AU WOMEN'S GOLF: Schepperle ready for U.S. Women's Open

Candace Schepperle is living proof that the old cliché about the early bird catching the worm has some validity.

Or, more specifically for her, earns an extra chance at fulfilling a lifelong dream.

Schepperle was down and out when she was bumped to third-alternate status after the first half of her attempt to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, which kicks off Thursday in Bethlehem, Pa.

But she’ll be teeing off there Thursday with some of the best female golfers in the world. It’ll be hard to make the cut, sure, but Schepperle said she got the most difficult part out of the way when she took the long and arduous path toward qualifying for the major.

“It’s kind of more luck than me having to work hard,” Schepperle said.

Really, though, Schepperle’s luck was a direct result of her tenacity.

Schepperle, a rising senior on the Auburn women’s golf team, fired a 4-over 76 at a U.S. Open qualifier in May, which was one shot short of automatically moving on to the second and final qualifier. Instead, she was named a third-alternate — a crushing blow to Schepperle, who’s already had plenty of “almosts” in her attempts to qualify for major LPGA tournaments as an amateur.

“I really did not believe I was going to get in,” Schepperle said. “There’s always a hope, of course, that you can maybe get in, but it’s really slim. I was pretty down.”

That hope was redeemed when Schepperle realized her third-alternate status wasn’t the death blow it appeared to be.

Schepperle, who has spent this offseason in the Northeast, close to her grandmother in New York, was already going to be in the area for the Rockville, Md., qualifier because her father, David, was caddying at the McDonald’s LPGA championship, which was in nearby Havre de Grace. Thumbing through the rulebook, Schepperle discovered that alternates at qualifiers were treated on a first-come, first-serve basis, their rank on the totem pole notwithstanding.

So, Schepperle, in a no-brainer decision, showed up at 5:30 a.m. on the first day of the two-round qualifier, waiting for just one of the 120-woman field to withdraw.

“That was kind of it,” Schepperle said. “I just showed up.”

Her name was called just moments later and she was on the course by 6:40 a.m. A fresh opportunity was granted and a positive outlook restored.

Schepperle said she has no idea who withdrew to grant her that opportunity. It could have been Anna Nordqvist, who won the LPGA Championship the day before and earned an exemption for the Open. Or it could have been someone else.

Really, it didn’t matter. From there, Schepperle said she knew there was no way she wouldn’t qualify.

“A lot of weight was kind of lifted,” Schepperle said. “I was just like ‘All right, let’s go.’

“The hard part was already over and I just went out and played. I didn’t care too much about making it after that.”

It still didn’t come that easy.

Schepperle carded a 4-under 68 on the first day, which could have easily been a 64, she said. She was in great position to cruise with a steady second round, but trouble on the first few holes forced her to scrap her way into a 10-person playoff. She shot 2-under on the final 13 holes just to get back to 4-over for the day.

“I’m more proud of the way I came back than the way I started,” she said.

Schepperle approached the two playoff holes with the same care-free attitude. That’s because simple math put the odds in her favor, she said, as eight of the 10 would be plucked from the field.

She didn’t do anything fancy, as she made par on both the par-4’s to beat out those who bogeyed.

“It worked out good,” she said. “I stayed calm and just kind of played like I did earlier that day.”

Schepperle has participated in LPGA tournaments before, but none this big.

It hasn’t shaken her confidence one bit. After what she went through to get here, could you blame her?

“Not to sound cocky, but I want to win it,” she said. “If I do all the right things I commit to, I know I’ll have a good chance on Sunday.”

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