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In the 10 years Amy Bond has been women’s golf coach for Florida State University, she has recruited only one player based on a cold call.
It’s a good thing she did, because that player was Amanda Doherty, now the Seminoles’ senior captain who has represented the soul of the team for much of the past four years.
“I remember it was late in the afternoon, around 5:15 p.m., and I just happened to be in the office,” Bond recalls. “I got a call on my office phone and all of a sudden she is on the other end talking 100 mph. I’m like ‘Whoa, hold on, let me take down your information.’ So I grabbed a yellow sticky note and wrote everything down.
“The last thing I said to her is, ‘If you qualify for the U.S. (Girls’) Junior, we’ll come watch you.’ ”
Doherty has a penchant for rising to the occasion, so naturally the Brookhaven, Ga., resident qualified for the tournament and earned her way to match play. Her scores helped to catch Bond’s attention, but really it was about the mentality she displayed on the course.
“I just thought that she was a feisty little bulldog,” Bond said. “She may be little but there is a lot of fire there.”
The fight Doherty displayed back in high school carried through to help guide the culture of Florida State’s program. So has her play. Doherty has the fourth-best career stroke average in program history (73.07), earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in 2018 and helped the Seminoles to runner-up finishes at the ACC Championship for three consecutive years.
More than anything, she has been ultra-consistent. Despite not winning an individual event, Doherty has collected 21 top-20 finishes in her career and always seems to be one of the players whose score is being counted regardless of the venue or situation. That extends to the classroom where Doherty has been on the All-ACC Academic team for three years in a row.
“It doesn’t surprise you once you know her. ... I’ve seen this young girl transform into a strong woman who happens to be a great golfer.”
FSU COACH Amy Bond
All of that has been an imperative part of her leadership role. Doherty is listed as the shortest player on the team at 5-foot-1, but with a freshman and four sophomores on Florida State’s eight-player roster, she is the golfer her teammates seek out for leadership.
“When I was a freshman, our senior captain was Lydia Gumm,” Doherty said. “She was such a great leader and a great person. When you have the opportunity to go into that role, I try to remember how she acted and how other upperclassmen acted.”
A part of the respect Doherty has earned comes from her progression. She says her short game has drastically improved while in Tallahassee. Bond remarks that Doherty spends so much time at the practice facility, she would be better off bringing her bed so she can sleep there.
The tournament results align with the hours spent practicing. Doherty, a past winner on the Florida Junior Tour, has risen to No. 73 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. That comes on the strength of consecutive wins at the South Atlantic Amateur – better known as the Sally – the second of which came a month ago when she birdied the first four holes of her back nine to cement a final-round rally.
“It’s funny, it’s just an event where I really like the course and I think I come into it without as much expectations,” Doherty said. “It’s after winter break and during the period before our spring season, so my teammates and I like to play it to knock some of the rust off. For some reason, it has just been a comfortable spot.”
Then there was her tie for 21st place at last April’s inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur, where by positioning herself in the top 30 after 36 holes she earned the opportunity to play the final round at one of the game’s most legendary layouts. Her 1-over 73 on one of the most difficult chipping and putting courses in the world only further suggests what type of success she can have.
Those experiences bode well for the next stages in Doherty’s development. Of course she would like to win a college event before her career is complete, and doing so to help her team in the ACC or NCAA Championship would be even sweeter. But after life at Florida State ends when she earns a degree in sport management this May, Doherty will take a run at the Symetra Tour to see if she has what it takes to become an LPGA player. She earned full status on the developmental circuit last fall by finishing T61 at the LPGA Q-Series.
No matter how her professional career evolves, Doherty will have left an indelible mark on the Florida State program. Bond still has the yellow sticky note in her file, and it’s not likely to be misplaced any time soon.
“She’s been so successful here, I’m amazed,” Bond said. “It doesn’t surprise you once you know her. To me, it doesn’t seem like five years ago when she first called. I’ve seen this young girl transform into a strong woman who happens to be a great golfer. Really, I’m the lucky one here.”
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