William P. Turnesa (1976)

Willie Turnesa was the possessor of one of the most distinguished amateur golf career in the country. In the same year that he graduated from Holy Cross (1938), Willie embarked on his national playing career by winning the U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakmont. Ten years later, he repeated his performance in this prestigious event in Memphis. His enormous competitive credentials also include a British Amateur Championship in 1947, as well as victories in both the New York State and Metropolitan Amateur Championships. In addition, Turnesa represented the United Sates in the Walker Cup Team Matches in 1947 and 1949, and served as playing Captain of the Team in 1951.

A life-long resident of Westchester County and Knollwood Country Club, Turnesa co-founded the Westchester Golf Association Caddie Scholarship Fund in 1956, the first of its kind in this area. Even in its first years of existence, the fund quickly was able to raise over three quarters of a million dollars and established itself as one of the premier caddie scholarship funds in the nation. Since its inception, the WGA Caddie Scholarship Fund has now enabled over 2,800 deserving young men and women to purse their educational goals and has granted over $21 million in scholarships, figures Turnesa would be proud of today.

Turnesa was president of the Metropolitan Golf Association in 1955, served in leadership roles with the New York State Golf Association, and was a member of the United States Golf Association Nominating Committee.

A gentleman in all regards, Willie Turnesa, as a player, official, and human being, lived for and with the “honorable traditions” of golf.