Belgium’s and Stanford’s Rebecca Becht Brings Golf Skills — Mental, Physical Discipline — to EcoAthletes Champions and #ClimateComeback
“I love to take on the complex challenges that golf presents: physical, intellectual, logistical, mental and emotional.”
So said Rebecca Becht, a Stanford University junior golfer by way of Belgium. The Earth Systems major at the Doerr School of Sustainability brings that mental toughness she has developed on the golf course to keep her moving forward towards climate solutions and away from the hazards of climate grief and anxiety.
Rebecca Becht follows the path of her tee shot (Photo credit: Stanford Athletics)
According EcoAthletes founder and CEO Lew Blaustein, that is just one of many reasons why Becht is a welcome addition to the Champions roster.
“Rebecca impressed me right away as someone who has the ambition to want to go big on climate solutions,” Blaustein offered. “More importantly in my view, she brings a top golfer’s temperament and skill set — next level mental discipline and focus, along with with creativity and persistence, to the #ClimateComeback. That’s why we can’t wait to work with her!”
Becht showed at a young age that she had a chance to go big as a golfer.
“Thanks to my two older brothers, I tried golf when I was seven,” she shared. “I sort of got the hang of it quickly! During junior camps at my home club, Royal Waterloo Golf Club, just outside Brussels, I was typically surrounded by boys, and I would hit the ball further than them. From that point, I was always playing with the boys — I loved out-driving and beating them!”
From that early age, Becht realized that getting a handle on the mental part of golf would be key to her reaching her potential.
“I’d say that golf is at least 80 percent mental,” she acknowledged. “That said, it’s also so easy to overthink, which makes it even harder. A big key to success is being able to manage your mind on the course, in the moment, when things aren’t going your way. The game is you versus the course, not your opponent. The key to success is to enjoy the challenges the course holds for you and to avoid making it you versus yourself.”
Rebecca Becht blasts out of the sand trap and on to the green (Photo credit: Stanford Athletics)
Becht showed a preternatural ability to keep her mind and emotions under control from her earliest days on a golf course, which allowed her to improve at every aspect of the game. Being able to be self-aware of one’s own strengths and weaknesses is a key to being a successful athlete. “Driving the ball a long way came naturally to me, but I need to continually work hard on my putting and recovery shots to make sure I convert that advantage into scoring.” From the under 12’s to the under 18’s, Becht won national titles in each age category and made Belgian national teams, before making the Ladies national team at 17. Today, she continues to represent Belgium at the highest amateur level tournaments globally.
It’s not hyperbole to say that Becht was destined to continue her golf career at Stanford, the #1 women’s collegiate golf program in the U.S.
“In 2011, when I was nine, my dad was a Visiting Professor at Stanford Law School” Becht recalled. “When I went to visit him, I fell in love with the place as soon as I saw it; Stanford had my heart! From that moment on, I would imagine biking around the campus, going to classes and sitting out on Stanford’s sunny lawns. In fact, I dreamt about it all the time. I had to go to Stanford. Luckily, when I was a junior in high school, after having expressed my interest in Stanford Women’s Golf, Head Coach, Anne Walker, came to watch me play in Scotland. Soon after, she offered me a spot on the team!”
Rebecca Becht (Photo credit: Stanford Athletics)
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Becht’s freshman year at the Palo Alto, California campus was not a fairy tale, complete with its share of ups and downs.
“We didn’t have a fall season in 2020; I could only practice by myself or with our then assistant coach,” she reported. “Spring semester was a bit better, but we really could only have contact with people in the athletics bubble. Sophomore year, 2021-22, was much more normal. Unfortunately, I didn’t qualify to play on the team in tournaments, largely because the competition on our team is so intense. We have the #1 and #3 ranked amateur women’s players in the world and are the best-ranked team in the country. My game was not yet where I wanted it to be. Since then, my game has progressed enormously, and my goal this year is to make the traveling team – and not just once!”
Becht’s climate action goals started forming when she was in high school.
“I gradually became more aware; we were taught about many different aspects of climate change, which was great,” she said. “Geography was my favorite class — that’s where we learned about the tremendous environmental costs of fast fashion, the ‘resource curse’ of being ‘blessed’ with fossil fuels, and the environmental and political instability that come with it. I took part in climate marches; it showed me that everyone can make a difference in some way, including on climate. At Stanford I wrote an essay about divestment and followed the live debate around @DivestStanford. I chose Earth Systems at the new Doerr School of Sustainability as my major because it allows me to focus on the human side of climate change — from economics to political science to sociology and more. How will humans react to climate change, what will we do about it now and in the future? What will I do about it?”
One thing Becht is doing about it is becoming an EcoAthletes Champion.
“I was playing with my friend, NC State golfer and EcoAthletes Champion Inja Fric, and she told me I’d love it,” she noted. “My first thought was, ‘FINALLY I can use my platform as an athlete to drive climate action! Climate marches are great, but EcoAthletes can help me have a bigger impact at Stanford and in golf more broadly. I can’t wait!”