Golf has produced many historic amateur careers. From Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods to Jay Sigel, amateur golf has many legends.
But no family has produced a resume like the Kuehne family over the past 30 years.
Kelli, Trip and Hank won six USGA national titles. His mother, Pam, was the driving force of the family’s first amateur golfer, while his father, Ernie, instilled the competitive nature in the children that allowed them to collect USGA titles. Hank won the 1998 US Amateur at Oak Hill. Trip lost to Tiger Woods in the 1994 US Amateur match at TPC Sawgrass, but won the 2007 US Mid-Amateur at Bandon Dunes and played on three Walker Cup teams.
But Kelli was the most accomplished player in the legendary golf family. She won the US Girls’ Junior in 1994 and the US Women’s Amateur in 1995, becoming the first woman to do so since JoAnne Carter. She later repeated as American women’s amateur champion and won the British Ladies Amateur before turning professional at 19.
No other family has matched what the Kuehne family has accomplished in amateur golf. On the latest episode of GOLF’s Subpar Podcast, Trip Kuehne discussed his family’s historic amateur golf heritage.
“It was amazing,” Trip Kuehne told co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “Some of the things that my sister did is just sick. She never lost a high school tournament playing for Highland Park. She played like 32 tournaments, won 32 tournaments. So, I know Tiger’s were three US Juniors and three American Amateurs, and again, I’m biased, but Tiger had some losses in between, so his amateur sister and British Amateur. all in a row and never lost It was pretty impressive Unfortunately, the game has changed.
“Being there with Hank in 1998 at Oak Hill when he won, it inspired me to continue. I think one of the things that allowed my brother and his sister and me to be so good is that someone always had a little success. I was pretty good young, I had a little success, I won some state high school (titles). That led to Hank playing pretty well. Someone always thought that you won it. to learn to win, he thought if you took good athletes and gave them good instruction and taught them to compete and win then you could create good golfers.
To hear more from Trip Kuehne, check out the entire episode on YouTube.
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