Golfer Rachel Kuehn Chases Mom's Tennessee Win 37 Years Later

Rachel Kuehn stepped onto the Green Meadow Country Club course this week knowing she had a special chance to match a piece of family history that's been hanging over her head for years.

The 25-year-old professional golfer is competing at the Smoky Mountain Championship in Alcoa, Tennessee, just two hours from where she grew up. Her mother, Brenda Corrie-Kuehn, won a professional tournament not far from here in Chattanooga back in 1988, a victory that's become loving ammunition in their relationship.

"First it was that she played in college," Rachel said with a laugh. "Then, once I got to college, it was that she'd won a college tournament. Now the big thing she holds over me is that she won as a professional. It's become an inside joke between us."

But the family's golf story goes even deeper. Brenda qualified for and played in the 2001 U.S. Women's Open while eight or nine months pregnant with Rachel. Rachel was born just a week after that tournament ended, meaning she made headlines in women's golf before taking her first breath.

Now in her second season on the Epson Tour, Rachel is writing her own chapter. She sits 15th in the Race for the Card standings and has earned nearly $114,000 in career winnings, still chasing that elusive first professional victory.

One major difference between mother and daughter is their approach to the game. Rachel has embraced aggressive play, sometimes making Brenda's "heart race" from the gallery when she goes for risky shots her mom would never attempt.

"I'll see her go for the water hazard with a wood and think, oh my gosh, what is she doing?" Brenda said. "And then she executes it. That's my girl."

Sunny's Take

What makes this story special isn't just the potential win. It's watching a daughter chase her dreams while her proudest supporter cheers from the sidelines, occasionally covering her eyes at the bold shots she'd never take herself.

Rachel credits her mother's mental toughness as the biggest lesson she's carried into professional golf. "Her mind is her biggest asset on the golf course," Rachel said. "She's instilled that in both my brothers and me since we were old enough to walk and swing a club."

This week, Brenda and Rachel's father will be in the gallery at Green Meadow, along with family friends from nearby. It's a rare chance for them to watch in person as their daughter climbs toward her ultimate goal: the LPGA Tour.

If Rachel's first professional win does come this week, it won't just be a tournament victory—it'll complete a circle that started in these same Tennessee hills nearly four decades ago, when her mother stood by the 18th green waiting for scores, sick but triumphant, surrounded by fellow competitors who'd become friends.