Seven sons made their golfing mark
Unfortunately for their mom, none of them became doctors or lawyers
Austin Ernst of South Carolina won her third LPGA title last Sunday when she captured the LPGA Drive On Championship by five strokes over Jennifer Kupcho. Jessica Korda finished in a tie for eighth place while her younger sister, Nelly Korda, ended up tied in 28th place. The Korda sisters had won the first two events on the 2021 LPGA calendar but came up short in their quest for a third consecutive LPGA title.
All the talk about the Korda sisters got me to thinking about my earlier concepts regarding genetics and golf. It is accurate to say that no son or daughter of a famously successful golf professional has ever gone on to match the career of their wellknown parent. However, when I think back on the PGA Tour and family members, I do recall some modicum of success from Dave Hill and Mike Hill from the 1970s, matching major winning brothers Lionel and Jay Hebert from the 1950s, and even Tom and Curt Byrum. The Byrums have one PGA Tour victory apiece to their name, but what got them into my memory bank was the fact that they both won their lone tour title in 1989. However, all three brother acts are not exactly household names.
For longtime Bay Area municipal golfers, the Fry brothers were a fivesome of siblings who were talented professionals. They spent the majority of their careers as club pros. Fred Fry started it off when he became the head pro at the newly opened Lake Chabot Golf Course in Oakland in 1923. He ultimately moved to Monterey and was the head guy at Pacific Dunes. Dick Fry took over for his brother and remained at Lake Chabot for more than 40 years. Mark
Fry started at Oak Knoll and later got the plum assignment as head pro at Sequoyah Country Club. Tom Fry was the head pro at Tayman Park in Healdsburg. Earl Fry was an iconic figure as the head pro at Alameda Muni. He was so highly regarded that the North Course at Alameda is named after him. The South Course is named after journalist Jack Clark.
Yet when it comes to family golfing success, no one can match the story of the seven Turnesa brothers. Vitale Turnesa and his wife immigrated to New York City from Italy in 1904. He moved his family to the open spaces just north of Manhattan shortly thereafter. Vitale took on the job as the greenskeeper of the newly opened Fairview Golf Course. He would serve as its superintendent for 50 years. He never played golf, but the seven boys among his nine children took an active interest in the game. They started out at Fairview as driving range shaggers, moved up the ladder as caddies, and finally became professionals. There wasn’t a lot of big money in professional golf in the 1920s through the 1950s, and while some of the Turnesa brothers were lifetime club pros, others were successful enough that they rubbed elbows with friends who were avid amateur golfers as well as members of the Hollywood and New York elite. It was all a part of living the American dream during the first half of the 20th century.
Joe Turnesa won 14 times on the fledging PGA Tour of the 1920s and 1930s and came close to winning a major title except for the fact that future Hall of Famers kept getting in the way. Joe played on three Ryder
Cup teams, lost the 1926 U.S. Open by one stroke to Bobby Jones, and then lost in the finals of the 1927 PGA Championship to Walter Hagen.
Mike Turnesa won six times on the PGA Tour during the 1940s. He finished second to Ben Hogan in the 1942 Hale American Open, the replacement tourney for that year’s U.S. Open. He lost in the finals of the 1948 PGA to Ben Hogan. When we talk about genetics and golf, Mike and his grandson, Mark Turnesa, are the only grandparent-grandson PGA Tour champions. Marc won the 2008 Shiners Hospital for Children Las Vegas Open.
Jim Turnesa won just two times on the PGA Tour, but his triumph in the 1952 PGA Championship was a big one after some close calls. He beat Chick Harbert 1-up in the finals. He played on the 1953 Ryder Cup team and finished in the top five in all four of the major championships. In the 1942 PGA Championship, which was then contested at match play, he beat Byron Nelson in the quarterfinals, beat Ben Hogan in the semifinals, but lost to Sam Snead in the finals. Every now and then Jimmy would shock his family by inviting guests to his home for dinner. The surprised guests were often Bing Crosby and Bob Hope (together), Dean Martin, and New York newspaperman and television host, Ed Sullivan.
The youngest brother of the family, Willie Turnesa, was a lifelong amateur golfer. Nonetheless he was pretty darn talented. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1938, took home the British Amateur trophy in 1947, and won his second U.S. Amateur in 1948. When reporters reached out to his father after he won his second U.S. Am title, Vitale Turnesa responded by saying, “He should be the U.S. Amateur winner. It’s all he’s ever done.”
Three of the Turnesa brothers dabbled on the PGA Tour when it visited the northeastern portion of the United States, but they were primarily club professionals for the majority of their careers. The oldest of the brothers, Phil Turnesa, was the longtime professional at Elmwood Country Club. His brother Frank spent the majority of his career as the head pro at Metropolis County Club. Doug Turnesa was the head professional for most of his career at Briar Hall Country Club. In those days, club pros had larger bank accounts than mid-level touring pros.
Growing up adjacent to a golf course, coupled with the fact that their father was the superintendent and their earliest jobs were at that same course, was the impetus for the Turnesa brothers to actively find careers in the world of professional golf. They were the sons of immigrants, times were tough during the Great Depression, and golf was the avenue for them to have careers, find success in tournament golf, and along the way take a bow when Ed Sullivan introduced one of them from the crowd at his weekly television variety show.
As for their proud parents, Vitale Turnesa seldom saw his sons compete. He was thoroughly dedicated to his job at Fairview. So you might ask, what did their ultra-proud mother think of her sons and their many and varied golfing accomplishments? The one time she was interviewed by the press about Jimmy’s win at the PGA Championship, Anna Turnesa had a classic unimpressed motherly line. She admitted to the newspaper reporter that she wished her seven sons would have grown up to become doctors and lawyers. Sorry, Mom.