Ross ‘Roscoe’ Kinnaird Steps Down As One Of Golf’s Top Snappers.

2 months ago by Comments Off on Ross ‘Roscoe’ Kinnaird Steps Down As One Of Golf’s Top Snappers.

Ross Kinnaird has officially retired as one of golf’s leading photographers but also as one of the nicest and friendliest fellow members of the golfing media I’ve had the pleasure to know.

Ross, or Roscoe as he’s more affectionately known to his many friends, packed away his photographer’s credential for a last time at Sunday’s concluding Hero Hero World Tour Championship.

I met Roscoe in the 1990s and when I first began travelling full-time to European Tour events and then later embarking on the PGA Tour.

At first, I was very rookie journalist struggling a litte in finding my way.  At first, I dabbled in a little photo/journalism before journalism took over, and a career that peaked in filing golf copy to some six or seven different newspapers a day .. a little less for Sunday papers.

Nowadays, there’s no-one riding the train or sitting in a bus reading a newspaper, so lucky if I file more than a few pars a week.

In those early, pre-interent, pre-live TV coverage days it was a very close knit group of media and photographers travelling to the tournaments across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and while it sounded all exciting it was though what made it special was the friends you made.

You’ve probably heard that for those working on the tours is like being among your family, as that is what it was like, and you were, in the process, establishing relationships that would last your entire working career and then after.

Those friends became special as you travelled together, spent an awful lot of time in media centres, resided at the same hotels, went out to dinner, enjoyed a few drinks in a bar somewwhere, and just undertook things that friends do and being ‘on the road’ often for a few weeks at time, so friendships were important.

They made being at a golf tournament special, so thank you Roscoe for your part.

Roscoe worked the fairways in the company of his fellow Getty colleagues Dave Cannon, ‘Wazza’ Little, Stuart Franklin, Andy Reddington and there was the also Golf File lads in Fran Caffrey and very good friend, Eoin Clarke.  And not forgetting Stuart Adams, with whom I am still in regular contact.

I learnt so much being out on course, inside the ropes in their company, as well as from my dear written media colleagues.

We also got into a bit of mischief, played a lot of golf, consumed the odd beer and enjoyed a few glasses of French red though there’s no denying they were great times.

It’s been great sharing the journey with you, Roscoe.

Happy retirement.  I’m not far behind you.

 



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