Former Evans star Kris Shepherd wraps up his stellar college career

Former Evans High School standout Kris Shepherd wrapped up a tremendous college golf career at Kennesaw State last week. He went out in style, being named to the Atlantic Sun All-Conference Team.

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Shephard is the first Kennesaw State player to earn all-conference honors since the team made the jump to NCAA D-I.

At the Atlantic Sun championships, he notched his sixth top-10 finish for the season, finished eighth individually and helped the Owls to a respectable fifth-place team finish.

This season Shepherd was outstanding. He had four top-five finishes and led Kennesaw State with an impressive 71.9 scoring average. He won individual titles at the Poplar Hill intercollegiate and the Sea Trail Intercollegiate.

Following his back-to-back rounds of 67 at the Sea Trail event, Shepherd vaulted up the Golf Week rankings to the No. 14 spot among all NCAA D-I players.

Shepherd showed signs of great things to come as a freshman at Kennesaw State when he posted a 75.16 scoring average. At the time, that was a freshman record for the Owls.

He had a breakout year as a sophomore when he earned Honorable Mention All-American honors and finished 14th at the NCAA D-II National Championships. He led Kennesaw State in virtually every statistical category including top-10s and scoring average. After red-shirting in 2004-05 as Kennesaw State made the transition to NCAA D-I, he seemed to use the 2005-06 campaign to regain his form. His plan worked as he was on his A game from start to finish this season. He recorded six rounds of 69 or below, including a career-best 66 at the Old Dominion Seascape Invitational.

There is no question Shepherd will be sorely missed at Kennesaw State. He is arguably the best golfer to ever play for the Owls. Now he will test his mettle as a professional. Do not be at all surprised if Shepherd has success on the mini-tours. It may take a few years of hard work and plugging away in obscurity at the lower levels, but we may one day see Shepherd playing on the PGA Tour.