Clyde Ellett "Tim" Collins, Jr. (July 19, 1945 – April 17, 2012) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. He earned All-America honors two years at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in the mid-1960s and went on to play professionally on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

. He was a native of

Christiansburg, Virginia Christiansburg (formerly Hans Meadows) is a town in the southwestern portion of Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. It has served as the seat of government for the county since 1792, when it was formally recognized by the Virginia Gener ...

College career

Collins was the first full scholarship player for

in 1964. At Tech, he played in the NCAA golf championship for three consecutive years (1965–1967). He earned third team All-America honors in 1965, and finished seventh at the NCAA tournament, leading the Hokie team to an 11th-place finish. He capped his career by finishing tied for fifth in the 1967 event, three strokes back of

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. ...

(known then as a Colorado football star). He also earned All-America honors, this time as a second team selection. No Tech golfer had finished higher in the NCAA tournament through 2018. He finished 20th at the 1966 NCAA tournament. Collins was the first golfer inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.

Professional career

First PGA tournament

Collins served three years in the U.S. Army after graduating from college. After leaving the Army in December 1971, he resumed his golfing pursuits as an assistant club pro in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

. In his first attempt at qualifying for a PGA event, he won the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Sectional Qualifying tournament for the

U.S. Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

, making him eligible for the 1972 U.S. Open. At the event, the first ever played at

Pebble Beach Golf Links Pebble Beach Golf Links is a public golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, U.S. Opened in 1919, it is regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, o ...

, Collins shot an opening round 79, eight shots off the lead set by

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

. On the following day he shot a 71, three off the best of the day carded by two players: one of nine golfers tied for tournament leader

Lanny Wadkins Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins Jr. (born December 5, 1949) is an American professional golfer. He won 21 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including one Men's major golf championships, major, the 1977 PGA Championship. He ranked in the top 10 of the Of ...

, and

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

. He made the cut, and was just five behind the leaders going into Saturday, in a tie for 26th. He shot an 81 on Saturday, and was 60th going into the final round. On Sunday, he shot a 79, moving up to a 55th place tie for the week. Nicklaus bettered

Bruce Crampton Bruce Crampton (born 28 September 1935) is an Australian professional golfer. Early life and amateur career Crampton was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and attended Kogarah High School from 1948 to 1950. In August 1953 he reached final of th ...

by three strokes, winning his 11th major championship. Collins earned $890, compared to $30,000 for Nicklaus. Collins said in a 1973 interview that the money was enough to pay for his trip to

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

for the "vacation" to California with his wife. (Note, in the detailed statistical profile of Collins' career, his participation in the 1972 U.S. Open is not included, even though it is included in the same website in the full results of the actual tournament. This is likely because he did not yet have his Tournament Players Division (precursor to the

) card.

Qualifying School 1972

Encouraged by his success at Pebble Beach, he decided to take a shot at earning his Tournament Players Division "card" in the fall of 1972, going through

Qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. He was one of 468 to begin the process. In September, he was one of 30 from the Eastern Division tournament held in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

to make it to the national event at the Silverado Country Club, in

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County, California, Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California, United States. Located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the Bay Area, th ...

. In total, 81 golfers took the written qualifying exam and played 108 holes to narrow the field down to 25. Larry Stubblefield and John Adams were the top finishers, and Collins was on the cut line and received his card for the following season.

Career results

In 1973, he played in a career-high 14 PGA tournaments, making the cut 13 times and carding two top-25 finishes. In 1974 he played in seven tournaments, making the cut in every attempt, and finishing in the top-10 two times, including a fifth place finish at the 1974

Kaiser International Open Invitational The Michelob Championship at Kingsmill was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1968 PGA Tour, 1968 to 2002 PGA Tour, 2002. It was played in Virginia at the River Course of Kingsmill Resort, Kingsmill Golf Club outside of Williamsburg, Virginia ...

, played at the

Silverado Country Club The Silverado Resort and Spa is a golf, tennis, and spa resort in Napa County, California, United States. The venue is named after the Silverado Mine, a quicksilver mine near Mount Saint Helena. The resort is the fifth largest employer in Nap ...

. He finished tied for 44th in the 1976 U.S. Open. He also played in five

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

tournaments. He played in at least 38

events including the 61 listed in his PGA profile and the one 1972 U.S. Open which is not listed there.

Professional wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1978 North Carolina Open *1982 North Carolina Open,

Carolinas PGA Championship The Carolinas PGA Championship is a golf tournament that is the section championship of the Carolinas section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1923 at a variety of courses around both states. Winners *2024 Preston Cole *20 ...

*1983

*1984

Carolinas Open The Carolinas Open is a golf tournament played in the Carolinas, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is run by the Carolinas section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1923 at a variety of courses around both sta ...

U.S. national team appearances

PGA Cup The PGA Cup is a men's golf competition for club professionals played between a Great Britain and Ireland team and a United States team. The winning team is presented with the Llandudno Trophy. The competition is run by the British PGA and the P ...

: 1977 (tie), 1978, 1979, 1984

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Tim American male golfers Virginia Tech Hokies men's golfers PGA Tour golfers People from Christiansburg, Virginia 1945 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen