Willie Turnesa

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Willie Turnesa

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| fullname = William P. Turnesa

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|1|20}}

| birth_place = Elmsford, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|6|16|1914|1|20}}

| death_place = Sleepy Hollow, New York, U.S.

| height =

| weight =

| sporting_nationality = {{USA}}

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| college = College of the Holy Cross

| status = Amateur

| yearpro =

| prowins = 1

| otherwins =

| majorwins = 3

| masters = T26: 1939

| usopen = T40: 1941

| open = DNP

| pga = DNP

| usamateur = Won: 1938, 1948

| britamateur = Won: 1947

| wghofid =

| wghofyear =

| award1 =

| year1 =

| award2 =

| year2 =

| awardssection =

}}

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.

Early life

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.knollwoodcc.com/history/nytarticle.htm |title=7 Famous Brothers And What They Did |first=Corey |last=Kigannon |publisher=Knollwood Country Club |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040319004531/http://www.knollwoodcc.com/history/nytarticle.htm |archive-date=March 19, 2004}} The family was referred to as a "golf dynasty" in a 2000 New York Times article.{{Cite news |last=Kilgannon |first=Corey |date=December 3, 2000 |title=Recalling a Golf Dynasty: Elmsford's Turnesa Family |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/03/nyregion/recalling-a-golf-dynasty-elmsford-s-turnesa-family.html |page=WC-14 |access-date=March 23, 2022}}

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.{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E1D71F31F932A15755C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=Willie Turnesa, Last Brother In Golfing Family, Dies at 87 |newspaper=The New York Times |last=Kilgannon |first=Corey |date=June 21, 2001 |page=C-13}}

Golf career

Turnesa graduated from Holy Cross in 1938 and won his first U.S. Amateur later that year at Oakmont Country Club. 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.

He played on three straight winning Walker Cup teams, 1947, 1949, and 1951. He was playing captain on the last team.{{cite web |url=http://www.knollwoodcc.com/history/turnesa.htm |title=The Turnesa Story |publisher=Knollwood Country Club |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040822002113/www.knollwoodcc.com/history/turnesa.htm |archive-date=August 22, 2004}}

Turnesa served as president of both the Metropolitan Golf Association and New York State Golf Association. He co-founded the Westchester Caddie Scholarship Fund in 1956.[http://www.westchestergolf.org/intraclub/query/catquery.html?doc_number=830&category=scholarship+fund&sort=2 WGA Caddie Scholarship Fund]

Personal life

Turnesa died in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

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)=

class="wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!Winning Score!!Runner-up
1938	U.S. Amateur	align=center\|8 & 7	{{flagicon\|USA}} Pat Abbott
1947	British Amateur	align=center\|3 & 2	{{flagicon\|USA}} Dick Chapman
1948	U.S. Amateur	align=center\|2 & 1	{{flagicon\|USA}} Ray Billows

=Results timeline=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1933

!1934

!1935

!1936

!1937

!1938

!1939

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NYF

|45

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T26

align=left|U.S. Open

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T47

align=left|U.S. Amateur

|align="center" style="background:yellow;"|R16

|align="center" style="background:yellow;"|QF

|align="center" style="background:yellow;"|R16

|R64

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1

|R32

align=left|British Amateur

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1940

!1941

!1942

!1943

!1944

!1945

!1946

!1947

!1948

!1949

align=left|Masters Tournament

|T47

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|U.S. Open

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T40

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|U.S. Amateur

|align="center" style="background:yellow;"|R16

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|R64

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1

|align="center" style="background:yellow;"|SF

align=left|British Amateur

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1

|align="center" style="background:yellow;"|SF

|align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1950

!1951

!1952

!1953

!1954

!1955

!1956

!1957

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|U.S. Open

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|U.S. Amateur

|R32

|R128

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|R128

|R32

|R64

|R32

align=left|British Amateur

|R64

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

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: [http://www.masters.com/en_US/history/past_winners.html www.masters.com]

Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: [http://champsdatabase.usga.org/ USGA Championship Database]

Source for 1948 British Amateur: [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19480529&printsec=frontpage&hl=en The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1948, pg. 3.]

Source for 1950 British Amateur: [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19500525&printsec=frontpage&hl=en The Glasgow Herald, May 25, 1950, pg. 9.]

Source for 1951 British Amateur: [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19510524&printsec=frontpage&hl=en 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

Category:American male golfers

Category:Amateur golfers

Category:College of the Holy Cross alumni

Category:Golfers from Westchester County, New York

Category:1914 births

Category:2001 deaths

Category:20th-century American sportsmen