- WEEKLY POLL
Golf ‘super’ wants Collins Park back to former glory
By J. Patrick Eaken
Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com
Ottawa Park Golf Course in West Toledo is considered the oldest public course east of the Mississippi River.
Collins Park Golf Course in the Birmingham neighborhood of East Toledo is rich in history as well.
According to East Side Story, written by historian Larry R. Michaels, Collins Park was one of the first in the city park system, which was put together by Sylvanus Jermain in the late 1880s. Judge J.F. Collins donated 30 acres from his 60-acre farm on the condition that the land became parkland.
Collins Park was a popular venue for golfers throughout much of the 20 th Century, opening for golf in 1932. Today, new superintendent Jeffrey Heintschel would like to see the 9-hole, 3,015 yard course thrive again.
Heintschel was a four-time lettermen, First Team All-City League, and Honorable Mention All-District golfer at Waite, graduating in 2000. He grew up on the links at Collins Park.
“It’s a great course for the junior golfers and even for the senior citizens,” Heintschel said. “It’s short. We definitely intend on maintaining it at a much higher standard this year than compared to years past.”
After a four-year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps, followed by invaluable experience on grounds crews at country clubs in upstate New York and Florida, Heintschel believes he can make a difference in his first job as superintendent/course foreman/greens’ keeper. He’s also in his first year studying turf management at Owens Community College.
“I’m bringing a lot of different areas of golf to Northwest Ohio. It’s a different game down south in the way they set up their courses, completely different from up here. I’d like to bring a little bit of that aspect of it up here, as much as we can,” Heintschel said.
“Granted we can’t get all the plants they have up here, but there are certainly aspects that I’m trying to bring in up here.”
Heintschel began golfing with his father at the age of 8. Following in Heintschel’s footsteps is Waite junior Tommy Duris Jr., who starting chasing golf balls at age 3. After learning the game at Collins Park, Duris will be taking a shot at a U.S. Open Junior Qualifier this summer before heading into his senior season at Waite.
Of course, Heintschel and new course manager Michael D. Stephens know they have their work cut out for them if they want to renovate the 76-year-old Collins Park Golf Course.
“He and I have been working closely together now for the last two months trying to get this place reorganized, resituated, and back to where it should be,” Heintschel said. “There has been a lot of neglect over the last few years, but Michael and I have been putting our heads together trying to attract new leads and youth groups.”
Fortunately for them, Collins Park, like city-owned courses Ottawa Park and Detwiler, changed management. Heintschel says Eagle Golf Corporation bought out all courses in Ohio previously managed by American Golf, and in turn, increased their budget, and increased the staff from two to five at Collins Park.
“It’s a much larger work force, which allows much more work to get done,” Heintschel explains. “It’s not just the mowing aspect, but we have cut down and removed over 40 trees from the area, and we’ve also transplanted over a dozen trees in specific locations to add aesthetic value to the course around the greens.
“We’re looking to add color and make it look more like an aesthetically pleasing place, not just a 9-hole course on the East Side that everyone has this mentally that it’s a stepchild and no one takes care of it. We want to get rid of that mentality. This has been a place for me for almost 20 years.”
Stephens interjected, “I think Jeff hit the nail on the head. We want to make this as playable a course as possible. It’s going to be an excellent nine-hole course for families, juniors, and seniors. It’s not going to be a U.S. Open-type venue. It’s going to be a fun place to play.”
The East Toledo Family Center will continue its “Hook a Kid on Golf” program, and, for $10, juniors can compete in a Monday morning league which includes a hot dog lunch combo. Plus, three junior tournaments are scheduled for Collins this summer.
“I’ve been doing a lot of cold calls, knocking on doors, phone calls, e-mailing — just as much as I can to try and get the word out that we’re trying to do some things with the course, make it a more playable course than it has been in the past. It seems like it’s been worth it. Our rounds, it seems like, are increasing,” Stephens said.
Even an open weekly scramble is starting to pick up. Ask local real estate agent and self-proclaimed avid golfer Danny Knopp.
“Jeff’s got some ideas and plans and so forth. The place has been real rough over the last year, but they’re giving it more of a budget for its operation and they’re trying to build some things,” Knopp said.
“This will help. Due to the budgeting before, Collins got the short end of the stick before and it actually alienated a lot of the neighborhood players and a lot of the leagues that were there. We want to get it back to the neighborhood, let them know they are going to run their own scrambles with whoever shows up and stuff like that.”
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