Candace Schepperle Cards An Even-Par 72 In First Round Of Kraft Nabisco - AuburnTigers.com

Candace Schepperle Cards An Even-Par 72 In First Round Of Kraft Nabisco Auburn junior in a tie for 30th after the first round

Candace Schepperle

April 2, 2009

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - Auburn junior Candace Schepperle carded an even-par 72 in the first round of the LPGA's Kraft Nabisco Championship on Thursday. She finished the day in a tie for 30th and is six strokes out of the lead.

Schepperle, a native of Birmingham, Ala., is one of five amateurs competing in the 97-player field. Other amateurs include UCLA's Tiffany Joh, Arizona State signee Jennifer Johnson, Arizona State's Azahara Munoz and U.S. Girls Junior Champion Alexis Thompson. Now in its 38th year of existence, the Kraft Nabisco Championship is one of the LPGA's major championships. It began in 1972 as the Colagte Dinah Shore and became a major in 1983.

Going off in the final pairing of the day off the No. 1 tee, Schepperle started off with a bogey on the par-4 No. 1, but rebounded to go under par for the first time with an eagle on the par-5 No. 2. She would go on to post three more bogeys and two birdies en route to her even-par performance.

Schepperle hit seven fairways in the first round and hit 10 greens in regulation. Once on the green, she tallied 29 putts for an average of 1.6 per hole. She also averaged 256.5 yards per drive in the opening round.

Brittany Lincicome took the lead following the first round after carding a 6-under par 66. Angela Stanford, Ji Young Oh and Brittany Lang are all one stroke out of first in a tie for second with 5-under par 67s.

Action in the 2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship is set to continue at 9:53 a.m. CT, with the first tee times of the day. Schepperle is slated to go off in one of the first tee time off the No. 10 hole, taking the course with Allison Fouch at 10:41 p.m. CT.

There will be a cut following the second round of play with the top 70 players and ties advancing to the weekend.

Tournament coverage will be provided by ESPN2 from 4-6 p.m. CT.