GROSSE POINTE WOODS – Steve McEwen (Ann Arbor) used a little bit of trickery when he convinced his friend Garrett Keais (Franklin) to sign up for the 20th GAM Net Team tournament at Lochmoor Club Sept. 6.
“He called me and said, ‘What are you doing on such and such a day? Do you want to play golf?’ and after I agreed, THEN he told me it was a tournament,” said Keais.
Keais was thanking McEwen Tuesday afternoon after the duo won the 20th GAM Net Team shooting a net 66.
“I was just kind of springing it on him lightly,” said McEwen. “I knew deep down he wanted to be involved in tournament golf. It turned out to be a great pairing!”
McEwen has played in the tournament for five years and never come close to winning. This is Keais’ first time ever playing in any GAM event so he wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I really did not think at any point that we were going to win,” said Keais. “It came down to the last hole and I just missed a birdie putt so I didn’t think we were going to end up on top based on the way that we played.”
The winds were gusting which made Lochmoor’s tight fairways play even tighter.
“I think we just battled together under the conditions,” said McEwen. “It was very tough out there today but we just encouraged each other. You can’t get down after a bad shot, you just have to battle.”
Even though McEwen is a more experienced tournament player, he did not think he and Keais had a chance until they reached the very last hole.
“Usually one team gets hot and posts a 64 or something like that but today was a very tough day for everybody,” said McEwen. “It wasn’t until the last hole that I thought we might have a chance to win.”
The two friends do not get to play together as often as they would like as they both have young families with three children apiece. But they made their rounds count this year and plan to celebrate the victory with their families.
“I think it just kind of hit us that we are the champions so we are going to make our celebration plans,” said McEwen. “I think we will probably celebrate this weekend by getting both of our families and all of our kids together.”
McEwen thanked his wife Stacey for her endless support and his instructor Tom Harding from the Kendall Academy for the many hours he has worked with McEwen perfecting his swing.
