Yankee Run pro Collins inducted into HOF

Staff report

Bob Collins, the golf professional at Yankee Run Golf Course in Brookfield, was inducted into the Tri-State Professional Golfers’ Association Hall of Fame on Monday.

“I am very much honored to be included into the Tri-State PGA Hall of Fame with great ambassadors to the game and other golf professionals such as Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead.” Collins said.

Collins signed into the PGA Training Program the day after he graduated from high school in June of 1974. Four years later he was a Class A Member of the Professional Golfers’ Association. Collins started his professional golf career at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course in Hermitage, Pa., as an assistant golf professional.

He was also part of the PGA staff at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Fla., in his early years. In 1979 Collins accepted the head pro job at Oak Tree Country Club in West Middlesex, Pa., at the age of 22.

In 1993 Collins took the head pro job at the newly constructed Diamond Run Golf Club, a Gary Player Signature Course in Sewickley, Pa., near Pittsburgh. After seven years at Diamond Run he returned to Oak Tree and in 2012 started Bob Collins Golf Instruction & Player Development.

In 1987 Collins was elected to the Tri-State PGA Board of Directors where he served as secretary, vice president and president over a 20-year period.

Collins has been one of the most decorated members of the Tri-State PGA Section in 1990 he was the Tri-State PGA Golf Professional of the Year.

Collins, his wife Linda and daughters Caroline and Lexi live in West Middlesex, Pa.