Tyler Watts of Huntsville, Alabama, posted a final round of two-under 70. He fired five birdies today to claim the 51st Southern Junior Championship title with a 9-under 207 total at Baton Rouge Country Club in Louisiana. Watts finished five shots ahead of his competition.
The win marked another amazing triumph for Watts, who just last week became the youngest champion in Alabama State Amateur history. His age record surpassed the one set by Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt, who is currently competing as an amateur in the U.S. Open.
Collins Trolio of West Point, Mississippi, who finished second with a four-under 212 score. Noah Kent of Naples, Florida, and Liam Pasternak of Morristown, New Jersey, each finished at two-under 214. After a scorecard playoff, Kent claimed bronze.
72, 65, 70 earns the #SouthernJr Championship title.
— Southern Golf Association (@sgagolf) June 16, 2023
The winner of the Southern Junior Championship receives a silver medal, his name engraved on the Perry Adair Trophy, a Calamity Jane putter, exemption into the 2024 Southern Amateur Championship, exemption into all future Southern Junior Championships in which he is eligible to compete and is fully exempt with the American Junior Golf Association for 12 months.
ASU-bound Anawin Pikulthong won the Golfweek Southwest Junior by a whopping 13 shots.
Anawin Pikulthong, 18, an Arizona State University commit from nearby Gilbert, Arizona, won the 2023 Golfweek Southwest Junior Open at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona, on Sunday.
The limited-field Southwest Junior Open, now in its 22nd year, is recognized as one of the nation’s premier junior golf tournaments.
Pikulthong enters the Golfweek record book after his dominating victory becoming the first player to four-peat. Along the way, Pikulthong took out some of Arizona’s top junior talent to claim the coveted title.
Pikulthong, who said he hasn’t been playing up to his potential lately, used his relaxed attitude and intimate knowledge of Southern Dunes to put on an exhibition. His performance was particularly impressive given the combination of heat, fast greens and tucked pins.
His victory came after a thrilling final round at Southern Dunes where he shot 9-under 63 to finish with a two-day total score of 19-under 125. He hit accurate drives, approach shots and made putts while avoiding any costly mistakes en route to his two-day combined scorecard that included 17 birdies and one eagle.
His closest competitors were Tommie Clark of Mesa and Kyle Koski of Chandler who posted 6-under 138 and 5-under 139, respectively.
Sirina Ganne, 15, of Holmdel, New Jersey, added another first-place finish to her resume.
Ganne, a rising high school sophomore, is the current New Jersey Girls State Champion, a title she won earlier this month at Raritan Valley Country Club in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
Sirina Ganne holds a trophy after winning the 2023 Golfweek Southwest Junior Open at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona. (Photo: Golfweek)
Her two-day total of 144 (70-74) earned her a three-shot win over Angela Zhikun-Chen of Chandler. Ganne finished even par; the rest of the field finished over par during the two-day event.
With her victory at the Golfweek Southwest Junior Open, Sirina will get an exemption into the Golfweek International Junior Invitational, Nov. 4-5, in Orlando.
Ganne’s older sister, Megha, just finished her freshman season at Stanford.
Most babies sleep with a stuffed animal or a blanket. Lincoln Rubis cuddled with his plastic 7-iron.
Rubis, now 11, has been obsessed with golf from the moment his parents gave him his first set of plastic clubs at 18 months old. His father, Jon, said you could tell there was something special about Lincoln when he swung the club.
“I’m going, ‘OK, this is crazy,'” Jon said. “He could just swing it over and over again. He really took a liking to it.”
Fast forward 10 years, Lincoln and his family now live in the Dallas metroplex, and his love of golf has only grown. He has become one of the best junior golfers in the country. He has five holes-in-one, including three in a 22-day span a month ago. Lincoln also goes to the same childhood coach that Jordan Spieth did and has the same winning percentage as Scottie Scheffler on the Northern Texas PGA Junior Tour.
Not bad footsteps to be following.
Those are just a few of the amazing things Lincoln has accomplished, and he just turned 11 in January.
When he was 6, he got his first two aces within a month of each other. Fast forward five years, his tally is up to five holes-in-one, more than even some professionals have.
On Feb. 25, he was playing in a tournament at the Wigwam in Litchfield Park, Arizona, when he hit a pitching wedge from 101 yards to an island green. The ball one hopped, hit the flag stick and dropped.
“It was loud,” Jon said. “It just went bang.”
A week later, at Rock Creek Golf Club in Gordonville, Texas, Lincoln hit another ace, this one with a 9-iron from 113 yards. Jon was playing in a group behind and found out through a text message from other parents who were keeping score.
Then, 15 days later at Coyote Ridge in Carrollton, Texas, Lincoln played in cold temperatures with the wind chill below freezing in a tournament. On the uphill par-3 11th hole, Jon was standing next to the green and videoed Lincoln’s swing from the tee. He hit a 9-iron from 110 yards.
“It was blind for me because I was below the green, but the ball was tracking and I thought it was a good shot,” Jon said.
Jon shut off the camera as it landed and released. He couldn’t see the ball, but he knew it was a good shot. That’s when Lincoln started yelling and celebrating. Jon walked up to see the green, and he couldn’t see a golf ball.
“That’s when I knew it was in,” Jon said.
Three holes-in-one in 22 days, with two of those coming in tournaments. He won the latter at Coyote Ridge.
Speaking of tournament records, Scheffler, the six-time PGA Tour winner and second-ranked golfer in the world, won nearly 60 percent of his starts on the NTPGA during his career. So far, Lincoln has 27 wins in 47 events (57.4 win percentage) and has finished top two all but five times.
His scoring average in 2023 is 69.67. Lincoln is a bit smaller for his age and doesn’t hit the ball as far as some of his competitors, but he excels at finding ways to score and get the ball in the hole.
Last year, he tied for seventh at the U.S. Kids Worlds and also qualified for the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta National. He’s also sponsored by Titleist.
Then there’s the Jordan Spieth connection. Spieth’s first coach was Joey Anders, who teaches at Brookhaven. The Rubis’s are members at Brookhaven, and Anders has been teaching Lincoln at the same age he taught Spieth.
Lincoln has even played some rounds with Shawn Spieth, Jordan’s father. As Shawn was getting ready for the PNC Championship last year, they played a couple rounds together.
“Shawn is so great, not only with Lincoln, but plenty of the junior golfers at Brookhaven,” Jon said. “It’s really cool.”
Last year at the Dallas Junior Golf Championship, a tournament that dates to the 1920s, Lincoln shot a 59. Jon is quick to point out the Ages 9-10 Division played about 4,200 yards, but no one had shot that low in the tournament’s history.
Most of Lincoln’s events now are played at 5,500 yards or close to, but a couple weeks ago, he and Jon, who’s a near-scratch golfer, went and played a course from 6,800 yards.
And what did Lincoln do? Knocked a wedge close for birdie on the final hole to beat his dad.
“I couldn’t have been happier,” Jon said. “I didn’t think he would beat me this early.”
So much attention is paid to pro golf that it’s easy to forget the true essence of the game is at the amateur level.
GRANITEVILLE, S.C. – Nobody had more fun than Savannah De Bock at the 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.
The Belgian had such a big smile on her face all week at the nation’s top junior tournament that you’d think she won by a landslide, when in reality she finished on the bottom half of the leaderboard. When’s the last time you walked off a green with a smile after making a double bogey? De Bock did it at least twice.
“Well, it’s really important for me to stay positive, because nothing good can come from me being negative,” she explained. “I’m a really outgoing person, really positive person, so that’s just my way of being and if I’m not joyous, what am I?”
De Bock, No. 51 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, has an infectious personality that you can’t help but gravitate towards. She was sitting alone eating lunch after Saturday’s final round at the pristine Sage Valley Golf Club when four players from the boys’ side of the annual competition immediately came to join her as soon as they saw her. Not long after sitting down the laughter ensued.
“I made new friends, not only my roommates and other girls, but actually other boys, so that’s cool,” said De Bock. “I think I’ll remember the spirit of friendship that was here, I felt at home here.”
She entertained her caddie all week long with songs and jokes and had animated discussions in the middle of the round with fellow players about scrambled eggs. De Bock danced around the property from event to event each night, often in her Gryffindor sweatshirt (a fitting house placement for all you Harry Potter fans out there). After dinner one night, De Bock grabbed a piece of chocolate cake for desert but couldn’t find a fork. Without skipping a beat, she grabbed some chopsticks and went on her merry way.
While she didn’t leave Sage Valley with the trophy, De Bock will take home countless memories, new friends and the unofficial title as the Most Fun Player of the Week.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpzn53dND8N/?hl=en
“It was just amazing. Everyone is so nice here. I made a lot of friends so that’s really cool,” De Bock said of her experience. “The course is in such great shape. I’ve never played a course so well maintained in my life. The greens are really hard but it’s really fun to play. I learned a lot, so that’s cool. I’m a bit disappointed about my score overall, but I’ve learned a lot, so that’s nice.”
If De Bock was impressed with Sage Valley, she’ll be blown away in two weeks when she ventures 20 miles down the road for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
“Mostly excited,” she said of her ANWA debut. “A little nervous because it’s such a big competition but I’m looking forward to it.”
De Bock isn’t new to big competitions, especially after her appearance at the Junior Invitational. She won the 2022 European Ladies’ Amateur and finished 14th at the Ladies European Tour’s The Mithra Belgian Ladies Open. That said, she doesn’t have a television at home, so she hasn’t seen much of the ANWA or Masters, but she has spoken about it with her friend and fellow Belgian Clarisse Louis, a two-time ANWA competitor.
After competing in the ANWA, De Bock will head home to Belgium before returning to the Peach State in the fall to attend the University of Georgia, where she’s interested in studying anything from genetics to communication and journalism.
“I’m really looking forward to it because it’s such a great place to train. I know I’m gonna be able to study at the same time, which is always a little hard in Europe. So I’m really excited about it.”
There’s so much attention paid to the professional tours and the millions of dollars at stake that it’s easy to forget the true essence of the game is at the amateur level. Thankfully there are players like De Bock to remind us of that.
Last year’s Junior Invitational featured a pair of playoffs. The theme of this year’s event was wire-to-wire winners.
GRANITEVILLE, S.C. — Last year the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley featured a pair of playoffs to decide the boys and girls titles. The theme of this year’s event was wire-to-wire winners.
Aldrich Potgieter and Anna Davis were out in front all week at the nation’s top junior tournament and will leave the pristine club among the South Carolina pines with the trophies and the event’s signature gold jackets. Each player held a five-shot lead entering Saturday’s final round and won in impressive fashion.
“I went into the week wanting to win, thinking I was gonna win,” said Davis after the final round. “I’ve always had high expectations for myself.”
Nika Ito, who finished solo second, holed out from the fairway for eagle on the 17th hole to put the pressure on Davis, who was keeping tabs on the leaderboard all afternoon.
“That’s my second time getting holed-out on having the lead, so I was used to it and thought, ‘Okay, it’s fine. It happens,'” said Davis. “When you’re in that position, you kind of have to expect that stuff to happen so it doesn’t catch you off guard.”
Davis responded by hitting a “pretty bad second shot” that narrowly avoided the water guarding the 17th green.
“I had room because I’m left-handed. If I was right-handed, I would have been standing in the water,” explained Davis. From there the rising star followed Ito’s lead and chipped in to stop the momentum swing.
Davis, an Auburn commit, turned 17 on Friday and celebrated her birthday by walking in the winning putt from just off the 18th green with some serious swagger to finish at 7 under for the tournament.
“Kind of a douche bag move,” she said with a chuckle after the round. “Right off the putter face I thought, ‘that has to be in,’ so I walked it in.”
Defending @anwagolf champion Anna Davis walks in the winning putt at the @JrInviteSage like an absolute boss.
Wire-to-wire winner will ride some momentum down the road to Augusta National in a couple weeks. pic.twitter.com/R0qt609wbW
Ito finished two shots back at 5 under, with Kiara Romero in third at even par after firing the day’s low round of 5-under 67.
Next up for Davis is her title defense in two weeks at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, where she’ll enter with even more pressure and expectations after her win in 2022.
“I think it just it helps like knowing that I can play in this area,” Davis said of the momentum she’ll take to her ANWA title defense. “Augusta and Champions Retreat are very similar to this course. I think just being able to play this kind of golf, being comfortable and being familiar with the area is always very helpful. So I think that just adds on to my win last year.”
Potgieter, the defending British Amateur champion, made eight birdies to win by a whopping 10 shots to set a record for the largest margin of victory in tournament history. The South African fired rounds of 65-70-68 to finish at 13 under for the week. Lee Byungho and Aaron Pounds finished T-2 at 3 under, with Eric Lee in fourth at 1 under and Preston Stout in fifth at even par.
“Yeah, it was awesome week, I really enjoyed it,” Potgieter said of his Junior Invitational debut and win. “Today was good a round. I struggled for a stretch, the par-5 fourth I missed a five-footer or something for birdie and then missed one on five. So that was kind of a disappointing break, but I knew that the back nine had a lot of opportunities and still having to play three par fives, I was still confident enough to put a good score on the board.
These kids are damn good.
Aldrich Potgieter follows Anna Davis’ wire-to-wire win with one of his own @JrInviteSage to claim the trophy by 10 shots. Unreal week of golf. pic.twitter.com/wcEFAA1acc
“I always run back to what Tiger Woods said, you don’t come to a tournament not to win. I came to kind of prepare for the Masters and getting the win here just gives me more confidence going into that,” added Potgieter. “I think this golf course is pretty similar to Augusta National, so I’m taking this as a learning curve to that course and if I play like this week, I think I’ll do pretty good.”
Potgieter was pleasantly surprised that the rest of the boys field struggled to score while he was under par each day this week.
“Most of the guys were just kind of pissed at me because I was hitting it 50 yards passed everyone,” he jokingly said with a laugh, “so I guess that makes the golf course a little bit easier, carrying all the bunkers and getting in play still.”
As the British Amateur champion, Potgieter earned an spot in the field for the 2023 Masters and will join Davis at Augusta National in two weeks time.
The first-round leaders remain atop the leaderboard, but each has a few players within striking distance.
GRANITEVILLE, S.C. – The players at the 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley are treated like royalty the minute they step on the picturesque property tucked away behind the South Carolina pines. They also have 18 king and queen-sized challenges waiting for them as soon as they put a tee in the ground.
Known as one of, if not the best junior golf tournaments in the world, this year’s Junior Invitational – which boasts a field of the top girls and boys golfers from around the world – has been a survival of the fittest test this week, and Friday’s second round at Sage Valley Golf Club was no different. The winds were high, and for the second consecutive day, the scores were as well.
First-round leaders Anna Davis and Aldrich Potgieter remain atop the leaderboard, but each has a few players within striking distance entering the final round.
Davis looks to celebrate 17th birthday with win
Davis turned 17 on Friday and celebrated by taking a five-shot lead over the field to hold a commanding lead ahead of Saturday’s finale.
“It was kind of the same thing as yesterday, I hit just about every fairway and green and then one putt or two putt and then move on to the next hole,” said Davis, who was dissatisfied with her putting on Thursday despite taking the early lead with a 2-under 70. The defending Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion was one shot better on Friday with a 3-under 69. “I just started off a little better, I didn’t have as many three putts so I just had a better start to the round.”
Nika Ito is in solo second at even par, with Fiona Xu and Andrea Revuelta T-3 at 2 over. Kati Li and Bailey Shoemaker round out the top five at 3 over.
While you may think a five-to-eight-shot advantage may be insurmountable, don’t forget what happened last year at Sage Valley, where Shoemaker lost a seven-shot lead in the final round and wound up falling short to Amalie Leth-Nissen in a playoff.
“I love to come from behind, I think that’s the best place to be. Having a lead is pretty hard, especially having a two-day lead,” explained Shoemaker, a USC commit. “I know what happened to me last year, so I’d like to turn the tables and get my own little taste of it. So hopefully, hopefully, I can do a little bit like Amalie did to me last year.
“I’ve been thinking about Sage Valley for the last three months, just hoping to get my little taste of revenge. Hopefully,I can shoot something tomorrow and just post the score and give myself a chance.”
Can anyone catch Potgieter?
Over on the boys’ side, Potgieter has a five-shot lead of his own after following a Thursday 65 with a Friday 70 to sit at 9 under, but he’s not the only player to go low this week. Connor Williams, bound for Arizona State in the fall, fired a bogey-free 5-under 67 on Friday to clip Eduardo Derbez Torres (68) for the day’s low round.
“Honestly, the first few holes I was hitting it really good, gave myself chances. I had a rough stretch off the tee from Nos. 7-10, hit a really bad drive on 10 but got a good break from a kick back in the fairway,” Williams said of his round. “From there I locked in, took it low and made a good eagle on 15, hit a really good drive and only had a 7-iron in, so that helped a lot. Closed it out well.
“You gotta give every shot your full attention because you know the next one can be just as hard,” added Williams, who has become friends with Potgieter after sharing a cottage with him this week. “I did a great job with that today. I took it one step at a time, didn’t really get ahead of myself and it worked out well.”
Kim, a two-time winner on Tour at 20 years old, is just 2-3 years older than the junior competitors.
GRANITEVILLE, S.C. — The players aren’t the only stars at the Sage Valley Junior Invitational.
The day before Thursday’s first round of the nation’s premier junior golf tournament – whose field boasts the top 10 in both the boys and girls Golfweek/Sagarin rankings – former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow spoke to the 36 boys and 24 girls competing for the gold jacket and even played a practice round with last year’s girls runner-up, Bailey Shoemaker.
Later on in the evening, rising star and two-time PGA Tour winner Tom Kim was on hand to record a podcast with five-time LPGA winner Michelle Wie West and Hally Leadbetter and play an alternate-shot game with a handful of the players on Sage Valley’s under-the-lights par 3 course.
Things you see after hours on the par 3 @JrInviteSage: competitors Aldrich Potgieter and Macy Pate ripping two-time @PGATour winner Tom Kim’s driver into the night.
“I never had the opportunity that these kids had, so it’s really cool for me to come out and see the juniors and play with them,” said Kim, the 20-year-old on a meteoric rise through professional golf. “Some of these kids are just 2 years younger than me, so we’re not far apart. I’m so used to seeing the older guys on Tour so it’s kinda cool to see some kids around my age and we definitely had some fun.”
After the alternate-shot game – where Kim and SVJI competitor Macy Pate lost after he missed a three-footer – the pro stayed on the par 3 to take some pictures and answer some questions from a dozen or so players. When one player asked if they could hit his driver, Kim couldn’t help but say yes, and the lot took turns bombing balls into the night sky.
“The biggest thing was just having fun with the kids and giving them an experience they won’t forget.”
Everything you need to know for one of, if not the, best junior golf tournaments in the world.
GRANITEVILLE, S.C. — Founded in 2011, the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley has become one of, if not the, best competitions in junior golf.
This year’s event at Sage Valley Golf Club, a private, pristine gem of a course nestled among the pines less than 20 miles from famed Augusta National Golf Club, features a loaded field of some of junior golf’s best players from 17 different countries.
Junior Invitational returned to the amateur schedule in 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the 54-hole event featured a new wrinkle: a girls competition held concurrently alongside the boys. Last year’s event didn’t just include the first girls field, but also the first playoff. Not only that, both boys and girls champions were decided by a playoff.
With a pair of gold jackets on the line, here’s everything you need to know for this week’s 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.
Neither defending champion will be back in 2023, but Bailey Shoemaker, who held a seven-shot lead entering the final round in 2022 and lost to girls champion Amalie Leth-Nissen in a playoff, returns as a favorite alongside 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Anna Davis and nine of the top-10 players in the Golfweek/Sagarin girls ranking.
Of the 24 girls in the field, 13 are from the United States, with two from Spain and one from Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan.
The 36-player boys field includes the top-12 players in the Golfweek/Sagarin ranking, such as No. 1 Preston Stout and 2022 AJGA Player of the Year Eric Lee. A whopping 25 of the boys players hail from the United States, while Mexico and the United Kingdom each have two players in the field. Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Thailand each have one player in the field.
Records
The lowest rounds recorded both occurred during the inaugural event in 2011, where both Nick Reach (first round) and Justin Thomas (final round) shot 10-under 62. The closest since? That’d be 2019 champion Tom McKibbin, who fired an 8-under 64 in his final round.
Reach also holds the record for lowest 54-hole total after winning by eight shots in 2011 at 20 under following impressive rounds of 62-66-68. Last year’s playoff participants Luke Potter and champion Caleb Surratt each finished at 14 under, the second-best 54-hole total in event history.
On the flipside, the girl’s record books are primed for filling after last year’s inaugural event. Shoemaker holds the mark for lowest score with her 7-under 65 in the second round in 2022, which was two shots better than Davis’ 5-under 67 in the opening round.
Leth-Nissen and Shoemaker each finished at 5 under for the tournament before their playoff.
It's finally here! We're set up and ready to go for the 2023 Junior Invitational. pic.twitter.com/NHzLrctvK5
Unlike sports such as soccer and basketball, golf has a steep start-up cost before you even arrive at the range with equipment.
There’s constant talk about “growing the game,” a convenient catchphrase, but few factor in the price of what it takes to get kids involved in golf and allow them the opportunity to be successful.
Young players are the ones who can indeed grow the sport and while there are some programs in place to help young golfers, the golf community needs to step up and makes this reality more feasible. As someone who funded a large amount of her junior golf and learned the majority of her golf skills from YouTube, I feel strongly about this issue.
I grew up in Southern California where buckets of balls often ran in the neighborhood of $20, and there were only a handful of junior course programs in the area. I worked at a local pizza shop, with every dime going toward tournament fees, green fees, clubs, balls and appropriate apparel.
Sure, it’s important for kids to learn the value of a dollar, but the average family could never afford to get their kid into golf and obtain a college scholarship. Unlike sports such as soccer and basketball, golf has a steep start-up cost before you even arrive at the range with equipment. If junior golfers have aspirations of playing at the collegiate level, college coaches want to see tournaments outside of their high school team as well.
I asked 17-year-old Florida golfer Reese Woodbury what he guesses his family spends on his golf expenses in a single month.
“I would estimate $1,800 to $3,500 a month. That’s with practice, expenses, tournament fees, and any extras, including golf balls, tees and gloves,” Woodbury said.
Yes, there are charitable programs around the country that encourage junior golf at little to no cost such as The First Tee and others, but these can only take kids so far.
Tournament fees in Florida. (HJGT)
Once the small hurdles of paying for balls and green fees are tackled, the tournament fees are another beast. Junior two-day tournaments are averaging $250 to $400 a player. When you add gas, hotel and food on top of that (often multiple times a month) it becomes close to impossible to reach the next level for most families.
“One of my good friends struggles to play in events because of financial backing issues. He’s a great golfer, but he doesn’t come from a strong financial household to help him support his love for the game and it is not allowing him to reach the next level,” said Woodbury. “I am extremely lucky and grateful for the family that I have that allows me to chase my dream.”
I understand that these junior tours are a business and trying to make money, but there has to be some flexibility. As a former junior player who tried to balance high school life and golf, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to pull this off.
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If companies and courses are claiming to become an inclusive space for younger generations, changes are in order. Promoting twilight junior rates is one way to encourage play. Discounts on buckets of balls can help immensely and the cost for driving ranges is little to nothing. It’s important to provide a memorable place where kids can feel safe and practice.
If golf is serious about grooming its high-paying customers of the future, small discounts can certainly help to net a big return.
(Editor’s note: Averee Dovsek is a former college golfer and contributor to Golfweek.)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – When Anna Heck grabbed her golf bag and walked off the ninth green at Windyke Country Club in Memphis, Tennessee, you wouldn’t know whether she just finished a round to remember or a round to forget.
The St. Agnes Academy senior rarely showed any emotion while breezing through nine holes of a match against Hutchison, St. Benedict and ECS as if it was just another day on the course. For Anna, it was just another day on the course.
She never gets too high or too low. She knows not every round is going to be her best. She also knows the mental side of golf is tougher than the physical. So, she keeps an even-keeled attitude at all times.
“Anna’s not the type of person where her self identity and her mood is going to rely on the golf course,” her older sister Rachel, a junior at Stanford, said. “Golf is kind of part of her journey and a small part of who she is.”
St. Agnes Academy golfer Anna Heck places her ball Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at Irene Golf & Country Club in Memphis. (Photo: Christine Tannous/The Commercial Appeal)
Anna could easily let the pressure of following her older sisters dictate how she plays. But that would take away from the fun of it.
Sure, Abby, the oldest of the Heck sisters, won two individual state championships at St. Agnes. And Rachel – arguably the most decorated golfer in Shelby County history – won titles in all four years of high school. But Anna being the only sister not to win an individual state championship (yet) isn’t distracting her from her love of golf.
“Obviously every year I go into the state tournament, trying to get that win,” said Anna, who has committed to play at Notre Dame. “But, like I said before, just try not to let a good or bad round determine that.”
A sweet introduction to golf
Golf has always been a part of the Heck sisters’ lives. It started out as their dad, Robert, finding a way to bond with his daughters.
“He has three daughters, he told my mom, ‘I don’t know what I’m really going to do with them,’” Rachel recalled. “‘I think I’ll just take them to golf.’
“And my mom said, ‘You can’t make them like golf.’ And he was like, ‘Watch me.’”
It started as innocent fun. He came up with different games for them to play, and made it an overall fun experience. It was never intended to be taken competitively. And a reward for a hard day’s work at the golf course? Ice cream.
St. Agnes Academy golfer Anna Heck plays Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at Irene Golf & Country Club in Memphis. (Photo: Christine Tannous/The Commercial Appeal)
“Soon a love for ice cream turned into a love for golf,” Rachel added.
There wasn’t a specific point where Rachel, Abby or Anna became good. As they continued to play together, naturally they became competitive.
“I feel like even though it is serious, there’s still going to be that innocent, fun part of golf in it,” Anna said.
Added Anna: “It was fun, then it was, ‘Oh, we’re not too bad at this.’”
Abby is at Notre Dame, where she finished her career with a 74.61 stroke average, the third-best stroke average in program history. She’s now happily retired from competitive golf and enrolled in medical school. She still plays recreationally.
Rachel is at Stanford and has quickly become one of the top amateur female golfers in the world. With the success she had in high school, she spring-boarded at Stanford, grabbing eight wins through two seasons, including an individual NCAA championship as a freshman. Rachel plans to play professionally.
St. Agnes Academy golfer Anna Heck plays Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at Irene Golf & Country Club in Memphis. (Photo: Christine Tannous/The Commercial Appeal)
As for Anna, she hasn’t quite figured out her plans. She doesn’t feel any pressure to continue professionally. She always was going to have her own path. While she enjoyed watching her sisters succeed on the golf course – while also having her own success – she didn’t have in her plans to continue with a professional career.
“I definitely want to continue with golf my whole life, but personally I don’t think I want to go pro,” Anna said. “Obviously, I’m 18, anything can change and I don’t know exactly what I want to do with my life.
“I couldn’t be more excited with golf and just see where it takes me after.”
Paving her own path
When the opportunity came for Anna to become involved with a foreign exchange student program, she was interested, but knew she wasn’t going to be able to do that and keep up with golf. It was her best friend that pushed her toward signing up for the program.
“I cannot overemphasize how amazing that was,” Anna said of the experience.
That coupled with a chance to go to Costa Rica for two weeks. It was more time away from golf, but Anna was OK with that.
St. Agnes Academy golfer Anna Heck plays Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at Irene Golf & Country Club in Memphis. (Photo: Christine Tannous/The Commercial Appeal)
Anna was always going to do things her way. She never let what her sisters accomplished or how quickly Rachel emerged as one of the top amateur golfers in the world, dictate her path. In a way, as much as their success motivated her, it also inspired her to find more interests outside of golf.
“Overall, that is so important for her wellbeing and even her golf performance,” said Abby, the oldest Heck sister. “I played my best golf once I kind of felt very fulfilled and well-rounded in my life.”
Because of that foreign exchange program, Anna has taken an interest in foreign languages as well as the sciences. She hopes to find a career that will allow her to intertwine the two. And she’ll do it while still having her love for golf.
St. Agnes Academy golfer Anna Heck reacts as she misses her putt Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at Irene Golf & Country Club in Memphis. (Photo: Christine Tannous/The Commercial Appeal)
“Just having these other activities,” Anna said, “pursuing other interests and finding other passions are really important for your mental health.
“And just being happy, knowing that you can put your all into your sport, you can love it with your whole heart, but it not determine your every emotion you have.”
Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on Twitter @wynstonw__.
