A collector of golf memorabilia for the past 20 years, Mr McKay decided to open his Buckingham St shop featuring old golf clubs, books, plates, prints and paintings, all with a golfing theme.
"I got the idea years ago, but it's finding the right position at the right time in my life."
Arrowtown, he said, was the perfect location.
"It suits the character of the town, a specialty shop rather than a chain shop," he added.
A golfing professional at Queenstown Golf Club in his day job, he said most golf pros collected memorabilia.
Most of his collection came from overseas, where he had looked hard to find it, "but I have a constant supply".
"You soon find out where it is. I had to hunt it out."
A recent trip to more than 500 antique shops in Melbourne, covering 1000km in four days, had netted just two golf pieces.
Instead of being daunted, Mr McKay said it simply indicated how popular golfing memorabilia was.
"Ninety-nine out of 100 shops I would visit I got exactly the same reply: `The golf stuff goes first', " he said.
Despite the difficulty in finding golf collectables, he had amassed a huge collection, most of it from the UK.
Among his old hickory-handled clubs were several "really special" ones, including a club made by a blacksmith dated 1865 from the hallowed ground of St Andrews in Scotland.
"It's a rut iron for hitting balls out of wheel-cart tracks," he explained.
"In the old days the [golf] courses were on common land and people rode their horses on them, including St Andrews.
"It's still common land and that's why it's closed on Sundays."
Another old hickory club, pictured in the photo of Mr McKay, is an Alex Patrick long-nosed play club from 1880.
And for those with an eye for golf-themed crockery, his silver-topped Royal Doulton whisky flask, dated 1930, is an "extremely, extremely rare" find.
"I've only ever seen one in 40 years."
And for $3000 he's prepared to sell it.
"The prices aren't ridiculous. It's just a reflection of the value."
While many of the antique pieces for sale were "highly collectable" and would only increase in value, Mr McKay was also keen to ensure the shop appealed to all ages as well as those with more limited budgets.
"I wanted to make sure that kids could come in here with $10 and buy something for their grandad."
Although the shop did not offer new clubs for sale, he had new DVDs and books as well as modern memorabilia, including a few signed Tiger Woods photos from his time as the pro at the Paraparaumu Beach course, when Woods played there in the 2002 New Zealand Open.
The shop is open daily, 10am-4pm.
