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Perfect golf clubs...times two


McKee
By Kent Bush
Blake Sanchez gets fitted for a custom golf club by club maker Ross McKee.
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By Kent Bush
Derby Reporter

Derby, Kan. -

No two golfers need the exact same club.
At least that had been what club maker Ross McKee had always thought. That was until he met Blake and Brett Sanchez.
These identical twins will be freshmen at Derby High School and they are working hard  to improve their golf games.
McKee has been making and customizing golf clubs for people in the Derby area for more than 15 years.
He is quick to say there are no magic golf clubs only magic golf swings.
McKee has never kept office hours. But he is also one of the few people you can count on to come into the shop and fix a club overnight if an unfortunate break claims your driver in the middle of a tournament.
The Sanchez twins have followed a path McKee would recommend. Their father Joe waited until the boys were interested in golf and got them started in the game with toy clubs. Soon, he was visiting the shop and having a first set of custom clubs made for the youngsters' swings.
That's the method McKee recommends for getting kids involved in golf.
"When you start a kid playing golf, plastic clubs are fine," he said. "When a kid starts fishing, you don't take them out on a lake in a huge bass boat. You take them to a pond where they'll catch a fish every time. It's the same with golf. You don't start them out on a busy course with brand new clubs."
The latest trip for the twins to Ross Golf was to complete their third set of clubs to match their maturing bodies and swings.
The twins are not only identical in appearance; they tend to play "buddy golf" - hitting shots similar in length and direction around the Derby Golf and Country Club. Currently the twins tend to average about a bogey on each hole, but their scores are always improving.
"We have played together since they started," Joe said. "They play a lot alike. But they also love to get in each other's head and talk a lot of trash."
McKee said it is important to make sure you have clubs that fit your swing. He said there are 20 specifications on a golf club - five of them are significant.
He didn't go to three golf club making schools so that he could get rich and retire early. McKee spent his career in the Air Force, returning from Vietnam in 1969 and getting stationed at McConnell Air Force Base. He and his wife of 47 years, Jean, are enjoying their retirement in Derby.
Making golf clubs just lets him help people enjoy golf as much as he does.
Whether drivers or the shortest putt, McKee can make the perfect tool for the job.
And if you have an identical twin, he'll make two.


 

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