Rachel Heck Inducted Into Amateur Sports Hall of Fame

Congratulations to St. Agnes alumna Rachel Heck, Class of 2020,  on her recent induction into the Memphis Amateur Sports Hall of Fame. A high school state champion, an NCAA individual champion at Stanford, U.S. Women’s Amateur medalist, and one of the nation’s top amateur golfers, Rachel’s journey has been defined by excellence. During her time as a student at St. Agnes, she also discovered a passion for art—one that continues to shape her life today.

In honor of her induction into the Hall of Fame the Daily Memphian featured Rachel and her inspiring story.  Read below. 

Painter. Air Force reservist. Bride-to-be. Rachel Heck isn’t just a star golfer from Memphis anymore.

By Tim Buckley, Daily MemphianUpdated: March 19, 2026 10:59 AM CT | Published: March 18, 2026 4:00 AM CT

Photos from Daily Memphian

For some, golf is life.

For Rachel Heck, a former NCAA individual champion and a new inductee into the Memphis Amateur Sports Hall of Fame, there’s so much more to it than birdies and bogeys.

The reminder rests in an Altoid’s box.

That’s right: an Altoid’s box.

Its intended purpose is to hold breath mints. Some keep loose coins in their box. Heck’s, gifted by her now-retired high school art teacher, held paint.

The tiny tin fit in her golf bag. It’s traveled with her, from c ourse to course throughout the country. And it inspired the passion she finally has time to pursue.

Heck paints, professionally. And golf no longer gets in the way.

She serves in the U.S. Air Force Reserve too, something she could not have done had she chosen to play full-time.

On top of it all she’ll soon be getting married, further evidence of the balance Heck feared she might never enjoy.

But now can.

All because she dared to do what some — especially herself — doubted she’d ever have the guts to do.

And wow is Heck ever glad she did.

“I think stepping away from golf full-time has given me the opportunity to really explore things that I love,” she said prior to her hall of fame induction ceremony Monday night at the Memphis Hilton.

With the sport Heck has loved since she was 4 on the back burner — at least for the time being — art, her military service and planning for a wedding are what keep the native Memphian now based in New York City busy these days.

All that and more is why the St. Agnes Academy product is thrilled she opted to pass on pursuing the LPGA Tour, even after having capped her collegiate career playing a big part in Stanford’s 2024 NCAA team championship.

“I love being able to lean into those things and explore everything life has to offer,” Heck said.

When she was playing in high school — Heck was a four-time Tennessee state champion — her chosen sport frequently felt be-all and end-all.

“It was so difficult to have perspective and know that there’s more to life than golf,” said Heck, who tied for 33rd as a young teenager at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open, was stroke play medalist at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur and in October 2025 was awarded the first Annika Inspiration Award presented to “women who are making a meaningful impact” in areas such as civil service, education, social advocacy, entrepreneurship, mental health, arts, sports or environmental activism.

“And I learned it the hard way,” Heck added. “It’s not like I’ve always had, maybe, the perspective I have now.”

 

The Stanford Experience

So much came into focus while Heck was at Stanford.

After winning her NCAA individual championship as a freshman in 2021, part of Heck’s sophomore season was cut short by illness.

Her junior season was derailed by injury: thoracic outlet syndrome, a condition in which, according to hopkinsmedicine.org, “nerves or blood vessels are compressed by the rib, collarbone or neck muscles at the top of the outlet.” Surgery was performed, and one rib was removed.

“I had to go through really tough times and be, really, super-depressed when I was injured and couldn’t play golf,” Heck said. “I just felt like I had a total loss of identity.

“So I’m really grateful for those experiences now — that I did get to learn at a young age that it’s who you are, it’s not what you do.”

With more than 25,000 followers already on Instagram, Heck seemed bound to be a popular figure on social media had she made it big on the LPGA Tour.

But while she was at Stanford, Heck started coming to the realization that the world was not contained within the space between the first tee and the green at 18.

She joined ROTC, an officer training program for college students.

“I told my parents I wanted, perhaps, to try Air Force ROTC. They told me I was crazy,” Heck herself wrote in 2024 for the golf website nolayingup.com. “It would be simply impossible to keep up with Stanford academics, Division I golf, a social life and the military.”

The ROTC experience inspired her current part-time position in the Air Force Reserve

“When I started ROTC I had no idea if the Air Force was for me, but I wanted to give it a try,” Heck said. “And it turns out that’s really where I’m just supposed to be right now. So I love that.”

 

A Way to Serve

As a reservist, Heck is required to perform just one month of service a year at her home base.

Always an overachiever, she put in about six months on active status at various locales last year alone.

Her position, IMA (individual mobilization augmentee) — the military loves its acronyms — amounts to a public affairs specialist handling communications strategy and press gatherings.

“You always need PA (public affairs) covering different exercises around the world,” Heck said, “so there’s a ton of cool opportunities.

“It’s kind of ‘choose your own adventure,’ which I love.”

As she weighed post-college plans, Heck fought to find her identity.

With time, she realized what she did not want it to be. But she wasn’t certain what it should be, and she certainly didn’t want to limit herself.

And now she’s found herself.

In her values. In what she loves doing. In the people she loves.

“Once I learned that, stepping away from golf wasn’t too hard,” said Heck, now 24. “Because I feel like I’m ‘me’ wherever I go now …

“I did get to learn at a young age that it’s who you are, it’s not what you do.”

It was a difficult decision, for sure. As soon as I made it, I felt total confidence that was the right decision. And I felt that since I made the decision — probably, like, fall of my senior year.

“But it was hard, because I always imagined myself playing golf. If you asked 4-year-old Rachel what she wanted to do when she grew up, she would say, ‘Professional golf.’ ”

That was always what she expected for herself, and always what she felt others expected from her.

“I’m happy for her. I mean, it took a lot of courage to walk away from that professional thing,” said Janice McCarty, one of Heck’s former teachers at St. Agnes. “Because she dreamed about that her whole life. But that shows you how grounded she is. How smart she is.

“But she’s humble. She’s always been a very humble person, not wanting to call attention to her. … I’m just so proud of how mature she has been about her decisions in her life, and grounded and balanced. Because I know she also has a faith in God. I don’t know how many people her age could make the decisions she’s made, and done so well.”

Over time, though, it started to make sense for Heck.

The notion of a pro golf career started to slip at the turn.

“It was hard to kind of dig through all that and realize, like, that’s not what I want for my life,” Heck said. “So, it was hard to make that decision. But once I did I just haven’t looked back.”

Her work with the Air Force Reserve continues.

Heck also dabbled in the finance world and spent her first year after graduation with KKR, a global investment and private equity firm.

It wasn’t for her.

At least not now, with so many other things to do and so little time to do them all.

It’s not easy, after all, to step away from the finance world to accept the three-month Air Force Reserve assignment she really prefers.

Yet Heck is not one to lock any door, even after shutting it.

“As one of the partners told me,” Heck said, “‘Finance will always be here, if you ever want to come back to finance.’ ”

 

An Itch to Play

There was one big benefit to the corporate world, though.

“I did a lot of corporate scrambles,” Heck said with a laugh. “I think that was my biggest value to KKR.”

Everyone loves a ringer.

A scramble here and there, though, left Heck feeling she may someday find a way to welcome higher-level golf back into her busy schedule.

Just not as a full-time pro.

“I actually want to play more,” said Heck, who currently doesn’t do that much at all.

“I had a lot of injuries toward the end of college that I still kind of deal with, so I’m trying to sort those out now, figure out the right course of treatment, and hopefully I’ll be able to play a lot more amateur golf soon.”

Because Heck’s reality is this: “I do love the game.”

Still.

Even after all the time she was hurt. All the time it left her down. All the time it took away from doing anything else.

“It’s still important to me whenever I do it now,” said Heck, one of three golf-playing sisters. “I’ve played a couple tournaments since graduating, and I just love it. It’s the beauty of golf, is that it’s in your life forever.”

Even when it’s not all there is to life.

So if she qualifies for a future U.S. Women’s Amateur? If she has an opportunity to play in a future U.S. Women’s Mid-Am? If she plays in a U.S. Open qualifier and happens to advance?

If her game gets back to what it once was?

Remember, Heck locks no doors.

“So it would be awesome if, you know, my game’s in good shape,” she said. Heck has another reason to not put her bag away forever.

She joined Memphis Redbirds manager Ben Johnson, a Germantown High product who played for the San Diego Padres and New York, and 11 other locals who’ve influenced Memphis sports, in being honored Monday.

“It’s just so special. Memphis will always be my ‘home,’ ” Heck said. “So any excuse I can find to come back and be here, I’ll take it in a heartbeat.

“Just to be inducted into the Memphis Amateur Sports Hall of Fame is such an honor. (Monday) I was reading the bios of the other honorees, and I was blown away by what they’ve done and the long careers they’ve had in sports and just the impact they’ve made on Memphis through sports, so it just was inspiring for me to continue to keep golf a part of my life.”

 

The World of Art

Just a part, though.

“I think on my priority list, that’s not the top,” Heck said of golf.

“I’m gonna focus on my Air Force career. My art. My marriage. Things like that. But I definitely will keep practicing when I can, and if I get some cool opportunities and big tournaments out of that, then that’s just a pure bonus.”

 

Ah, the engagement.

The art.

Heck really does have a lot going on.

Her wedding is scheduled for April 2027.

“I’m so excited,” Heck said, eyes lighting up as she spoke.

The sparkle is bright when her painting comes up too.

It’s been a part of her as long as she can remember, even if she didn’t pull out her brush nearly as often as her driver.

“I’ve always loved art,” Heck said.

“I used to keep a little, tiny sketch book in my golf bag and a little set of watercolors in an Altoid’s box with, like, one paint brush.”

Heck will never forget who gave that to her.

“My art teacher in high school, who was amazing,” she said. “I owe a lot to her.”

McCarty taught art for 18 years at St. Agnes. She retired in 2019, and now lives near family in Helotes, Texas, near San Antonio.

Why give an Altoid’s box filled with paint to one of Memphis’ greatest amateur golfers?

“I was heartbroken, because Rachel could not continue with art (classes), and it was because … she was traveling so much with her golf, and missing school,” said McCarty, a painter herself. “And she’s an excellent student. Just so smart. And she was trying to keep up with all of her academics while she was traveling.

“(But) Art 3 and Art 4 had huge requirements of paintings, and she just couldn’t keep up with it.”

Instead of enrolling in the upper-level high school art classes, Heck — when she was in town — instead would sometimes hang out in McCarty’s art room during lunchtime.

“So I gave her that little Altoid box, and I think I gave her a little sketch book too, because I knew it would fit in her bag,” said McCarty, who keeps in touch with Heck via texts and messages on Facebook. “And I didn’t know whether she would continue. I was hoping she would.

“I’m thrilled to know she’s still painting today. I was kind of sorry she’s not playing golf anymore, but at least she’s painting.”

Heck never dared to pull out any of her supplies out during a competitive round, although at one particular course — Augusta, home of the Masters — she was tempted more than once.

“Then I would be like, ‘OK, maybe this is not the right time after all,’ ” she said.

Heck nevertheless used the book, box and brush often.

“If I (was) at practice by myself and I saw something really pretty, I would just put my bag down, stop, get out the watercolors and paint,” she said. “That has been such a constant throughout my life. And it’s always been so good for me mentally.”

Heck said she painted throughout college “a good bit.”

“But not nearly as much as I wanted to,” she added. “So, when I decided not to go pro I would get the question, ‘OK, what are things you want to do now that you have a lot of (time)?’ … And art always was at the top of that list.

“And I’m just loving it, and I’m just having so much fun with it.”

McCarty saw something special in Heck right away, and it had nothing to do with approach shots or long putts.

“Her best friend at that time … and (Heck), they both were wonderful artists,” McCarty said. “I remember the paintings she (Heck) did and the artwork she did in my room. Very skilled. And very smart about her art — problem-solving, creating compositions, mixing her colors. She’s very good. And there also was a passion about it. She did it with such ease. You could tell she loved it.”

Heck is now a commissioned painter. Most of her original pieces are golf-inspired. The USGA has even hired her to do some work.

She sells her paintings on her own website, the aptly named caddiecornerart.com, with prices ranging from $40 for prints to a recently released $2,200 piece titled “Eighteenth in Awe.”

According to the website, the unframed 24x30 acrylic and modeling paste on gallery wrapped canvas piece was inspired by the first time Heck walked down 18 at Pebble Beach. She was 15 years old.

“Influenced in part by Werner Bronkhorst’s perspective and scale, I wanted the figures to feel small against something vast — the ocean, the moment, the calling,” Heck writes on the website, referencing a renowned South African-born artist. “The textures, movement and bits of gold mirror how that walk felt: emotional, powerful, and magical.”

From Rae’s Creek and the azaleas at Augusta, where she played in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, to side-by-side fairways inspired by her college golf days, Heck gives life to courses on canvas from a unique perspective.

She sells T-shirts, sweatshirts and pennant banners on her site too.

“I love it that she has tied her golf courses into her art — that she’s doing the two things she loves the most, in collaboration,” McCarty said while sitting alongside a granddaughter Tuesday morning and doing some sketching herself in a Texas coffee shop.

“You know, we always tried to tell the kids, whether they’re writers or they’re artists, ‘You need to paint what you know, write about what you know.’

“And I know that she must have really deep feelings about those golf courses in her life, and she’s putting it on canvas. And apparently other people feel that way about those certain holes on golf courses, and those paintings are selling. If you can combine all your passions into one thing, what a piece of dynamite that is.”