Willie Turnesa
Willie Turnesa | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Full name | William P. Turnesa |
Born | (1914-01-20)January 20, 1914 Elmsford, New York, U.S. |
Died | June 16, 2001(2001-06-16) (aged 87) Sleepy Hollow, New York, U.S. |
Sporting nationality | United States |
Career | |
College | College of the Holy Cross |
Status | Amateur |
Professional wins | 1 |
Best results in major championships (wins: 3) | |
Masters Tournament | T26: 1939 |
PGA Championship | DNP |
U.S. Open | T40: 1941 |
The Open Championship | DNP |
U.S. Amateur | Won: 1938, 1948 |
British Amateur | Won: 1947 |
William P. Turnesa (January 20, 1914 – June 16, 2001) was an American amateur golfer, best known for winning two U.S. Amateur titles and the British Amateur. He was one of seven famous golfing brothers; Phil (1896-1987), Frank (1898-1949), Joe (1901-1991), Mike (1907-2000), Doug (1909-1972), Jim (1912-1971), and Willie (1914-2001). Willie was the only brother not to turn professional.[1] The family was referred to as a "golf dynasty" in a 2000 New York Times article.[2]
Turnesa was born in Elmsford, New York and lived most of his life there. His older brothers forbade him to turn pro and pooled their money to send him to college.[3] He graduated from Holy Cross in 1938 and won his first U.S. Amateur later that year at Oakmont Country Club.[3]
Turnesa won the British Amateur in 1947 at Carnoustie Golf Links, beating fellow American Dick Chapman 3&2. He won his second U.S. Amateur in 1948 and was runner-up in the 1949 British Amateur, losing to Irishman Max McCready. He won numerous other amateur events, mostly in the New York area.
Turnesa played on three straight winning Walker Cup teams, 1947, 1949, and 1951. He was playing captain on the last team.[4]
Turnesa served as president of both the Metropolitan Golf Association and New York State Golf Association.[4] He co-founded the Westchester Caddie Scholarship Fund in 1956.[4][5]
Turnesa died in Sleepy Hollow, New York.[3]
Tournament wins
this list is incomplete
- 1933 Westchester Amateur
- 1936 Westchester Amateur
- 1937 Metropolitan Amateur, Westchester Amateur
- 1938 U.S. Amateur, Westchester Amateur, New York State Amateur
- 1943 Florida Open
- 1947 British Amateur
- 1948 U.S. Amateur
Major championships
Amateur wins (3)
Year | Championship | Winning Score | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|
1938 | U.S. Amateur | 8 & 7 | Pat Abbott |
1947 | British Amateur | 3 & 2 | Dick Chapman |
1948 | U.S. Amateur | 2 & 1 | Ray Billows |
Results timeline
Tournament | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | NYF | 45 | T26 | ||||
U.S. Open | T47 | ||||||
U.S. Amateur | R16 | QF | R16 | R64 | 1 | R32 | |
British Amateur |
Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | T47 | NT | NT | NT | ||||||
U.S. Open | T40 | NT | NT | NT | NT | |||||
U.S. Amateur | R16 | NT | NT | NT | NT | R64 | 1 | SF | ||
British Amateur | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | 1 | SF | 2 |
Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | ||||||||
U.S. Open | ||||||||
U.S. Amateur | R32 | R128 | R128 | R32 | R64 | R32 | ||
British Amateur | R64 | R64 |
Note: Turnesa never played in the British Open or PGA Championship.
NT = No tournament
NYF = Not yet founded
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Source for The Masters: www.masters.com
Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database
Source for 1948 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1948, pg. 3.
Source for 1950 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 25, 1950, pg. 9.
Source for 1951 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 24, 1951, pg. 7.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup: 1947 (winners), 1949 (winners), 1951 (winners, playing captain)
References
External links
- New York Times obituary
- The Turnesa Story
- v
- t
- e
- 1895 Charles B. Macdonald
- 1896 H. J. Whigham
- 1897 H. J. Whigham
- 1898 Findlay S. Douglas
- 1899 Herbert M. Harriman
- 1900 Walter Travis
- 1901 Walter Travis
- 1902 Louis N. James
- 1903 Walter Travis
- 1904 Chandler Egan
- 1905 Chandler Egan
- 1906 Eben Byers
- 1907 Jerome Travers
- 1908 Jerome Travers
- 1909 Robert Gardner
- 1910 William C. Fownes Jr.
- 1911 Harold Hilton†
- 1912 Jerome Travers
- 1913 Jerome Travers
- 1914 Francis Ouimet
- 1915 Robert Gardner
- 1916 Chick Evans
- 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I
- 1919 Davidson Herron
- 1920 Chick Evans
- 1921 Jesse Guilford
- 1922 Jess Sweetser
- 1923 Max Marston†
- 1924 Bobby Jones
- 1925 Bobby Jones
- 1926 George Von Elm
- 1927 Bobby Jones
- 1928 Bobby Jones
- 1929 Jimmy Johnston
- 1930 Bobby Jones
- 1931 Francis Ouimet
- 1932 Ross Somerville
- 1933 George Dunlap
- 1934 Lawson Little
- 1935 Lawson Little
- 1936 Johnny Fischer†
- 1937 Johnny Goodman
- 1938 Willie Turnesa
- 1939 Bud Ward
- 1940 Dick Chapman
- 1941 Bud Ward
- 1942–1945 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1946 Ted Bishop†
- 1947 Skee Riegel
- 1948 Willie Turnesa
- 1949 Charles Coe
- 1950 Sam Urzetta†
- 1951 Billy Maxwell
- 1952 Jack Westland
- 1953 Gene Littler
- 1954 Arnold Palmer
- 1955 Harvie Ward
- 1956 Harvie Ward
- 1957 Hillman Robbins
- 1958 Charles Coe
- 1959 Jack Nicklaus
- 1960 Deane Beman
- 1961 Jack Nicklaus
- 1962 Labron Harris Jr.
- 1963 Deane Beman
- 1964 William C. Campbell
- 1965 Bob Murphy
- 1966 Gary Cowan†
- 1967 Bob Dickson
- 1968 Bruce Fleisher
- 1969 Steve Melnyk
- 1970 Lanny Wadkins
- 1971 Gary Cowan
- 1972 Vinny Giles
- 1973 Craig Stadler
- 1974 Jerry Pate
- 1975 Fred Ridley
- 1976 Bill Sander
- 1977 John Fought
- 1978 John Cook
- 1979 Mark O'Meara
- 1980 Hal Sutton
- 1981 Nathaniel Crosby
- 1982 Jay Sigel
- 1983 Jay Sigel
- 1984 Scott Verplank
- 1985 Sam Randolph
- 1986 Buddy Alexander
- 1987 Billy Mayfair
- 1988 Eric Meeks
- 1989 Chris Patton
- 1990 Phil Mickelson
- 1991 Mitch Voges
- 1992 Justin Leonard
- 1993 John Harris
- 1994 Tiger Woods
- 1995 Tiger Woods
- 1996 Tiger Woods†
- 1997 Matt Kuchar
- 1998 Hank Kuehne
- 1999 David Gossett
- 2000 Jeff Quinney†
- 2001 Bubba Dickerson
- 2002 Ricky Barnes
- 2003 Nick Flanagan†
- 2004 Ryan Moore
- 2005 Edoardo Molinari
- 2006 Richie Ramsay
- 2007 Colt Knost
- 2008 Danny Lee
- 2009 An Byeong-hun
- 2010 Peter Uihlein
- 2011 Kelly Kraft
- 2012 Steven Fox†
- 2013 Matt Fitzpatrick
- 2014 Gunn Yang
- 2015 Bryson DeChambeau
- 2016 Curtis Luck
- 2017 Doc Redman
- 2018 Viktor Hovland
- 2019 Andy Ogletree
- 2020 Tyler Strafaci
- 2021 James Piot
- 2022 Sam Bennett
- 2023 Nick Dunlap
- † indicates the event was won in extra holes.