His short game may win him a tournament, but determination may
be Connor Klein’s biggest strength as a junior golfer.
Klein, 15, of Lone Tree recently took his division of the
Haywhacker Junior Golf Championships June 23 in Steamboat Springs
at the Haymaker Golf Course. An incoming sophomore at Highlands
Ranch High School, Klein’s 1-over-par 145 finish over the two days
led him into a one-hole playoff win against the University of
Colorado-bound Brennan Dolan of Boulder.
The Falcon won the same tournament last year, but in a younger
age division.
With the win, Klein appears shoulder-to-shoulder with some of
the state’s best junior golfers, including, besides Dolan, Cody
Kent, who is presently ranked third in the state and was the state
runner-up last year for Douglas County High School, Clark Shafer,
who swings iron for Regis Jesuit High School, and David Holtgrewe
from Arapahoe High School. The iron junior said the Haywhacker win
helps him understand he can hang with peers of a higher
caliber.
“It’s a big boost of confidence, going into the high school
season, to play better against those guys,” Klein said.
In his journey to improve on the links, Klein began working
closely with his instructor, Tom Talbot of Meridian Golf Course in
Englewood, a month prior to the Steamboat outing. He said the work
during those four weeks helped him play more consistent over the
two-day tournament.
“That’s when I realized my game was really starting to come
together,” Klein said.
The son of Shawn Klein, who’s been playing golf since the age of
15, Connor Klein was exposed to golf when he was around 4 years
old. It wasn’t until three years ago the youth started playing
competitive and took his talents for the sport seriously.
Serious is the best way to describe Klein in competition, but in
general, he’s at the course for the fun and friendship.
“I love being outside, the fun and friends I play with,” Klein
said. “It’s a good social life for me.”
Klein’s greatest strong point is his short game, he said,
particularly chipping around the green. Given he doesn’t always
have money to buy driving range balls to develop his drives as much
as he’d like yet, his short game developed out of necessity. He and
his friends will frequent the Lone Tree golf course and have
short-game competitions between them.
A Class 5A high school state championship qualifier last year,
as a freshman, Klein feels the level of play in about 15 Colorado
Junior Golf Association events he competes in every season is
noticeably different than the high school season.
“The CJGA ones help you relax more for high school,” Klein said.
“Through the summer, the competition is more serious, but towards
the end of the summer, you start to relax, have fun and practice
for regionals and state.”
Klein is excited for the coming high school season where he
expects to join Caleb Barker and Blake Basham on the Falcons
varsity team. With Klein, Barker, who was fourth at the Haywhacker,
and Basham, won took a tournament in Vail recently, the Highlands
Ranch boys golf team could be among the state’s top contenders.
When not in competition, Klein and friends can be found at the
Lone Tree golf course every day for about six hours, competing with
each other. Although he has no rituals when playing the links,
Klein said he does have a special relationship with his wedges.
“I love my wedges. They are the key to my game,” he said. “If
I’m not driving well or hitting the greens, those wedges will help
me get up and down [the course].”