Memphis golf phenom Rachel Heck makes stunning announcement: She won't play professionally

Rachel Heck, who rose to No. 3 in the world amateur rankings as one of the most heralded golf prospects to emerge from Memphis, says she’s no longer planning to play professional golf after her college career at Stanford is complete this spring. 

Heck made the announcement in an essay published Monday by the national golf website, No Laying Up. She explained the decision went beyond the injuries that have prevented her from participating in college golf’s postseason since she won a national championship as a freshman three years ago. 

“It is true that even if I wanted to, I do not know if my body would hold up on tour,” Heck wrote. “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. He pushed me when I was young so that I could find myself in the position I am right now: Stepping into the future equipped with the skills to tackle any challenge and the courage to pave my own path.”

Heck’s meteoric rise was derailed in recent years by thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve-related injury that affects the area between the ribs and collarbone. She had surgery in March 2023 to have a rib removed to alleviate pain. She has played just 17 competitive rounds at Stanford over the past two years, according to the team website. 

But Heck did make it to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur this past August, played for Stanford this past fall, and won a match last month in her first appearance this spring with the Cardinal. Heck wrote that she still hopes to play in amateur events and USGA championships in the future.

She burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old in 2017, qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open and then making the cut despite being the youngest golfer in the field. Heck did it again the next year as the youngest competitor at the LPGA Evian Championship and finished with the lowest score among amateurs. She continued to play high school golf for St. Agnes Academy as well, winning four straight TSSAA state championships. 

Heck then delayed her professional career to attend Stanford and became just the third woman to sweep the NCAA golf postseason, winning championships at the conference, regional and national tournaments as a freshman in 2021. She was only the second freshman to win the ANNIKA Award, given annually to the best women’s Division I golfer, and her scoring average in 25 rounds of college golf (69.76) is also the lowest in NCAA history.

Heck, named The Commercial Appeal's sports person of the year in 2021, was Stanford’s first NCAA individual champion in women’s golf and earned third team all-American status when the Cardinal won the NCAA team championship in 2022, a season in which she battled mononucleosis. 

“What I didn’t know was that the next few years would be riddled with sickness and injuries and invisible trials that I’m grateful I could not have foreseen,” Heck wrote in the No Laying Up essay. “What I didn’t know is that the next time I would potentially play a full postseason would be my senior year. I have grappled with anger, hope, depression, joy, and everything in between, 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.”

Heck graduates this spring from Stanford with a degree in political science and wrote that she’s slated to begin an internship in private equity this summer. Heck has also been part of the Army ROTC for years, completed field training last summer and will soon attain the rank of lieutenant.