{"id":244853,"date":"2021-05-12T07:46:35","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T12:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=244853"},"modified":"2021-05-11T13:26:37","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T18:26:37","slug":"female-golfer-down-syndrome-national-college-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/female-golfer-down-syndrome-national-college-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Female golfer with Down syndrome competes for national college title"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Next week, Amy Bockerstette is going to make history. Bockerstette will be competing in NJCAA national championships with her Paradise Valley Community College teammates, making the 22-year-old golfer the first person with Down syndrome to compete in a national collegiate athletic championship.<\/p>\n

Bockerstette is no stranger to the world of golf. In high school, she excelled<\/a>, becoming the first person with Down syndrome to qualify for the Arizona state high school tournament, a feat she accomplished twice. She then earned a full athletic scholarship to Paradise Valley Community College for golf.<\/p>\n

She’s also competed in the Special Olympics, and gained widespread media attention after she made par<\/a> on the famous 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, with Gary Woodland, a golfer on the PGA Tour, watching.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been blessed to do lot of cool things on the golf course, but that is by far the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced,” Woodland told reporters that day<\/a>. “She was phenomenal. And then to step up in front of all the people and the crowd and everything and to hit the shots that she hit and made par. I’ve never rooted so hard for somebody on a golf course and it was an emotional, emotional really cool experience.”<\/p>\n