Amy Bockerstette finishes 10th in first-ever U.S. Adaptive Open
Amy Bockerstette, who four years ago became the first student-athlete with Down syndrome to sign a letter of intent to play college sports, was part of another first last week.
Bockerstette was one of 18 women and 96 golfers in all to compete in the U.S. Golf Association's inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open.
Bockerstette is perhaps most famous for a viral video from the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open, when she parred the par-3 16th hole playing alongside PGA Tour pro and now good friend Gary Woodland. Her “I got this” quip to Woodland moments before draining her par putt became her catchphrase.
There was a men's and a women's division at the Adaptive Open, held at Pinehurst No. 6 in the Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Simon Lee, a 25-year-old professional from South Korea, one of 10 players in the intellectual impairment category, won the men's division. Lee was diagnosed with autism at age 3. Kim Moore, 41, won the women’s division. Born without a right foot and a severely clubbed left foot, Moore played collegiate golf at the University of Indianapolis.
Rob Walden of Queen Creek finished 17th and Larry Celano of Chandler tied for 59th in the men's division.
A total of 16 players received copper medals for winning their respective impairment categories: arm, leg, intellectual, neurological, vision, multiple limb amputee, short stature and seated players.
U.S. Girls' Junior
Jennifer Seo of Chandler reached the Round of 16 at the U.S. Girls' Junior before being eliminated 1 up by Nicole Gal of Canada at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Kentucky, last week. She had advanced out of the stroke-play portion after surviving a 9-for-7 playoff to make the Round of 64 for match play.
Seo, who plays for Chandler Hamilton High School, won the 2022 Girls High School Golf National Invitational at Pinehurst Resort less than a month ago, besting a 215-player field.
Samantha Olson of Phoenix made the Round of 32 at the U.S. Girls' Junior before dropping a 5-and-4 match to Kynadie Adams of Nashville.
Related: Rising golf star, Jennifer Seo, reflects on tournament win and plans for the future
Youngest ever at U.S. Am
The 74th U.S. Junior Amateur started Monday at Bandon Dunes in Oregon. There are six golfers from Arizona in the field of 264, which will be reduced to the Round of 64 after the second day of stroke play Tuesday. The event flips to match play with the championship set for Saturday.
The average age of the field is 16.8 years with the 18-year-old age group the largest with 97 competitors.
The youngest golfer in the field is 12-year-old Pierson Huyck of Phoenix. He just turned 12 on July 8 and at 12 years and 17 days, he's the youngest competitor in the event's history.
Also in the field is San Diego's Luke Potter, who reached the semifinals of last year's U.S. Amateur. He will be a freshman at Arizona State this fall.
The winner this week will earn a spot in the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Amateurs as well as the 2023 U.S. Open which will be at the Los Angeles Country Club next June.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Amy Bockerstette finishes 10th in first U.S. Adaptive Open
