The Par seen 'round the world

Amy Bockerstette takes in the crowd at the 16th hole at the TPC Scottsdale with PGA Tour star Gary Woodland, who helped coach Amy to her sensational par.

By Tom Mackin

Of the 296 pars made on the legendary 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale during the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open, none got a louder roar than the one Amy Bockerstette made there during a Tuesday practice round.

The Sandra Day O’Connor High School graduate and current member of the Paradise Valley Community College women’s golf team was part of “Dream Day,” when athletes from the Special Olympics Arizona program are invited to play with pros. Despite being paired with Gary Woodland and Matt Kuchar, Bockerstette (who was born with Down Syndrome) didn’t hesitate. Her impressive performance – solid tee shot, stellar greenside bunker shot, and then sinking the par putt — turned into a heartwarming PGA TOUR video that racked up millions of views on Facebook and Twitter. Her skills certainly impressed Woodland, the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open champion. “I was hoping she got it off the tee box,” he said later that day. “I figured she would be a little nervous with a couple thousand people there watching her. And when it was in the bunker I asked her if she wanted me to take it out. I didn’t know if she wanted to go in. She said, no, I got this. And she was right, she did, it was awesome to see. And then the putt, I mean I never rooted so hard for something and it went in center cut. It just looked good the whole time.”

Her college coach and long-time instructor also were thrilled. “We have a group text for the team and that was blowing up afterwards. The team was ecstatic for her,” said Matt Keel, the women’s golf coach at Paradise Valley Community College and Director of Instruction at JW Marriott Wildfire Golf Club. “I had offered her a scholarship to play at PVCC (making Amy the first person with Down Syndrome to ever earn a college athletic scholarship, according to ESPN) because I felt she could make a contribution to the team and be a player. My expectations for her are the same as for everyone else on the team: Be at practice and perform well in tournaments.” Matt Acuff, president and director of Instruction at True North Golf School in Phoenix, has worked with Amy since 2013. “She is a gamer, she rises to the occasion and she always has,” Acuff noted. “That’s exactly what we saw on 16. That was completely within her wheelhouse and her ability. Where most of us would fold under that kind of pressure, she thrives on it. We live one shot at a time with her and I wish all my students did that.”

Amy Bockerstette gets a couple of hugs from Coyotes mascot Howler and winger Clayton Keller, who was Amy’s partner in a special putting contest.

The 20-year-old, who twice qualified for the Arizona High School state championship (once as an individual), is now working toward earning a spot in the National Junior College Athletic Association Women’s Golf Championship this year or next. Even if she doesn’t meet that lofty goal, Bockerstette has already made a lasting impression on the golf world and beyond.

“We’ve had a lot of people reach out to us to share their appreciation for the impact Amy had on their lives,” said her father, Joe Bockerstette. “That’s been fantastic. Many parents of younger children with Down Syndrome have indicated that she has given them new hope of the potential for their child. We’ve had parents tell us that Amy attending college on a golf scholarship sort of opens up a whole new world of opportunity for people with disabilities, and with Down Syndrome in particular.”

The Bockerstettes had no clue that the video of Amy playing the hole would go viral. “We knew she was wearing a microphone, but we didn’t know what was really said between her and Gary (Woodland),” said Joe Bockerstette. “So when we got the video the next day, my wife Jenny and I looked at it and we were both visibly moved by what we saw.

“The thing that struck me at the time was that it had been on Facebook for just 40 minutes and had already had over 100,000 views before I even saw it.