Jenny Bae (L) and Ivy Shepherd

University of Georgia sophomore Jenny Bae and Clemson sophomore Ivy Shepherd came up just short in their efforts.

Immediately negating her lone bogey on the opening nine holes of the tournament with a birdie on No. 4 and another on No. 6, Bae turned up the heat. Closing her first-round, Bae carded a 5-under 67 with five birdies through the first six holes of the back nine. Simmering down on No. 16, Bae posted a double-bogey on the par-4 but followed it up with a birdie on 18 to sit just two-shots back of former Furman standout and current Symetra Tour player Taylor Totland after Monday’s opening round.

Not to be outdone by Bae, Shepherd fired an opening 68 that featured a one-under front side and a nice string of three consecutive birdies on holes 13 through 15 to post an opening 68 in a four-way tie for third place.

“On 15 I hit a wayward drive and had to punch out,” Shepherd told AmateurGolf.com. “I had 170 in and hit a really nice punch 6-iron and hit the pin on the second hop for an unconventional birdie which was kind of nice.”

The second and final day of the Open brought low scores once again as Bae strung together three birdies on holes 14 through 16 before making a bogey on 18 for an even 34/34 split, good enough for second place and a tournament field low 15 birdies.

Beginning the day three shots off the lead, Shepherd pieced together her own birdie run on holes 13 through 15 in hopes of tracking down Totland. To no avail, she closed the tournament with a final-round 69 in solo third-place.

Although not coming away with the win, Shepherd is quite pleased with her performance against a field of professionals.

“It kind of validates the work I’m putting in. Like ‘Okay I’m doing the right thing’ and you see everything trend forward.”

Rounding out the top-5 were Symetra Tour pro Emma Jandel and LPGA member Jillian Hollis.

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