Rachel Heck celebrates her 1 up win in the Round of 64 on Thursday with her father, Robert, who serves as her caddie.
photo by USGA/Darren Carroll
As Robert Heck stood outside the clubhouse at The Honors Course on Thursday morning, he was relaxed and quick to share a smile.
With his daughter, Rachel, safely inside the cutline to advance to match play as the rain-delayed second round neared completion at the 126th U.S. Women’s Amateur, Robert was excited about seeing where this journey might lead.
“I told Rachel that we’re playing with house money now,” said Robert, who has served as his daughter’s caddie for many years since she burst onto the amateur golf scene as a 15-year-old prodigy in 2017. “There’s no pressure now. Let’s just go out there and have some fun.”
And what fun they did have.
Entering her Round of 64 match as the No. 61 seed, Heck was slotted to take on fourth seeded Anna Davis, one of rising stars of women’s golf after she herself burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old four years ago after winning the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The two-time All-American entering her senior season at Auburn was coming off a summer where she was part of the winning U.S. team at the Curtis Cup at Bel-Air Country Club.
Conversely, Heck is still trying to find her sea legs after taking a two-year sabbatical from competitive golf following completion of her stellar career at Stanford. She made a nice showing by finishing sixth last month at the LNGA Amateur Championship, but her game was still admittedly a work in progress.
But Heck showed glimmers of her past form that saw her win six times as a freshman at Stanford in 2021 including capturing the NCAA Individual crown. After going 1 down thru four holes, the 24-year-old Memphis native never trailed again on her way to a 1 up decision over Davis.
Heck stuffed her approach on No. 5 for birdie to square the match, then took a 1 up lead with a par at the seventh when Davis failed to get up and down after missing the green with her approach. Faced with a blind shot from 117 yards at No. 9, Heck delivered a dart to a foot that was conceded for birdie, taking a 2 up advantage into the turn.
After trading birdies at 10, Davis cut her deficit in half with a birdie at 11 before pulling even with another birdie two holes later. Heck regained the lead with a birdie on the par 3 14th when her tee shot settled two feet from the cup, and then she regained her 2 up cushion at 16 when Davis’ tee shot bounced over the green on the par 3 resulting in a bogey.
Unwilling to go quietly, Davis kept the match alive with a birdie at 17 and Heck missed her attempt to close. Heck then sealed the win at 18 when her tap in for bogey was conceded.
“I have not felt that in a long time,” a jubilant Heck said after her match. “It was so fun to feel those emotions again, the adrenaline and the nerves. I haven’t felt that in a long time… This is the feeling I really wanted when I decided to get back into amateur golf and play some more. I wanted the opportunity to come down the stretch in a match and have my heart racing.”
The outcome produced another hard luck result for Davis in what is likely her final U.S. Women’s Amateur appearance. In her previous three tries, Davis has lost to the eventual champion twice (Megan Schofill, 2023 quarterfinals, Megha Ganne, 2025 Round of 32) and the medalist the other time (Maria Jose Marin, 2024 quarterfinals).
This is Heck’s ninth time competing in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, and her sixth time making it to match play. She advanced to the semifinals twice (2023, 2021) and was stroke play medalist in 2020.
She will take on No. 36 seed Gianna Singh of Elk Grove, Calif. in Friday’s Round of 32 match. Singh defeated Nancy Cox of England by a 1 up score.
“I’m definitely appreciating it a lot more than I did a few years ago,” Rachel said. “A few years ago, every tournament I entered, I had the goal of winning and I had really high expectations for myself. And right now, honestly, I feel like I’m playing on house money. I don’t really play golf that much. I don’t practice golf that much. I play, maybe, for like an hour once a week, maybe go play nine holes every now and then, and that started like two months ago. So I’m just kind of living the dream right now.”
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com
Rachel Heck plays her second shot on the seventh hole during the round of 64.
photo by USGA/Darren Carroll