With age comes experience and some wisdom, and that can mean a lot during a round of championship-level golf. Rose Knapp provides that experience while caddying for her daughter-in-law, Renee Mitchell.
On January 31, 2026, you see, Rose turned 100 years old.
“It’s not a big deal,” she says, about crossing the century mark. “It’s just a number, as they say. I guess I happen to have good genes.”
Rose, all fitted out with her caddie bib. She had turned 100 years old on January 31, 2026, three months prior to caddying for her daughter-in-law (again).
For the past five years, Rose has caddied for Renee in the annual Washington Champion of Champions, and did so again on April 23-24, with the annual championship being held at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash. Renee had earned entry into this year’s championship by being the women’s stroke play champion at Lake Spanaway Golf Course in Spanaway, Wash.
Renee had played the game professionally earlier in life, competing on mini tours and giving golf lessons. “I eventually got my amateur status reinstated,” she says. “Now, I’m just happy to be able to be out here.” She competes in the Senior Women’s division of the Champion of Champions.
This past year has been difficult for the two of them. Rose’s daughter Robin passed away suddenly, and Renee’s second husband succumbed after a battle with cancer. So this year’s championship has been especially poignant for the two of them.
“Golf is something we can still do together, and stay connected,” said Renee. “I’ve always been closer to her than to my own mother. Even though she doesn’t play anymore, she is still vibrant, and knows the game and is always good company on the course.”
Rose has been around the game for a while, from different angles. She met her husband, Bill, in high school. He served in the Air Force and trained to be a pilot in World War II, flying P-38 Lightning fighter planes. He later worked for Boeing, and then NASA, and they moved to various parts around the country during his career, and he always had his golf clubs with him.
“Bill played golf,” Rose says. “After our children were grown, I learned to play as well.” She was 50 when she started playing regularly.
Her son-in-law’s sister was the great Jo Ann Washam, who grew up in Auburn, Wash. and played her way onto the LPGA Tour, eventually being inducted into the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. Rose’s husband’s family used to manage the Green River Golf and Country Club, which would later be renamed the Auburn Golf Course, the home course of Washam on which she learned the game.
The game has been a throughline for Rose, and for Renee, and they carry it with them together