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The par-three 16th hole at the Phoenix Open is a famous sight in golf, as much for the crowds as the actual layout.
The only enclosed hole on the PGA Tour, it sets up as a golfing amphitheatre — fans at the TPC Scottsdale course provide a raucous backdrop during tournament play, and many top golfers don't deal very well with the atmosphere.
Don't count Amy Bockerstette among that group, however — she made par look simple at the course's signature hole.
What started out as a meet-and-greet at the side of the tee during a practice round for defending Phoenix Open champion Gary Woodland and Matt Kuchar became much more.
The Tuesday of tournament week in Phoenix is known as 'Dream Day', where athletes from Special Olympics Arizona get to play with the PGA pros.
Phoenix teenager Bockerstette loves to play golf, and has previously twice qualified for the Arizona High School state championship.
She graduated from Sandra Day O'Connor High School last year and now has a full golf scholarship at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix.
Amy also has Down syndrome.
When she met Woodland and Kuchar they invited her to walk the 16th with them, and then asked if she wanted to have a hit.
With a couple of thousand fans watching in the stands, Amy stepped up for a tee shot on the 163-yard (149-metre) par three. She hit it well — drawing big cheers from the crowd — but it landed in a greenside bunker.
As they walked down to the green, Woodland asked if she wanted to keep going, and she replied that she did, telling herself: "You can do this."
Facing a steep bunker where she could barely see the surface of the green, Bockerstette caught the ball cleanly, and smoothly splashed out to within two or three metres of the flag — surprising her playing partners and leading to more cheers from the crowd.
Unfazed by the attention, she lined up the putt and it never looked like missing, leaving Woodland to throw his arms in the air in delight and an even bigger roar from the fans.
Speaking at a pre-tournament press conference, Woodland spoke about Bockerstette's cameo performance.
"We get to do a lot of cool things, I've got to do a lot of stuff being the defending champ [in Phoenix] but that was by far the coolest thing I've got asked to do and something I'll never forget," he said.
"I figured she would be a little nervous [with] a couple thousand people there watching her.
"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've never rooted so hard for something [on a golf course] and it went in, centre cup. It looked good the whole time."
Topics: sport, golf, united-states
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