Lakewood Ranch golf fan has an ace collection

Keith Heifner is not exactly sure how many golf clubs he owns. 

There are a lot hanging on the walls of his Central Park garage. There are more leaning against those walls, and even more in various golf bags inside the garage and elsewhere. It's a collection that Heifner, 75, keeps growing, with no end point in sight. 

At least, not in his eyes. 

"My wife (Rebecca Heifner) is telling me that if I want to add more stuff, we need a bigger garage," Heifner said with a laugh. 

Collecting golf clubs, and other golf memorabilia, was not Heifner's lifelong hobby. Heifner, who began the hobby in 2017, said he had been looking for something physical to pass down to his son, Todd Heifner, a former golf professional who is now the general manager/COO at Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tennessee.

Since golf is the pair's biggest shared love, Keith Heifner thought a collection of unique clubs would be the perfect thing. 

What is in this collection?

Many things. Heifner has 38 Ping putters, for instance.  Well, either 37 or 38, depending on how strict your definitions are. One of the putters is labeled as a Karsten Manufacturing putter, from before the Ping brand was established. Heifner said he counts it as all the same. 

Then there are one-off clubs that Heifner found. There's a sand-water wedge that is hollow, with slits in the club's head allowing for water to pass through it while you hit your ball. It's not legal in most events, but who cares? Heifner did not purchase it for a golf advantage, he purchased it because it looks cool. In fact, Heifner does not use any of the clubs in his collection when he plays, which is two to three times a week. He's tested a few of them once, just to see how they perform, but then keeps them on the shelf to preserve them. 

Some of the clubs would not do well, anyway, like Heifner's 68-degree wedge. He said he does not know anyone who can hit a 68-degree wedge effectively. I don't either. But that's nothing compared to Heifner's 1-iron, which he has never even thought about trying thanks to the story of Lee Trevino, who famously said after getting struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open in Chicago that if he found himself in a powerful storm again, he'd hold a 1-iron into the sky, as "not even God can hit a 1-iron." 

Heifner even has a literal "Texas wedge," a colloquial term for any putter used off the green to get the ball closer to the hole. Heifner's club was made for that exact purpose. 

Heifner said most of the clubs he finds are in rough shape, but they are easy to clean. Just leave them in vinegar overnight and they clean right up, Heifner said. The hobby has led to a comedic increase in the Heifner family's vinegar budget, but that's a small price to pay for good-looking clubs. 

Then there is the merchandise. Heifner has hats from every U.S. Open except 1997, which he seeks. Heifner was not at these events himself. He finds them at various garage sales, thrift stores and online shops. They're cool, he said.

You can trace the sport's style through the years just by looking at them. I have to agree.

Heifner said he spends less than $5 on most of the hats. He's also working on a Masters collection, though there are more years missing in that one. Heifner also has a hat representing Bushwood Country Club, the fictional club depicted in "Caddyshack," as well as a Billy Baroo putter, immortalized by Judge Smalls (Ted Knight) in the film. So he's got that going for him, which is nice. 

He also has bucketfuls of tees, pins, balls and other trinkets. He also has some interesting accessories like a Naval Academy golf bag, which someone was going to throw away before Heifner rescued it. 

"I was not in the service myself, but that golf bag should not be tossed in the landfill," Heifner said. "I just felt that way about it, so I took it." 

Lately, Heifner said, he's been getting more into golf art. He has a picture of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer from the 2010 Masters Tournament, the first time the two legends had been honorary starters together at Augusta National. He has a painting of a young Tiger Woods.

Heifner does not know exactly when the painting was made, but he knows it isn't recent because Tiger is depicted wearing a hat with the Nike "Swoosh" on it instead of his trademark "TW" logo hat. Heifner said he would like to add more paintings and pictures like this, not because of their monetary value, but because of their sentimental value. They bring you back to the days of old, Heifner said. 

Even as a golf novice, I was entranced by Heifner's collection. It tells the story of how the game has evolved, plus it contains some wacky experiments. Both are worthy endeavors.  

There is much more to Heifner's collection that I did not have space to go into detail about here, like his driver with no grooves on its face, to be used in longest drive competitions, and his small-but-growing LPGA collection. But there is good news. Instead of only reading about it, you can see it.

Heifner said that anyone reading this is welcome to make a visit. Simply email him at [email protected] to set up a date and time. It's free for everyone, he said. Heifner simply wants to pass on the nostalgic vibes of his garage to anyone who wants to feel them. 

It's worth a visit.