Asheville School rising sophomore Rachel Kuehn.
Special thanks to Asheville School for this information and the photo:
Asheville School’s Rachel Kuehn Plays in U.S. Girls Junior
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (July 22, 2016) Asheville School’s Rachel Kuehn competed in the U.S. Girls Junior golf tournament in Paramus, N.J. this week. In the first two rounds, Rachel shot 13 over par with rounds of 79-80, missing the cut to continue by only three strokes.
Rachel enjoyed and learned from the competition. “It was an amazing experience to get a chance to see how I can compete on a national level,” she said. “I got to meet a lot of new people and see how they practice and warm up. I have learned drills that I will be able to bring back with me to help my game.”
Rachel’s mother Brenda Corrie-Kuehn is no stranger to competitive golfing, having competed in many tournaments including U.S. Girls Junior Championships, U.S. Women’s Opens, and U.S. Women’s Amateurs herself. She is proud of Rachel’s hard work and she was excited to have the shared experience of this caliber tournament with her daughter.
“It really was a special week for both of us,” Brenda said. “As a parent who has played, I have no words to explain how it feels to have the opportunity to share this moment with her. I had so many emotions go through me this week that you would have thought I was the one playing in the tournament. Fortunately it was her and not me playing and I could not have been prouder of her play and demeanor.”
Rachel played hard, and although she missed the cut to continue, she had some outstanding moments of play. “During the first round, I was five over par going into the twelfth hole, a par 5. I hit my drive down the middle, had pulled my second shot a little left, and was left with a half wedge into the green,” said Rachel. “I was about 70 yards away from the pin, and I hit my wedge right where I wanted to and it went in for eagle.”
Rachel is happy that her game continues to improve. “[My game] has come leaps and bounds from where it was last summer. I hit the ball more consistently, and I hit it longer,” she said. “Although my putting struggled this past week, I feel that even it has improved as well.”
Rachel is playing in several more competitions this summer and fall. As she prepares, her mother leaves her with this advice: “Hard work pays off although it does not guarantee a win. Play the game because you love it, not because you have to. It will give you much more in return than you ever imagined and you will end up with relationships that will last a lifetime.”
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