Local couple roars back to win golf tournament

For the decades that Ed and Gretchen Klein have been golfing together they’ve never seen a hot streak like this one.

The Hoquiam pairing won their second consecutive couples tournament on Aug. 7-8, roaring back from nine down — including hitting a rare double-eagle — to win the Kitsap Golf & Country Club’s Couples Tournament in Bremerton.

The tournament was played under Chapman rules, which requires both golfers to hit drives, play each other’s second shot, then alternate shots after the best second shot is selected.

The Kleins were well off the pace entering the second round after admittedly not shooting their best golf the prior day. The duo, which averages scores of 73-75 per round, shot an uncharacteristic 80 in their Saturday, Aug. 7 opening round, putting them nine strokes back of the leaders.

All that changed on Sunday, Aug. 8.

Bolstered by a back-9 score of 31, the Klein’s shot the lowest round of the tournament on Aug. 8, carding a 68 to win the tournament by two strokes, 148-150, to complete the improbable comeback.

In the shotgun-style format, the Kleins began the final round on the 10th hole and caught fire on the No.4 hole when Ed drained a long birdie putt for birdie. The shot started a streak of three straight birdies that got the Kleins back up to the top of the leaderboard.

On the seventh hole, Ed hit a long drive to the left side of the fairway, putting Gretchen’s second-shot at approximately 189-yards from the hole. Using a No. 3 hybrid club, Gretchen hit a perfect shot, putting the ball in the cup for a double eagle.

“I was kind of tracking it and I thought, ‘Oh, this is looking pretty good,‘“Gretchen said of the shot, one that they didn’t realize was in the hole until they got to the green due to slope and pin location. “I kind of had a gut feeling … I knew I hit it good and solid, but you never expect it to go in.”

When they neared the green and realized the shot was not in the far-side rough, the realization set in that Gretchen — a 37-year golfer that has won multiple state and local ladies tournaments — had just hit an incredible shot.

“This particular green kind of falls off in the back and the pin was back, so it could have very easily disappeared over the backside and we wouldn’t have seen it until we got there,” she said. “It was exciting. … It was pretty fun to see the ball in the bottom of the cup. … It’s the longest shot I’ve ever made.”

“I don’t get much credit except for putting the drive in the right spot that she could sink it from,” Ed said.

When Ed realized the shot went in, his mind quickly went from amazement over the shot to realizing the double-eagle had a good chance at putting them in the lead.

“A, it was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime shot and B, it gives us a chance to win the tournament now,” he said after calculating they shot 6-under par on holes 4-7. “If you go birdie-birdie-birdie and then you gain three shots in one hole, then you say, ‘You never know what’s going to happen.’”

“He thinks a lot more in numbers,” said Gretchen. “I don’t add any numbers up until the end.”

After the round, the Kleins went back to the clubhouse and had to sit around and wait, being one of the first groups to finish the second round.

As other competitors completed their rounds and submitted their scorecards, it became apparent the Klein’s eye-catching hot streak had put them on top of the leaderboard, winning the tournament by a mere two strokes.

The victory was the second tournament win in as many tries for the Kleins, who also won the Skagit Couples Tournament July 17-18 in Burlington.

Gretchen said after an atypical first round, winning felt great.

“We were both pretty bummed out Saturday after the round of how poorly we played because that was out of sorts for us,” she said.

“We were so out of it after the first day, we were just kind of laughing and saying, ‘How did we do that?’”

Gretchen stated that after the first round, the Kleins played a more relaxed game of golf, looking to post a respectable score rather than win the tournament.

“That’s just the game of golf. You go into the second day more relaxed I guess because you’re not worried, you are not trying to hold onto a lead,” she said. “You are just trying to come out respectable. Let’s just try to save face here.”

“There’s probably about one double-eagle every few years (in the county),” Ed said. “It goes to an amazing comeback from nine behind, it goes to an amazing stretch of holes which I’ve never had it any better myself in 55 years — as a couple it’s kind of cool — as good a shot you are ever going to see on a double-eagle and then it puts you over the top to win the tournament. The progression of stuff is kind of a cool story.”