Rachel Kuehn, a graduate student at Wake Forest and two-time U.S. Curtis Cup team member, is making her fourth appearance at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur when she plays this week. Previously, she has shared the experience with her mother, another noted amateur Brenda Corrie Kuehn, who has worked at times as her caddie in the event. But this year, Rachel has switched it up by putting another experienced player on the bag: DP World Tour pro—and boyfriend—Alex Fitzpatrick.
Before turning pro in 2022, Fitzpatrick played college golf himself at Wake Forest, where the pair met. In addition to having a runner-up finish last fall while keeping his DP World Tour card, he’s also familiar with caddie duties. He was on the bag for his older brother Matt during a triumphant run at the 2013 U.S. Amateur at The Country Club.
During an interview with Amanda Balionis, Alex, No. 146 in the most recent Official World Golf Ranking, noted “it’s worse caddieing for her [Kuehn] because I’ll get a little abused if I do something wrong, whereas caddieing for my brother I was only 13 so I didn’t really know what was going on.”
Caddie, partner and professional golfer.
Augusta National Women’s Amateur competitor Rachel Kuehn has found the perfect pairing with Alex Fitzpatrick.#ANWAgolf pic.twitter.com/8lQSmYb9T8
— Augusta National Women's Amateur (@anwagolf) April 2, 2024
Kuehn, 22, is competing as the 15th best amateur player in the world. In the 2022, she advanced to the final round of the tournament, getting to play Augusta National in competition, where she birdied four of her first seven holes.
“I couldn’t even dream of getting into this event when it first started,” Kuehn told Balionis, “and now playing for my fourth year, I feel like I’m a veteran.”
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The couple recently appeared together on Netflix’s second season of “Full Swing.” In the interview with Balionis, they both talked about the positive messages they’ve received since being on the show together and how happy they were that they were able to express their true selves.
The two are both leveling up in the world leaderboard, starring in Netflix shows and now competing in the ANWA together as player and caddie. Seems like a power couple if I’ve ever seen one.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com