Will McKenzie is going into the Hall of Fame for being a smooth swinger.
More precisely, the Logan County High School graduate is being honored for smoothly swinging golf clubs and for smoothly voicing what’s going on in a variety of sports venues.
McKenzie will be inducted into the Brescia University Sports Hall of Fame Saturday evening in Owensboro.
His plaque will read as follows:
Will McKenzie - Golf, Voice of the Bearcats
Class of 2016
“Will McKenzie was a member of the Men’s Golf Team from 2011-2016. Will was also the “Voice of the Bearcats” from 2012-2017, announcing primarily for Men’s and Women’s Basketball home games, but also covering Volleyball, Soccer, Baseball, and Softball. During his successful golf career, he won multiple events including being the Individual Medalist of the 2015 KIAC Conference Tournament. McKenzie was named Player of the Year in the KIAC in 2015 and was also named to the KIAC All-Conference team in 2013 and 2016. Will was also a member of the 2012 and 2016 Men’s Golf Teams that captured Conference Titles. He made appearances in the 2015 and 2016 NAIA National Tournaments.”
Saturday’s event is being called the Laurel Awards. This explains why:
“As we celebrate Brescia’s Centennial year, we want to recognize this year’s award honorees in a special way that pays tribute to our Ursuline heritage. The inaugural Laurel Awards gets its name from the branches of the laurel tree—an ancient symbol of victory, honor, and excellence—which are included in the seals of both the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph and Brescia University.”
McKenzie is one of only two former athletes being inducted into the Brescia Sports Hall of Fame this week. The other is former volleyball player Natalie Schweinzger. Other honorees include Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Alumni.
Will McKenzie grew up in a sports-loving family. His dad, Terry McKenzie, and his late uncles, Kevin and Tim McKenzie, all played football for the Russellville Panthers. Tim became a sportswriter on a part-time basis, and Terry was the lead sports broadcaster for WRUS radio for several years, also as a second job.
The year 2013 was a memorable one for Will. The following appeared in an article on The Logan Journal that year:
Athletics have always played a significant role in Will’s life. Although he is a mathematics major, he says, “My main goal in life is to be working with sports, whether it be in coaching, administration or broadcasting,” but added the great thing about receiving a college education if a career in athletics doesn’t work in his favor, he can always go into accounting because he will have his degree to fall back on.
As a member of the Bearcat golf team, he had a breakout year in 2012-13, winning a tournament at My Old Kentucky Home golf course in Bardstown and receiving medalist honors in two other tournaments, earning him All-KIAC honors as a sophomore. He credits his father for helping elevate his golf game, saying, “My dad has been helping me with my golf game for as long as I can remember, and I wouldn’t be on a college golf scholarship without his help.”
His game peaked this summer (2013) as he qualified for the Kentucky State Amateur Open. Although his score wasn’t what he would have wanted at the event, he was happy to get his feet wet among the elite golfers of Kentucky. “My State Amateur experience was great,” says McKenzie. “I loved the atmosphere. Playing in that was something that I have never experienced before. I hit the ball well, just couldn’t make any putts. I wish I had played better, but that’s golf.”
The 2012-13 academic year was a turning point for Will McKenzie the student, and the man. After a meeting with men’s basketball coach Josh Gibson in the fall of 2012, he agreed to announce games courtside for the Bearcats and subsequently ended up doing Lady Bearcats games as well. “I started helping my dad broadcast games on WRUS radio when I was younger, and I got very interested in broadcasting” says McKenzie, adding it “also got me interested in announcing games as well. Once I got an opportunity to announce games at LCHS, I fell in love with it.”
Coach Gibson says, “Will was such a professional when it came to doing the job. He always went above and beyond what was required of him, even helping burn DVDs for opposing teams after games, helping officials set up in their locker rooms, showing up early and helping clean up at the end, he was the consummate professional. We greatly appreciated his efforts last season.”
Women’s coach Summer Quesenberry adds, “Will displays great passion and university pride in everything he does. From announcing games to volunteering for basketball practice squad, his positive outlook and work ethic enables those he encounters to strive to be better.”
At LCHS, McKenzie started playing on Coach Ethan Meguiar’s Cougar team while he was still an eighth grader at Adairville and was a five-year letterman. He reached one of his goals as a junior by becoming the team’s number one player. An even bigger goal was realized this fall when he qualified for state by shooting a 74 on the Kenny Perry course at Franklin in the regional tournament.
After graduating from Brescia, McKenzie got a job working for Owensboro Parks and Recreation and then in the steel industry in Owensboro while continuing to do announcing for the school. One of the reasons he enjoyed announcing volleyball was being around a player named Sarah. They have been married seven years today. Their son Timothy will be four this summer.
Will and Sarah moved to Bowling Green in 2018. She works for Fruit of the Loom. Will began working at Logan Aluminum in October 2021, a couple of years after the retirement of his mother, Candy Hardiman, who as Material Manager was both the highest-ranking woman and highest-ranking native Logan Countian for many years. Will is an associate service representative at the aluminum plant.
Like his dad did before him, Will has a second job as a sportscaster for WRUS. He has been the play-by-play guy for Russellville High School boys and girls basketball the last two seasons with Lucas Celsor the color commentator.
Will and Sarah are members of Indian Hills Country Club in Bowling Green, and he still enjoys playing golf. He says he doesn’t work at it intensely anymore because he doesn’t want to take too much time away from his wife and son.
I’ve known Will and written about him most of his life. I once wrote, “LCHS graduate Will McKenzie won the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference individual golf championship by three strokes, capping an excellent career at Brescia University. The school has offered him a full-time position after graduation. Whatever he does, his wonderfully outgoing personality will help him be a success.”
That prediction was an easy one and is certainly proving to be true.