Brett was born in York, PA on June 26, 1952 and moved to Erie in 1966. In is pre-teen years he played baseball, basketball and golf but as he hit his teen years his focus was on golf. He attended McDowell High School and played on the golf team there, graduating in 1970. He moved along to study engineering at both Gannon and Lehigh Universities. He held several managerial positions in manufacturing in his 20+ years at Zurn Energy in Erie. In 1995 he left Erie for a manufacturing engineering position with Cleaver Brooks in Thomasville, Georgia, retiring from there as the VP of Operations in 2017.

He is married to Debra (Smith) in April of 1979 and they have three children, Kylene, Ashley, and Brett. All are married and Brett and Debra now enjoy their six grandchildren, 4 boys and 2 girls, all in the area of Thomasville, where they continue to live.

Brett was known for his smooth swing and unflappable demeanor, one of those truly “good guys” you often meet on the golf course. While it was a pleasure to share a round of golf with Brett, his game could tear you apart. He had no weaknesses and was always a tough opponent. He frequently partnered in tournaments with his father, Joe, who toted his bag and enjoyed one good shot after another. Along with his mother Lois and his sister Krista, they all enjoyed their days playing at the lakeside links of Lawrence Park. Interestingly enough, Brett is married to Dave Smith’s sister. Dave was one of the top local players in Brett’s era and is also and EDGA Hall of Famer.

Just after completing his junior year at McDowell, Kieffer qualified for the prestigious American Pro Youth Proxy Pro Golf Classic in Columbus, Indiana. The event included PGA tour pros with names you might recognize, Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino, Weiskopf and many others. At that time, the 16 year old was playing out of Gospel Hill, where he had won the men’s club championship in 1968. Brett shot 65 there and that was the course record standard for many years before being broken in the EDGA Amateur in 1987 by Bill Koper (64).

Kieffer’s first foray into EDGA Championship play was in 1973, the year that the EDGA Match Play Championship began. He qualified and won his first match before having to face the 1972 EDGA Amateur Champion, Gary Pollock, which is where his first tournament ended. In 1974 through 1977 he missed qualifying twice and on the other two occasions, lost in the first round. It was in 1978 that he started to be a force to be reckoned with, winning a couple of matches at Kahkwa before falling to veteran Cal Neithamer.

In 1979, he qualified 4th and then after surviving a couple of matches 1up, he made it to the finals against Lake View’s Tom Amendola. Like he had done with the previous two opponents, he took down Amendola handily, 4&3. After a couple of off years he was back on the move in 1982 at his home course, Lawrence Park. His second round 1up victory over Ray Massing was his only close contest and waxed recent Cathedral Prep grad and star Tom Bean in the finals 7&6. His play from 1983 until 1992 was steady but could not get past the semi-finals, which he only made once, in 1992. That was, however, a good sign as in 1993 he shot 68 at Kahkwa and won the qualifier by 5 shots. That qualifying position pitted him against 2-time Amateur champion, Dario Cipriani. That match was close, Kieffer winning one up and, from there, Brett cruised to the title, defeating home course favorite, Bob Swanson, 4&3 in the finals for his third title. His title defense and last EDGA Match Play ended in the second round at the hands of fellow hall of famer, Ellery Tarbell.

Brett’s EDGA Amateur career began one year after his Match Play debut. He finished 35th in that first EDGA Am in 1974. The next year he again struggled in the final round at Kahkwa and ended 33rd. In 1976 the event opened at Kahkwa and the course stung him again and put him in a deep hole from which he couldn’t recover to make the final round cut. In 1977 the final round was at Kahkwa and again, his sub-finish left him 34th.

Finally, in 1978 Kieffer put together 3 decent rounds and finish 16th, his best finish. The next year he upped that to 13th and his skill was beginning to show, and show it did as in 1980, with the ’79 Match Play Trophy already in his case, he fashioned a 3 round total of 4 under par to outdistance Gary Murray by 5 strokes. To show that was no fluke, he managed a 5 over par total under some difficult conditions to clip his brother-in-law Dave Smith by one stroke.

It took Brett another decade to collect his third Amateur title. In 1984 he was close, tieing Dave Smith for second, on stroke behind winner Dario Cipriani. Two years later he collected a 3rd place finish, tieing with Gary Murray behind Tim Dunlavey who one his first of his three Amateurs. Finally, in 1991 the magic was back. Again, under tough scoring conditions at Lake View, Kieffer’s 6 over par score was good enough for title number 3, besting Marty Simonsen and Dario Cipriani by one stroke.

At that point Brett was on the brink of making EDGA history as no player had ever won 4 Amateur titles. He had two close calls, but neither went his way. In 1993 on his home turf at Lawrence Park, he shot steady rounds of 71-71-72 but that was only good for a tie with fellow LP member Joe Cassano, Jr. Cassano, defending the title he won in 1992 was successful in the playoff giving him back-to-back titles. In 1994 he was right back in position at Lake Shore taking a 2-shot lead into the final round. However, Dave Ciacchini, playing on his home course, made up the difference taking the tournament by one stroke, leaving Kieffer second for a third time.

When his job took him to Georgia in 1995 his EDGA Major record was complete, showing 6 major titles and 3 runners-up. Ron Coleman tops the major title list with 8, Kieffer is tied for second with Ciacchini and Amendola with 6. Brett also has a couple of titles in the EDGA Scramble.

Outside of the local area, he competed in the Lakeshore Open in Rochester, losing the championship to PGA professional Joey Sindelar in a playoff. He also played in the Pennsylvania State Amateur on a couple of occasions. In Georgia, he competed in the Georgia State Golf Association Mid-Am (1999) and the Senior Championship on 3 occasions (2007-09) as well as the Association’s 4-ball championship.

In addition to the Gospel Hill Club Championship when he was a teenager, Brett also won 9 club championships at Lawrence Park over two decades, part of 12 top two’s in those 21 years. He’s added another 4 club championships at his club in Georgia (Glen Arven CC) and 8 senior club championships and 3 super senior club championships.

A final coveted title was in winning the member-guest at Glen Arven with his son in 2019.