IT’S hard to know where to start when it comes to PGA professional and champion bloke Paul King, who died in Brisbane last month.
He was 84.
I knew Paul well. First met him in 1984 when he was the head pro at Wynnum Golf Club.
Back then he’d turn up at tournaments around the state to watch and support his son Matthew who was winning junior titles.
Later, Matthew followed in his father’s footsteps and became a PGA golf professional and took over the Wynnum pro shop when Paul retired.
Paul loved golf and was a big supporter of the golf industry. Without fail, he would turn up to the Queensland Golf Industry Awards and even when his health wasn’t the best he was always cheery and would take an interest in what was happening in my world. He was a true gentleman.
And Paul would always have a story or two to tell … like the time he won Queensland’s first ever trifecta at the thoroughbred races.
“I won the very first trifecta at Doomben Racecourse,” Paul told me. “I invested $6, won $6000 and made the front page of the Courier-Mail.
“It happened when my wife Loretta and I went to the track with a doctor friend.
“We were playing $6 trifectas and I said, ‘I’ll pick this long-shot to go in the trifecta’. It was 33/1. The doc said, ‘I’m not going with yours, it’s got no chance. You’re on your own and Loretta and I will pick our own trifecta’.
“Well, my 33/1 shot won and I picked up $6000. That was a lot of money in those days.”
It was happy days as Paul splashed out taking the family on a holiday to Fiji.
“We had a nice trip out of that,” he said.
Paul, who retired on his 65th birthday in 2002, continued to play golf at his beloved Wynnum.
And then there were the Queensland Sunshine (Troppo) Tour yarns.
Paul and his good friend Charlie Earp were the founding fathers of the Sunshine Tour – aka the Troppo Tour. That was back in the early 1960s.
News of Paul King’s passing hit Charlie hard. “It left a hole in us (meaning himself and wife Margaret),” Charlie said.
“Paul was a great family man and when he was the pro at Wynnum he made looking after the members his number one priority.
“And he lived by the first syllabus of the PGA and that is to foster and promote the game of golf … and we did a lot of that.
“There wouldn’t be too many golf clubs in Queensland and the Northern Rivers we didn’t visit. Nothing was a problem for Paul. He’d get in there and give a hand.
“Kingy was president of the PGA twice,” Charlie said. “We were both on the executive and we were lucky to have him.”
And then there were the fishing cum golf adventures to South Molle Island and other islands in the Whitsundays. Each year, Paul and Charlie would organise a trip and golfers would be knocking down the door to get on board.
That’s where the not-so-shy Paul and Charlie were at their best telling wonderful yarns around the camp fire.
“I started the trips in 1978 and Paul joined in 1980 and we continued taking groups away until last year,” Charlie said.
We did more than 50 trips, including Norfolk Island. It was part of promoting the game of golf and getting tourism going as well.
“One year we were fishing on the Adelaide River in Darwin when Kingy decided to count the crocodiles,” Charlie recalled. “Well, he got to 63 and said, ‘stuff it, I’m not counting anymore’.”
Bill and Lynne Weston, who own and operate Howeston Golf Course, are long-time friends of Paul and Charlie and would often accompany them to South Molle Island.
The Westons credit Paul, a PGA life member, for helping them when they turned their strawberry farm into a golf course.
“We would often call on Paul for advice and he was always willing to help,” said Lynne Weston.
Rest in peace, Paul and thanks for the years you spent with us and for your contributions to the game we all love – golf. You’ll be sadly missed.
Paul is survived by his wife Loretta, children Kristine, Vicki, Susan and Matthew and eight grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Chief writer David Newbery has been living, breathing and writing and editing golf for more than 30 years. His extensive knowledge of the game comes from covering golf around the world. Hired by Inside Golf in 2009, David previously worked as the editor of The Golfer for 25 years and before that worked for numerous daily newspapers in Australia and overseas. The Brisbane-based journalist describes his golf game as “a work in progress”, but has had the privilege of playing golf with some of the game’s best players including nine-time major winner Gary Player. David enjoys travelling, reading, music, photography and spending time with family and friends – on and off the golf course. 
