the phone call late Sunday afternoon for which she had been waiting for two weeks. The caller informed Reynolds that LPGA player Eun Hee Ji, winner of last week’s Wegmans LPGA tournament, was already exempt for this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, so Reynolds, the first alternate, had moved into the tournament field.
“I’m just ecstatic to be playing in the Open,” said Reynolds, 23, a rookie on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. “I’ve been thinking about this ever since I left the sectional qualifier two weeks ago. It really is a dream come true.”
With the late addition of Reynolds, a total of 20 members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour will tee it up in this week’s 63rd annual U.S. Women’s Open Championship. Players qualified for the Open through seven sectional qualifying tournaments held around the nation that awarded a total of 84 spots in the 156-player championship field.
Reynolds tied for 69th in last week’s Duramed Championship, and then began driving to the Open in Minnesota with her father, David Reynolds. Her “middle brother,” John Reynolds, was en route to the Open to caddie for his sister.
“He’s the one that keeps me relaxed, and I figured I need to be as calm as possible,” said Reynolds, a three-time champion of the Georgia State Golf Association and a former collegiate at the University of Georgia.
And while most other players have had two weeks to think about their preparation for the Open, Reynolds was still trying to digest the idea behind the wheel of her car Sunday night.
“When they called, the lady said they were going to give me a courtesy car for the week, which is pretty cool,” said Reynolds, who is playing in her first Women’s Open. “It’s a great way to start. Now, I just need to shine my shoes.”
Duramed FUTURES Tour members who are in this week’s field at the 63rd U.S. Women’s Open Championship are as follows:
RACHEL BAILEY of Faulconbridge, Australia, JEANNE CHO-HUNICKE of Longwood, Fla., DANAH FORD of Indianapolis, ANNA GRZEBIEN of Narragansett, R.I., NICOLE HAGE of Coral Springs, Fla., SIN AH HAM of Torrance, Calif., JANELL HOWLAND of Boise, Idaho, NARI KIM of Seoul, South Korea, KATRINA LECKOVIC of Burnaby, British Columbia, VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN of Bangkok, Thailand, (a) ANGELA OH of Maple Shade, N.J., SUNNY OH of Manhattan Beach, Calif., JEAN REYNOLDS of Newnan, Ga., KRISTEN SAMP of Moberly, Mo., ASHLEIGH SIMON of South Africa, GINA UMECK of Redlands, Calif., LYNN VALENTINE of East Lyme, Conn., WHITNEY WADE of Glasgow, Ky., LEAH WIGGER of Louisville, Ky., and AMY YANG of Seoul, South Korea.
The 2008 U.S. Women’s Open Championship will be contested at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., Thursday through Sunday. The Open is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association and is one of the LPGA Tour’s four major championships. Designed by Donald Ross, Interlachen hosted the seventh Solheim Cup in 2002.
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3. Kentucky Tournament Names Falls Auto Group As Title Sponsor
The Duramed FUTURES Tour’s inaugural event in London, Ky., has announced its new title sponsor for the $100,000 tournament. The Tour’s 14th event on the 2008 schedule will be called the Falls Auto Group Classic presented by Little Caesars.
The tournament will be staged at Crooked Creek Golf Community from August 5-10, and will be contested over 54 holes. Designed by Brian Silva and opened in 1993, the private course has hosted the Kentucky State Amateur, as well as several Kentucky PGA Section tournaments.
"We are pleased to welcome the title sponsor of our London, Kentucky event, the Falls Auto Group, along with Little Caesars, the presenting sponsor, to the Duramed FUTURES Tour's family of tournament sponsors," said Zayra F. Calderon, the Tour's CEO. "This is just one more example of how the Duramed FUTURES Tour is thriving in our tournament markets and the strong local support our tournaments receive."
The United Way and Crooked Creek’s own “Klubz For Kidz” program, which helps develop junior golf in Southeastern Kentucky, will be the event’s charities.
For more information, visit www.crookedcreekgolfcommunity.com.
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4. Susan Choi Eliminated From Big Break
Duramed FUTURES Tour member SUSAN CHOI of Natick, Mass., became the latest player to become eliminated in the Golf Channel’s “Big Break: Ka’anapali” show. Choi was eliminated in the ninth episode in an “Elimination Challenge” against other Duramed FUTURES Tour members LORI ATSEDES of Ithaca, N.Y., CHRISTINA LECUYER of Edmonton, Alberta and KIM WELCH of Sacramento.
“The stress level is high, but it’s a good stress,” said Choi, 24, who was the youngest member of the show’s cast and who is a rookie on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. “It’s the type of thing that I will have to deal with in the future. Now that I have experienced it, it will make me stronger.”
Only four players remain in the show, which airs each Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern on The Golf Channel. Winner of this year’s “Big Break” will earn an exemption into the 2008 Navistar LPGA Classic, have all 2009 entry fees waived to play on the 2009 Duramed FUTURES Tour, and will win an Adams Golf endorsement contract that includes $10,000 cash. The show’s winner also will drive away with a Z-4 BMW Coupe.
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5. Liz Stuart Throws Out First Pitch
Tampa (Fla.) native LIZ STUART makes no secret of her pro-team allegiances. She’s known to wear Tampa Bay Bucs caps and even skull and cross bones shorts during competition on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. And while her heart probably was thinking of the Tampa Bay Rays, Stuart gamely threw out the first pitch at the Great American Ballpark last Tuesday in the matchup between the hometown Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Tour was playing in nearby Mason, Ohio, last week, so a number of players took advantage of watching the game.
The contestant on the Golf Channel’s “Big Break Ka’anapali” wound up her pitch in front of nearly 27,000 fans and found the inside corner of the strike zone. Then she enjoyed the rest of the game from a corporate suite above home plate, taking home a signed ball from Cincinnati Reds’ owner Bob Castellini.
“I was so nervous it was all a blur up there,” said Stuart, a third-year pro. “I think [my pitch] went about 12 mph.”
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6. Olympian Carl Lewis Makes Cincy Appearance
Former nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis mingled with members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour last week at The Golf Center at Kings Island during the tournament’s “Meet The Pros” reception. The event’s charity is the Ronald McDonald House of Greater Cincinnati and the sprinter serves as an ambassador of the Ronald McDonald organization.
Especially thrilled to meet the track star was Tour member DANAH FORD of Indianapolis, who was a member of the 4X400 relay team at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis as a teen. Ford clocked in a time of 59 seconds for the quarter-mile lap that helped her team win the state’s high school championship.
“It was quite an honor to have him out here with us,” said Ford, a fourth-year member of the Duramed FUTURES Tour.
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7. Stephanie Otteson Wins First Professional Event
Second-year Duramed FUTURES Tour member STEPHANIE OTTESON (71) of Wilson, N.C., earned her first professional win last week the hard way. The North Carolinian rolled in a birdie putt from 30 feet on the last hole to win The Duramed Championship by one shot over hard-charging runner-up JESSICA SHEPLEY (68) of Oakville, Ontario. Otteson finished the week with rounds of 64-69-71 to finish at 204 (-9).
Just prior to her winning putt, Shepley had rolled in her own birdie putt on the 18th green from 21 feet to charge into a three-way tie for the lead with Otteson and two-time season winner MINDY KIM (72) of Diamond Bar, Calif. But when Kim’s second shot on the 18th found a water hazard, Otteson figured it was a two-horse race for the win. And when she got to the green and peeked at the leaderboard to see that Shepley had knotted the score, Otteson knew she still had some work to do.
“I was like, ‘What? I have to make this putt?’” she said. “I had left quite a few birdie putts short all day long, so I told myself then that I would not leave this one short. I had to believe that I could make it and when it went it in, it was just awesome.”
With her champion’s check for $15,400, the former University of North Carolina at Wilmington collegian jumped from No. 53 on the Tour’s season money list to No. 8, and within striking distance of the coveted five spots that earn fully exempt 2009 LPGA Tour status.
Shepley finished in solo second place last week at 205 (-8) to jump from ninth on the season money list to No. 5, moving into the top five for the first time. Kim finished third at 206 (-7) and moved back into the No. 1 spot from No. 3 on the money list.
The top five positions on the money list shuffled yet again, with previously top-ranked VICKY HURST of Melbourne, Fla., skipping The Duramed Championship last week to take an LPGA exemption. Absent from the Tour, Hurst slipped from No. 1 to No. 2 on the money list, while M.J. HUR of Seoul, South Korea slid from second to third with her T-32 finish last week. LEAH WIGGER of Louisville, Ky., remained in the No. 4 position, but SONG YI CHOI of Seoul, South Korea, tumbled from No. 5 to No. 7.
Helped by her final-round 64 last week, EUNJUNG YI of Murrieta, Calif., improved from No. 31 to No. 20 on the Tour’s season money list in five events. A non-exempt LPGA Tour member, Yi has bounced back and forth between the two tours. She tied for fourth at 207 (-6) with KATIE ALLISON (72) of Little River, S.C., and SARAH-JANE KENYON (71) of Queensland, Australia. Kenyon remained at No. 6 on the season money list, while Allison improved from 35th to No. 21.
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8. Yi Wins iPod Touch For Low Round On Sunday
EUNJUNG YI of Murrieta, Calif., fired a final round of 7-under-par 64 to become the latest recipient of a new 8 GB Apple iPod Touch. The reward continues Duramed’s season-long promotion of the Sunday Low Round Award. Yi’s sizzling final-round performance enabled her to climb the leaderboard from a tie for 29th into a tie for fourth at 207 (-6). The third-year professional carded seven birdies in her bogey-free round.
Other iPod Touch winners this season have included: MISUN CHO (67) of Cheongju, South Korea, in Lakeland, Fla.; ANNIE YOUNG (68) of Highland, Utah, in Daytona Beach, Fla.; second-year player MINDY KIM (66) of Diamond Bar, Calif., in Lafayette, La.; VICKY HURST (64) of Melbourne, Fla., in McAllen, Texas; YOORA KIM (66) of Seoul, Korea, in El Paso, Texas; and ASHLEY PRANGE (67) of Noblesville, Ind., in Leawood, Kan.; JENNY GLEASON (66) of Clearwater, Fla., in Lake Geneva, Wis., and SARAH-JANE KENYON of Queensland, Australia, in Decatur, Ill.
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9. Kerr Warms Up For Open With Top-Five Finish
Duramed FUTURES Tour alumna CRISTIE KERR of Miami finished fifth in last week’s Wegmans LPGA tournament in Pittsford, N.Y., just outside Rochester. Her rounds of 68-70-70-69 for a 277 (-11) hinted that the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open champion is fine-tuning her game as she heads into this week’s Open. Her four-day performance last week was worth a payday of $83,103.
Below is a list of top alumnae finishes last week at the Wegmans LPGA at Locust Hill Country Club: 5th -- CRISTIE KERR of Florida, 277 (-11), $83,103; Tie-6th -- CHRISTINA KIM (68) of California, LORENA OCHOA (69) of Mexico and INBEE PARK (74) of Nevada, all at 279 (-9), $54,899 each; T12 – LAURA DIAZ (68) of New York, SOO-YUN KANG (69) of South Korea and MICHELE REDMAN (70) of Minnesota, all at 281 (-7), $32,133 each; T16 -- KYEONG BAE (69) of South Korea and MEENA LEE (70) of South Korea, both at 282 (-6), $26,257 each.
Current Duramed FUTURES Tour member, JIMIN JEONG of Kyungki, South Korea, posted another top-30 finish last week at the Wegmans. A three-time winner on the Duramed FUTURES Tour and a non-exempt LPGA Tour member this year, Jeong carded rounds of 68-72-72-73 to finish at 285 (-3), earning $15,835.
Check out the scores of other Duramed FUTURES Tour alumnae at the Wegmans LPGA last week at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., on LPGA.com
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10. Quote Of The Week
“I thought they would reproduce in there and have like 25 babies.”
-Duramed FUTURES Tour member Pamela Feggans of Patna, Scotland, who was spotted shaking and stomping her golf bag last week to get rid of the cicada insects that had climbed inside.
Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour, 386-274-6216, or lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.
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