Ken became a member of RGC in 1994 and began producing the newsletters – every three weeks – in 2006. “I thought the club needed a communication
A legend remembered
tool, something to help keep members informed. A range of health issues had forced me into early
After producing some 243 issues of the Men’s Golf newsletter over a span of 15 years, keyboard warrior Ken McKinley’s fingers are having a wellearned rest. Lawrence Schäffler caught up with him at his Edmund Hillary retirement home.
retirement and I had to do something to stop me
With their fascinating, diverse and often controversial content – Ken’s newsletters became the stuff of legend – helped in no small part, one suspects, by plenty of ribald jokes and humour. While the title – Men’s Golf – underscores the point that they were targeted at RGC’s male membership, rumour has it many women savoured the publications with equal relish – even if surreptitiously.
magazines and newspapers – and, of course
going insane – and that’s how Men’s Golf was born. “It quickly took on a life of its own and became allconsuming – virtually a full-time job – to the point where my golf began to suffer. But I loved it. It involved an enormous amount of background work – sourcing material from the internet, old books, keeping my ear to the ground about developments at the club. And then doing the layout. My wife (Helen), fortunately, was very supportive.”
Ken’s newsletters became the stuff of legend – helped in no small part, one suspects, by plenty of ribald jokes and humour.
Helen, he confesses, was also his fiercest critic and content-moderator: “You can NOT print that – don’t you dare!” Of course, he usually ignored her – and admits this often got him into trouble. “I sometimes received letters of complaint – usually from the wives of members. I always apologised but also pointed out that the target audience was male.” Proof of the newsletters’ popularity was the speed at which they disappeared. Each issue was placed on the bar in the 19th – and as I can attest, if you weren’t quick you often missed out. A notable feature of the issues was Ken’s in-depth analysis of golf history and the larger-than-life characters that punctuated the game over the centuries. But it was perhaps the unusual and quirky content that most members will remember.
