Turnesa out to make a name for himself on Nationwide Tour  So, what's in a surname? A clue if yours happens to be spelled capital "T'' small "u,'' small "r,'' small "n,'' small "e,'' small "s,'' small "a.''  Marc Turnesa has plenty of family members to turn to for inspiration. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
In many ways "Turnesa'' is a synonym for golf, given what the game of a lifetime has meant to one particular extended family that carries the exotic sounding surname. Way back when, in golf's formative years in the United States, long before there was a Palmer or a Nicklaus or a Woods, there were Turnesas -- lots and lots of Turnesas, in fact. Seven brothers, the progeny of Italian immigrant Vitale and Anna Turnesa, each made a mark in the game. Three -- Phil, Frank and Douglas -- became club professionals who taught the game with love and understanding. Three -- Joe, Jim and Mike -- became winners in the early days of the PGA TOUR. Willie, the baby brother, steadfastly remained an amateur, but could play with the best of his siblings, given his victories in the 1937 and 1948 United States and the 1947 British Amateur Championships. Mike Turnesa played 18 years on the PGA TOUR, winning six times. Given his genes, it was only natural that Mike Jr. selected golf as a career and today is the head professional at Rockville Links on Long Island. This is where he passed on his passion for the game to his son Marc, a late bloomer who is a rookie competing on the Nationwide Tour in 2007. Marc Turnesa, 28, playfully deflected a question about feeling pressure to carry on the family name with a quick laugh. There is none, he said. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have his own aspirations. "It would be nice to accomplish some things,'' the native of Rockville Center, N.Y., said. "But anyone who really knows golf understands how difficult it is to be successful.'' In many ways, Marc Turnesa already is. After all, he holds status on the Nationwide Tour, arguably the world's second- or third-best circuit, depending upon one's opinion of the European Tour. Anyone with a Nationwide exemption is one solid season away from graduating to the PGA TOUR. That's huge for any professional, but more important for a rookie attempting to find his way on a new tour. It is especially germane to Turnesa, who did not consider himself a world beater while in college at the University of South Florida and North Carolina State, where he graduated in 2000. "I really never did anything special,'' he admitted. "I always qualified for the five-man teams, but I was a 72, 73 and 74 shooter.'' Those numbers did not deter Turnesa, the golf equivalent of a gym rat, from turning professional upon graduation. It was all he ever wanted to do since he was old enough to walk and swing a cut-down golf club. His family lived less than a mile from Rockville Links, where his dad ran the golf end of the club. Marc was there the minute school let out and the golf course became his second home. "I always knew I would be in trouble if I couldn't make a living playing this game,'' he said, laughing. "Frankly I don't know what in the world I'd be doing if I wasn't playing golf.'' Suffice to say Turnesa, a member of the Gateway Tour since 2001, did not rush through the professional ranks. He applied to PGA TOUR Qualifying School five times and failed to make it through first stage on each occasion. But something special happened in 2006. Turnesa had a golf epiphany. He always had made cuts and money on the Gateway Tour, but in his words his game "stepped up big time.'' He posted 15 top-10 finishes, including nine in the top five, in 22 events. Although the winner's circle proved to be elusive, he earned over $100,000 and gained golf's most valuable commodity: confidence. "I hit it better and started making some putts,'' he said of his season. "And I started believing in myself.'' Turnesa carried that belief to PGA TOUR Qualifying School one more time. He sailed through the first stage for the first time and also advanced to the finals by making the grade as co-medalist in stage two. He showed his mettle, bouncing back from an 11-over-par 83 in the first round with five successive sub-par efforts to finish tied for 46th and earn his Nationwide Tour card. Now he has his sights set on carving out his own niche in the pro game. "I have to make a name for myself out here,'' he said. Turnesa knows to do that he must finish in the top 25 on the final money list, thereby graduating to the PGA TOUR. Admittedly that's a tough task for a rookie who is learning golf courses, where to stay and eat as well as how to travel on the Nationwide Tour, so Turnesa has a back-up plan. That would be making the top 60 in order to maintain his status. He currently stands 35th on the money list after five events. "I damn well better make the top 60,'' he said. "I know how this game works and I don't want to go backward.'' Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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