By Russ Christ

	Bob and Ken Kellaney pose with the championship trophy after Ken won the Stroke Play Championship at Raven GC at South Mountain.

"I was out there every day in the summer." Kellaney tried other sports during his youth; football, basketball and bowling were a few, but he always gravitated back to golf. Fortuitously, Bob's membership at the club ended up saving him money because he never had to pay much for his son's college tuition.

Ken earned a full golf scholarship to the University of Illinois, where he captained the team for two years. He was named All Big-10 and an honorable mention All-American in 1978.

When Ken left college, a finance degree in hand, the money on the PGA Tour was not as laughably high as it is now, so he pursued a career in business and later earned an MBA from Illinois Benedictine College.

He worked in Chicago for a while, then Nashville, before eventually moving to Phoenix in 1987 where he could play more golf. "I realized the benefit," says Kellaney, who likes to work out and read business-related biographies in his spare time, "of playing golf year round."

Success in Arizona Golf Association tournaments followed naturally, but not without hard work.

Kellaney spends hours practicing his short game, often at Encanto Golf Course near his work. He also plays five or six times a month, more during the summer tournament season, and credits instructor Craig Bunker with fine-tuning his game.

"I enjoy golf because it's a game for the ages and a way to meet fantastic people socially and though business contacts," says Kellaney, who lists his greatest golf accomplishment as the 69th Arizona Amateur at Troon Golf and Country Club in 1993. It was his third Arizona Amateur win in a row.

Shortly after Ken moved to the Valley 12 years ago, Bob, who will turn 69 in February, and Nadene, his wife of nearly 50 years, moved to Sun Lakes, a residential community in Chandler. They wanted to be closer to Ken.

A few years ago Bob began to caddie for his son, as he had done during competitions in Illinois. In December when Ken won the 26th Arizona Stroke Play Championship at Raven Golf Club at South Mountain by six strokes and was the only player under par, Bob was his caddie.

Ken's success during the four years the tournament has been played at Raven has been well chronicled; two wins and two second place finishes.

After Ken annihilated the field in 1997 to capture his first Arizona Stroke Play title, the Kellaney family received some news that would prevent Bob from joining his son on the course during the 1998 season. Bob felt a lump under his chin while shaving.

It turned out to be throat cancer and an extremely aggressive tumor was growing. "I didn't play golf for a while," said Kellaney, his life taking on a new perspective. "When something like that happens it makes you aware of your own mortality."

	Ken Kellaney

Bob advised him to change to a SeeMoreä putter, the same model Payne Stuart used to win the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst. A father's experience paid dividends. After winning the championship, nary a three-putt in sight, an emotional son dedicated the Kachina (the AGA's signature trophy) to his caddie.

"My Dad's an inspiration to me," said the four-time AGA Player of the Year and five-time Mayfair Award Winner, "and he's always been a wonderful source of support. He doesn't say much (on the course), but he keeps everything in order. He's my best friend."

As for the membership at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club in Rockford, it turned out to be a wise decision for both men, one that created a lifetime of memories.