Rachel Heck thought she played her final Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2024.
A year later, though, she’s back—thanks to some paid time off.
“This is the best way to spend PTO,” the 23-year-old said Tuesday ahead of her fourth ANWA start. “Highly recommend it.”
A few years ago, Heck was one of the game’s biggest collegiate stars at Stanford, winning the 2021 NCAA individual title and setting the NCAA scoring record (69.72).
Then, she surprised almost everyone by deciding not to turn pro.
“I was questioning, ‘who am I without this game?’” Heck recently told Golf.com. “And that was the first time I ever really thought about that. Since I was 3 years old, I said I was going to be a professional golfer. I felt super empty and I wanted to find something away from golf, something that felt like my own.”
So the Tennessee native joined ROTC and graduated from Stanford last year before being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of the United States Air Force.
And she has no regrets.
“Everything has changed in the last year and in the best way,” Heck said. “I love where my life is at now. I started a new job. I’ve done a lot more with the Air Force. I was at the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Maryland, for the past few months, so definitely not a lot of golf there. It was pretty chilly. But it was really fun. I’ve learned a ton the last year, and it’s been really awesome.
She hasn’t competed since graduating, and has only played one round of golf this year, making her practice round early in the week pivotal.
“My goal today on the course was just to honestly get comfortable with the golf club in my hand again,” she said Tuesday. “I have not played a lot in the past year, so just good to get some reps in. This is a very difficult course, and it’s honestly just so impressive how much they’ve cleaned it up and how pure it looks after the hurricane and everything.
“It’s just good to start getting a little more comfortable out there today. I got progressively more comfortable as the round went on.
However, her time in Augusta is about more than her final result. She opened Wednesday with a 3-over 75 at Champions Retreat.
“Totally new perspective coming into this week,” she said. “Honestly, I thought last year was going to be my last ANWA, and I knew I’d have to have a really good spring to potentially get back, and I ended up doing that. This feels like totally a bonus year.
“My expectations game-wise, I just haven't really been playing golf. I’ve had a lot of new things to focus on. Just total gratitude for being here. Really just going to enjoy every second of it.”
And with or without the trophy in her hand Saturday night, her PTO will end, and it’ll be back to the real world.
“Next, soon to go back to San Francisco, go back to my job,” she said. “... Air Force-wise, hopefully I’ll get down to my base in Los Angeles soon. That’s going to start ramping up a lot more, so really excited.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Using PTO From Air Force, Former NCAA Champ Giving ANWA Another Go-Round.
