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.”
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.
“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…
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