Callie Anderson’s formative connection with golf started on a blanket with her Barbies around age 5, watching her mother methodically going through the clubs in her bag on a practice tee.
It was there that Cheryl Anderson, a two-time LPGA Professionals National Teacher of the Year and one of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Teachers in America, polished her own skills in some rare time away from students. It was also where her young daughter decided to take some swings of her own.
Callie took five swings that first day and went back to her Barbies, but it was the beginning of a new bond for the family and a gateway to opportunity for their daughter, who was born with Down syndrome in 2006.
“Golf is our life,” said Cheryl, director of instruction at the Mike Bender Golf Academy in Lake Mary, Florida. “It’s our jobs, but it’s also our hobby and we really like sharing it with Callie because we feel like it’s a sport you can play for a lifetime with others.”
While Cheryl has taught golf for 33 years, her husband, Lorin Anderson, spent 17 years in print media, working for Golf Digest and GOLF Magazine. He also spent four years as Golf Channel’s vice president in instruction, and since 2007 has focused on helping golf instructors build their businesses and teaching skills as founder of Proponent Group.
Certainly, golf is more than just a weekend activity for the Andersons. It touches just about everything they do and takes up most of every work day. So it was only fitting that Callie rose up off her blanket and took some swings at this game that is her family’s lifeblood.
Courtesy Cheryl and Lorin Anderson
“I remember,” said Callie, now 18 and a junior at Lake Mary High School. “It felt kind of good.”
And it also felt good to her parents, who could see the value of golf in her life extending far beyond just the basics of the game.
“A lot of kids with Down syndrome don’t get much exercise, so we’re always looking for opportunities to make sure she’s moving,” said Lorin. “It also gives her the social aspect of being around other kids and adults. The more Callie can exercise, the better it is for her brain and for her overall health.”
Cheryl and Lorin took careful steps with their daughter as she became more interested in golf. She learned how to put the flagstick in the hole and basic tips on golf etiquette. Cheryl never pushed, but always encouraged Callie as she moved from hitting five golf balls to 10.
“To be honest, I wanted her to play because I thought it was a good way for her to improve behavior,” said Cheryl, a Class A member of both the LPGA and the PGA of America. “Golf is a game where you have to be patient and it took her a little while.”
Callie’s interest in golf ramped up when she began participating in the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program at the Mike Bender Golf Academy. While Cheryl was busy teaching kids in the program, Callie was thriving in the social opportunity it provided.
“She liked seeing her friends, and just being in that learning environment with other typical kids helped her learn to behave better in life,” Cheryl said.
“Cheryl and I are the ones who are weird,” laughed Lorin. “Cheryl still competes after 35 years and she’s at the course all day teaching. I’m around the game all day dealing with coaches and people in the golf industry. Most people play golf to get away from everyday life, so Callie is the one who is more normal, enjoying it because she gets to hang out with people and be outdoors.”
Callie still does not ask to go hit golf balls, but when the three of them can squeeze in three holes before sunset, off they go to Heathrow Country Club just down the road to spend time together. Sometimes Callie skips down the fairway, joyfully heading to her next shot.
“I practice every day. It is a game and it is challenging for all of us.” — Callie Anderson
The teen also benefits from a mother who is one of the nation’s top golf instructors. After dinner, Cheryl and Callie head for their garage where Callie hits balls into a net for about 25 minutes under Cheryl’s watchful eye.
“I practice every day,” said Callie. “It is a game and it is challenging for all of us.”
When Callie was entering her freshman year at Lake Mary High, Cheryl reached out to the school’s girls’ golf coach, Dennis Burchill, to inquire about an opportunity for her daughter. Lake Mary’s girls’ team has won 10 Florida Class 3A state titles, so it’s a powerhouse squad with starters who typically move on to NCAA Division I golf programs.
But the school also offers a junior varsity golf program for girls. They play their jayvee practice matches alongside the varsity squad and are teammates of the school’s top performers.
“As soon as she got on that high school golf team, I think it was a huge confidence boost because she recognized that she’s not the worst player on the team,” said Cheryl. “The girls are all very encouraging, the coach is amazing and they always want Callie to lead the Ram cheer.”
“I say, 1-2-3, Go Rams!” said Callie. “We got second place in the [2024 state] championship, but it’s still good. I was proud of them.”
Callie also was proud of her mother, whom she finally watched in competition last year when Cheryl qualified for her second U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship. The 2024 event was held at Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh.
“I was nervous about her watching me because I knew I would get distracted, so I paid a sitter to take her out on the course to watch Annika Sörenstam,” said Cheryl. “But she came out and watched me play on the last day and was a great supporter with some good advice.”
And what were those words of wisdom to her mom, the golf pro?
“She told me to hit the ball down the middle and to take no more than two putts,” said Cheryl, a Connecticut native who in 2002 became the first woman to win all three Metropolitan PGA women’s championships.
“I told Mommy that if she put the ball in the hole, she gets a free ice cream,” added Callie. “It was kind of boring at first, but I’m very proud of my mom and my dad, who was caddieing for her.”
In autumn 2023, Cheryl – along with central Florida teaching professionals Christa Teno and Miriam Piland-Rice – added a golf component to the Down Syndrome Foundation of Florida’s iCan! Program. That program encourages participants to learn how to swim, bike, read and engage in other activities, but Cheryl wanted to add golf.
“The Down Syndrome Foundation of Florida services 2,000 families throughout Florida, but it’s based in Orlando, so the service area is largely central Florida,” said Lorin. “The age range is 7 to 23, and the difference between iCan! Golf and Special Olympics is Special Olympics aims toward a competition, while this program is about learning the basics of golf.”
The iCan! Golf program is offered for four weeks in the fall, with the first three weeks focused on game fundamentals and instruction. The final week takes participants to the Topgolf facility in Lake Mary to socialize and enjoy golf together, away from their parents. All equipment is provided.
“We ask parents to leave the area because we want the kids to be comfortable sitting at a table with others, ordering food and having fun hitting golf balls,” said Cheryl. “It gives the parents a little break, too.”
Lorin pointed out the Down Syndrome Foundation of Florida was started 15 years ago with the specific intention of inclusion – something he and Cheryl have always tried to provide for their own daughter in activities at school, in golf and in ice skating.
“Adding golf to what already is offered was Cheryl’s way to contribute her piece of the iCan! puzzle that the foundation has been focusing on for years,” Lorin said. “We don’t want our kids to be left out of any opportunities.”
Callie and her mother have competed together in state-level Special Olympics golf competitions, winning a regional tournament and a state alternate-shot competition in 2019.
And the teen was playing golf with her parents when she scored her personal-best nine-hole score in Amelia Island, Fla. Not paying attention to the scorecard, her parents realized she could break 50 for the first time and encouraged her to finish strong.
“She hit a 5-wood to about 10 feet, lipped out the birdie putt and tapped in for par to shoot 48,” said Lorin. “Let’s just say that the results are always better when there’s ice cream on the line.”
Callie also received an invitation to meet and play a practice round with Amy Bockerstette, the Special Olympics golfer who became a viral video sensation after she was filmed making par on TPC Scottsdale’s raucous 16th hole alongside PGA Tour player Gary Woodland during a Phoenix Open practice round in 2019. Bockerstette was in Port St. Lucie, Florida, to compete in the U.S. Disabled Golf Association Championship, so the Andersons drove to south Florida for that special day.
Jim Hobart, MacBeth Studio for Lake Mary Life
“I saw her play on TV and then we played golf,” said Callie.
Callie’s most recent invitation to play golf has come from Lake Mary High quarterback Noah Grubbs. The two have known each other since the first grade. The nationally recruited player has committed to play college football at Notre Dame in 2026.
Callie has enjoyed attending “college signing day” at her high school when many of her classmates sign letters of intent to play collegiate sports around the country. Just as she has led the team cheer before matches, she has been there to wish her friends well as they begin their next life journeys.
In a spring 2023 issue, Callie was featured on the cover of Lake Mary Life, a regional magazine focused on people and events in her community. The cover headline read: Callie Anderson Is An Inspiration.
When asked what she thought about the magazine, Callie smiled.
“I feel kind of amazed about this magazine,” she said. “It’s me. It says I’m inspirational.”
And in many ways, and to many others, indeed, she is.
Top: Callie Anderson, 18, first swung a golf club when she was five years old. Now she enjoys being part of her high school’s golf program. Courtesy Cheryl and Lorin Anderson.
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