CARLSBAD, Calif. — Last week, Stanford coach Anne Walker walked up to Rachel Heck in the 18th fairway.
“I’m going to take this last walk with you,” Walker told Heck. “I didn’t think we’d get to take this walk again.”
Heck, a senior for the Cardinal, has dealt with numerous injuries throughout her career. In 2023, she had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, which involved removing her first rib. She made a run in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air in Los Angeles but hardly played in the Cardinal lineup this year because of flare-ups from the injury. Over the winter, she thought her college career was over.
Last week, she captured her ninth collegiate title, winning the NCAA Cle Elum Regional. Walker joined Heck, who was unaware of her position on the leaderboard, and the duo enjoyed one last walk up the 18th as Heck went to secure another trophy in her storied career.
“It was a very emotional week,” Heck said. “She was crying, I was crying. I thought there was a chance I wouldn’t play again, and I definitely didn’t think I would win again, let alone a postseason championship. So it was really special to end like that.”
Heck, the 2021 NCAA individual champion, is in the lineup for Stanford making the final start of her college career this week at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Omni La Costa’s North Course, where Stanford is in a familiar position after two rounds. The Cardinal sit at 6 under, in third place midway through the second around.
Stanford has won the stroke-play portion of the NCAA Championship the last three seasons. And they’re in position to do so yet again with Heck making a big impact. She’s 1 under after two rounds, as Stanford chases its second title in three years.
“I didn’t expect it, but I’m not surprised by it,” Walker said of Heck’s late-season run. “The kid’s barely competed. She has been through a lot, and she’s not able to get the same reps, very limited in how many range balls she can hit.”
Megha Ganne and Paula Martin Sampedro, one of 10 on the final watch list for the Annika Award, pace the Cardinal at 2 under. Heck is a shot back, and Sadie Englemann is at even-par after 36 holes.
Of teams to tee off in the morning wave Saturday, Stanford trails only Texas A&M heading into the third round. After Sunday, the field will be cut to the top-15 teams for Monday’s final round of stroke play. Then, the top eight after Monday will earn a spot in match play, which begins Tuesday.
Expect Stanford to be one of those teams, and in big part thanks to Rachel Heck’s resurgance.
“It’s good to take a step back this week and think about how far I’ve come,” Heck said. “It’s really special to be here. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to play for Stanford again. Just happy to be here. Soaking up every second of it.”
“It’s crazy how much pressure people feel at this level to go pro.”
EVANS, Ga. — Emilia Migliaccio was a teenager when she first came to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Now, she’s a 24-year-old married woman with several jobs in television broadcasting and a part-time amateur player who just remarkably beat a bunch of full-time players to snag another tee time at Augusta National on Saturday.
Migliaccio’s road to becoming the only player to tee it up on all five editions of the ANWA was, as she says, not a straight line. After thinking in a straight line for so long – the steps of her golf career ascending naturally, almost inevitably, to the LPGA – life took a drastic turn.
Migliaccio decided not to pursue professional golf, just as 2017 NCAA champion Monica Vaughn had done a few years prior. Rachel Heck, the 2022 NCAA champion, recently announced her plans to forgo a professional career in a poignant essay.
“It’s crazy how much pressure people feel at this level to go pro,” said 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle.
When Castle won the Women’s Amateur, she had no thoughts of turning pro. But suddenly people were asking if she planned to finish the year.
“What do you mean am I going to finish the year?” Castle would say. “I’m going to finish the next three.”
While Castle, a fifth-year senior at Kentucky, does now plan to turn professional in May, she understands and respects why her Curtis Cup teammates have made other plans.
In fact, Castle believes that Heck’s essay detailing her decision will change lives.
“She’s inspiring a lot of other people to do other things,” said Castle.
Monica Vaughn and Janet Mao
When Monica Vaughn Fisher withdrew from LPGA Q-School seven years ago, she became the first NCAA champion to forgo a professional career before it even started since the NCAA started crowning them in 1982.
Fisher worked as a college coach at Oregon before taking a job in fundraising and becoming a mom to son Cosmos. Growing up playing volleyball and basketball in high school, Vaughn loved being part of a team. Professional golf was never really the goal.
Heck, however, wanted to be the best in the world. That was the goal from an early age. But as the injuries piled on and she found other interests, Heck began to realize that she didn’t want the lifestyle of a professional golfer. She didn’t want to live on the road and in the public eye. She no longer dreamed of winning a U.S. Women’s Open and getting into the LPGA Hall of Fame. What’s more, she realized that those dreams were never what her dad had intended when he first put a club in her hand.
On Thursday at Champions Retreat, the tears flowed as a crushing finish down the stretch cost Heck one more Saturday round with dad at Augusta National. She took a few extra minutes to compose herself before meeting with the press.
“I mean, it’s not the way you want to see it end,” she said.
The golf isn’t over, of course. Heck still plans to compete in amateur golf and, as she does, she’ll be a reminder of another path.
“I think we always tried to be balanced,” said Heck’s father, Robert. “Sports in general and golf, in particular, are very fickle. Even when she was on top, we knew it could end at any point.”
The Hecks wanted to make sure that Rachel had other interests, and she found plenty. When she graduates from Stanford this spring, she’ll also be pinned as a Lieutenant of the United States Air Force.
In recent days, Heck’s peers have approached to say thank you for being a voice that says golf isn’t everything. Parents have reached out to say how helpful they found her words.
“All that has meant the world,” she said.
Emilia Migliaccio of the United States talks with her caddie on the second hole during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club on April 03, 2021 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
When Migliaccio’s not calling golf, she often finds herself talking to young players who want advice on weighing their options. Professional golf is a lonely road, and as Castle points out, a difficult one for those wanting to start a family.
Tour veteran Amy Olson once said she believed more people struggle on tour because of a lack of community and loneliness than a technical problem in their swing or putting stroke.
For many, there’s no doubt that money plays a big role. The majority of college players who decide to turn pro will spend their first few years on the Epson Tour spending more money than they make.
“They don’t want to put their parents in debt,” said FSU coach Amy Bond, “and they don’t want to be in debt.”
To see decorated players like Heck, Migliaccio and Vaughn walk away from the grind of professional golf gives players of all levels permission to ask tough questions of themselves and have perhaps even tougher conversations with family.
With so many of today’s young players specializing in the game so early, Bond also notes that it’s easy to see how their hearts and their bodies simply get tired.
“People are falling out of love with the game as they keep going,” she said.
Amanda Sambach of the United States prior to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Champions Retreat Golf Club, Monday, April 1, 2024. (Photo: Shanna Lockwood/Augusta National)
Virginia’s Amanda Sambach enters the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur three back of Lottie Woad. The former ACC champion said she can relate to Heck’s words.
“Obviously golf has brought me so far,” said Sambach in the lead-up to the ANWA.
“I mean, I love golf … but the thought of trying and traveling by myself for years and years and years without having your whole heart in the sport – the thought of it is scary to me.”
The 21-year-old junior isn’t sure how long she’ll give golf a try after she graduates, but she already knows that her family will support whatever decision she makes. If golf isn’t the future, she’d like to go into the medical field.
One thing is certain: There are options.
“You can still compete,” said Migliaccio, “but it doesn’t have to be your whole life.”
“After a couple of years of painful deliberation, I have come to realize that I do not want to play professional golf.”
This spring, after Rachel Heck completes her senior year at Stanford, she’ll put her golf clubs away and take on an internship in private equity. She’ll also be pinned as a Lieutenant of the United States Air Force. Heck explained her reasons for not turning professional in a first-person essay on nolayingup.com.
“I was strongly considering attributing my decision to my injuries,” wrote Heck, who has grappled with several in recent years. “It is true that even if I wanted to, I do not know if my body would hold up on tour. But frankly, after a couple of years of painful deliberation, I have come to realize that I do not want to play professional golf.
“I do not want a life on the road and in the public eye. I no longer dream of the U.S. Open trophies and the Hall of Fame. And I realize now that these dreams were never what my dad intended when he first put a club in my hand.”
Golf has given me the world and more. Post-graduation, I’m choosing to hold onto my love of the game as an amateur as I explore new horizons. Read about my decision at the link below🫶🏻https://t.co/LDq5j0pYYRpic.twitter.com/pZ7sEfpuX0
Heck qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at age 15 and, as a hotshot junior, suffered a back injury that left her sidelined from the game. Without golf, she felt lost, and during a period of darkness, decided that she wanted to pursue the Air Force ROTC to find something more. Heck’s parents told her she was crazy, but she persisted.
Heck won six times in nine starts in 2021, including her last five events. She became the third player in NCAA history to sweep the postseason, winning the Pac-12 Championship, NCAA regionals and nationals. She posted 15 of 25 rounds in the 60s, including 12 consecutive.
But, as her college career progressed, more injuries followed. While Heck intends to pass on the professional life, she does plan to continue to play amateur golf, following a similar path set by Wake Forest grad Emilia Migliaccio.
“I have grappled with anger, hope, depression, joy, and everything in between,” Heck wrote, “but amid each trial in which I so desperately sought the clarity of a deeper meaning, God always showed me the next step. Right now, the next step is not professional golf.”
Englemann admits she’d be lying if she said the lack of attention never bothered her.
Sadie Englemann used to bring her iPad to class in high school to watch the pros play Amen Corner on Masters.com during class. The surefooted Texan knew from a young age that she wanted to one day compete at the highest level.
Folks who follow women’s amateur golf even a little bit know two of Englemann’s highly decorated teammates at Stanford – Rose Zhang and Rachel Heck. They might even know Megha Ganne, who dazzled at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open when she played her way into the final group on Sunday as a high schooler.
But Englemann?
It’s tough to step out from the shadows cast by the greatest amateur player in the modern game (Zhang), and the hotshot golfer who will graduate as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force (Heck).
Englemann admits she’d be lying if she said the lack of attention never bothered her. A top-10 finish at a tournament barely gets a mention when her teammates are winning every week.
“But when it’s two of your best friends in the world,” said Englemann, “it’s hard to be jealous.”
Sadie Englemann (courtesy Stanford athletics)
Englemann, now in her senior year, came to the realization if she wanted that kind of spotlight, she’d have to raise her game.
Heading into her second Augusta National Women’s Amateur April 3-6, Englemann ranks 38th in the world and boasts back-to-back top-five finishes in her last two college starts. She’s the highest-ranked Cardinal of the four who qualified for the field. Heck, still plagued by a shoulder injury, is expected to play.
The two ANWA appearances will bookend Englemann’s career at Stanford. She missed the cut the first time around, but one gets the feeling her time is coming.
“Sadie absolutely loves golf,” said Stanford coach Anne Walker. “She eats, sleeps and breathes golf all day long. Because of that, she’s always wanting to get better. She’s obsessed about getting better.”
And her game since coming to Palo Alto, said Walker, is like night and day.
“I was a good player, and I had some success in my junior career,” said Englemann, “but I was also a hothead. Anyone would tell you that.”
Unable to control her emotions on the course, a bad stretch of holes would invariably balloon into a bad round. It’s not that she gave up on the round.
“I would try so hard to get back to even par,” she explained, “that I would blow up mentally.”
A more mature Englemann has learned how to stabilize herself, pointing to significant progress in recent months.
From a technical standpoint, Walker rerouted Englemann’s swing to help her play with a fade. Englemann came to Stanford hitting a draw that sometimes became uncontrollable.
While she doesn’t have a textbook swing, Walker notes, Englemann is comfortable with her own style and has learned much about her game. In 2022, Englemann helped the Cardinal win the team NCAA title.
“To play at the highest level,” said Walker, “you have to know yourself well.”
Englemann, who will graduate in June with a degree in science, technology and society, was starstruck at her first U.S. Women’s Open last summer at Pebble Beach. At the same time, the exposure gave her confirmation she could perform among the best in the world.
Zhang won her first LPGA start as a professional last spring after claiming both the ANWA and NCAA titles.
Englemann notes that Walker never gave Zhang special treatment at Stanford. She qualified for tournaments like everyone else.
When Walker talked to the media, Englemann continued, she never focused on one player. The chemistry felt among the Stanford players – with Zhang at the center – was strong, and it was real.
Zhang propelled everyone around her to get better.
“Freshman year Sadie would’ve gone (to ANWA) just overwhelmed by the stage and all the great players,” said Walker. “Almost feeling like she was an outsider looking in.
“I can tell you that she was literally a part of my journey at the NCAAs.”
NAPLES, Fla. — Never before has a player’s “what’s in the bag” rundown been wackier than Rose Zhang’s at this year’s NCAA Championship.
At the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, Zhang told reporters that teammate Rachel Heck put her rib bone in Zhang’s bag during a practice round in Scottsdale, Arizona. The pair roomed together at NCAAs.
“Safe to say that I didn’t carry it with me throughout the tournament,” said Zhang, “but I can tell you that that rib was in my golf bag for a solid 24 hours. And, yeah, we came back and it was like that’s the most low-key disturbing thing that we could have done with her rib.”
In March, Heck, the 2021 NCAA champion, underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, which involved the removal of her first rib. Heck brought the rib to NCAAs in the jar doctors put it in last spring. She also took it with her to ROTC field training over the summer at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
Stanford’s Rachel Heck (left) and Rose Zhang (right) at the 2022 NCAA Championship. (Photo: Darren Reese/Stanford)
The rib is currently in Heck’s room back home in Memphis, but she joked that she might take it back to Stanford for winter quarter and sneak it into Zhang’s bag.
Zhang, of course, went on to clinch a second consecutive NCAA Championship before winning the Mizuho Americas Open in her professional debut.
“I can tell you that she was literally a part of my journey at the NCAAs,” said Zhang with a laugh, “so there was that.”
It’s bound to be a thrilling season in women’s college golf.
The summer has come and gone, which means the 2023-24 college golf season is here.
Last season, the record books were rewritten. Rose Zhang had a historical season at Stanford, but it was Wake Forest that took home the team championship, winning the first national title in school history at Grayhawk Golf Club.
Now, there’s no shortage of storylines to follow as we head into the 2023-24 season, including Wake Forest looking to reload and repeat, a former national champion is finally healthy and ready to shine again and a couple teams looking to make their push to the top.
Here’s a look at some of the top storylines for the 2023-24 women’s college golf season.
Rachel Heck doesn’t have any expectations before her final U.S. Women’s Amateur. And she has good reason.
Last week, Heck earned her Prop and Wings after graduating from the Air Force’s grueling ROTC field training at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. Heck spent 17 days going through rigorous training, drills and more, all a part of her journey to becoming a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force once she graduates from Stanford.
“I didn’t have my phone, and there was no golf,” Heck said. “We woke up at 4 a.m. every day, and they even took our watches so we didn’t know what time it was.”
Come Monday, she’ll tee it up alongside 155 of the world best women’s amateur golfers at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles. It will be her seventh appearance in the oldest women’s amateur championship in the world.
And it was those 17 days in Alabama that will help prepare her for the Women’s Amateur as well as the rest of her life, whether that’s on the golf course or serving her country.
“It was definitely the biggest mental and physical challenge I’ve ever faced,” Heck said. “It was also by far the most rewarding and transformational. I learned so much. I left with new family.”
Heck has long been known as one of the greatest amateur golfers in the United States. She reached the semifinals of the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur and won medalist honors after stroke play in 2020. In her freshman year at Stanford, Heck swept championship season, winning the Pac-12 title, the NCAA Regional and NCAA Championship en route to earning the 2021 ANNIKA Award for women’s college golfer of the year.
In the midst of all of that, she was a student at one of the most academically prestigious universities in the country while participating in the Air Force ROTC program.
Rachel Heck recently received her Prop and Wings after graduating from the Air Force’s ROTC field training. (Photo provided)
She joined the ROTC program her freshman year, deciding to give it a try. The original plan was to do it for a year and feel it out. She fell in love.
“I realized very quickly I needed something else in my life besides golf,” Heck said. “I didn’t feel like I was going to live a fulfilling life by putting all of my eggs into one basket.”
Heck had plenty of people tell her she couldn’t handle the duties of being a Division-I athlete, let alone at Stanford, and be in an ROTC program.
That made the feeling even sweeter when she earned her Prop and Wings last week. She described the feeling to what she felt riding from the 17th green to the clubhouse at Grayhawk Golf Club after winning the team national title in 2022.
“It was really special because there were so many times where I’ve doubted myself and I’ve gotten overwhelmed and everything piles up and I’m just drowning in work and can’t handle it all,” Heck said, “but every time I managed to push through and was able to do it on my own.”
Heck credits the support system around her, especially her family, teammates and coaches, for supporting her in her journey, which hasn’t been easy this year.
In March, Heck had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, which involved removing her first rib. She didn’t play a round of competitive golf because of the injury from October until the first round of the NCAA Championship. Heck shot an 82 and was emotional in the moment after her round.
The rest of the championships, however, she embraced her role as a leader and helped Stanford capture the stroke-play title, even if she wasn’t playing.
Now, Heck is back healthy and heads to Los Angeles to end her summer trying to capture the Robert Cox Trophy for the first time. She knows that may be difficult, considering she has likely had the least amount of practice as anyone in the field thanks to her field training. However, Heck said the benefits of being in the Air Force ROTC have outweighed the sacrifices she has made in her golf game.
“I feel super blessed. I feel so much gratitude to be playing golf,” Heck said. “But it has been a very, very rewarding few years culminating in a very, very rewarding 17 days.”
Heck has one more year in ROTC, this one being a freshman squadron commander, where she’ll get to showcase her leadership.
She hasn’t played Bel-Air before but gets practice rounds Saturday and Sunday before her afternoon tee time come Monday. She said her final amateur USGA event has given her a chance to reflect on her incredible amateur career.
“They do such an incredible job with this event,” Heck said. “I’m just excited. I’m full of gratitude. I have a great perspective on the game and on life after everything that has happened this past two years.”
“I went to Stanford to win a national championship.”
Days before Stanford’s 2023 spring opener, the reigning national champions were presented a challenge. Lineup stalwarts in Rachel Heck and Brooke Seay would not make the trip to Palos Verdes for the Therese Hession Challenge due to injuries. More troubling news would follow: Sadie Englemann tweaked her back.
After finding out the news from an athletic trainer, head coach Anne Walker insisted Sadie spend the next few days with ice and rest. Assuming Sadie would follow suit, Walker maintained business as usual. Sitting up in her office at Siebel Golf Varsity Training Complex, she sat on the phone before looking up at the range and noticed a familiar silhouette.
Walker hung up and marched out of her office. “What are you doing?” she asked Englemann.
“Don’t worry coach,” she assured. “I’m not gonna hit that many. But I’ve got to grind.” Her pleas fell on deaf ears. “You’re going to pack up your bag and march your butt over to the putting green,” Walker ordered.
And despite the head coach’s horror, Walker wasn’t surprised; this was classic Englemann. Described as having a heart of a lion, Walker told the Englemann during her recruitment they’d win a championship with her in the lineup – and that dream came to fruition at the end of her sophomore year.
“I went to Stanford to win a national championship,” she said. “That’s all I could have asked for.”
Halfway across the country was where Walker plucked Englemann. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, as an only child, Sadie spent significant time on a golf course with her stay-at-home dad, Mike, who saw a natural talent manifest from his three-year-old daughter. Eventually, he decided to enter Sadie into Texas junior golf events with quite the strategy; the older the competition, the better.
“The only way to get better is if you play people who are going to beat you and show you how to lose,” Mike told her. By the time eighth grade rolled around, so did the offers. A down-home Southern girl, Sadie grew up a Texas A&M fan from a strong lineage on her dad’s side. It was always assumed she’d stick around – making Stanford an unusually tough pitch.
“She didn’t really give me any indication of where she was going to go,” Walker says. A few nervous weeks would result, but the head coach would realize she had little to worry about. Sadie admits Stanford was her childhood dream school – but aside from prestige, she knew very little about it.
In a recruit, Walker found a player who quickly found success on the AJGA. The only player to shoot under par, she broke out in the Shanshan Feng Girls Invitational as a high school sophomore and was awarded an exemption into an Epson Tour event, fulfilling a dream of professional golf she still maintains. Earning medalist honors thirteen times, she’d go on to win back-to-back state titles before heading off to Stanford…online. COVID kept The Cardinal at home until the spring of 2021, when Englemann finally stepped foot on the campus of her dreams.
Check out who’s in the running for women’s college golfer of the year.
As the fall season winds to a close, it’s time to recognize players who set themselves apart as frontrunners in women’s college golf over the past two and a half months.
Rose Zhang, who won the award as a freshman at Stanford last season, is off to an excellent start this year, but plenty of others are making their case early, like Andrea Lignell at Ole Miss, among many others.
The ANNIKA Award honors the player of the year in college women’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the ANNIKA Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.
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__.
