When it comes to having distinguished stature in an iconic golf family, Joe Turnesa Jr. was in a league by himself.

He accomplished it with two different families – the Turnesas and with Titleist.

The former, naturally, was happenstance, as Joe Turnesa Jr., who died May 24 in Bradenton, Fla., at the age of 89, was born into golf’s most incomparable family. The latter, it could be argued, proved his impeccable merits, because Joe T, as he was known to friends and co-workers, “defined golf authenticity” and helped establish golf ball dominance for the company, said Wally Uihlein, the retired CEO of Acushnet.

No mention of Joe Turnesa Jr. could begin without a reminder about this remarkable family. All seven of Vitale and Anna Turnesa’s sons were in the golf business, three as club professionals, three as tour professionals, and the youngest, Willie, as arguably one of the premier amateurs in history.

The Turnesas were golf royalty of the highest order from what was in that era the hub of golf in the United States – the Metropolitan Section in New York. Three of the brothers – Joe, Mike and Jim – combined for 23 PGA Tour victories, including the PGA Championship in 1952 (Jim), and the one who stayed amateur, “Willie the Wedge,” won three majors in his world, two U.S. Amateurs and a British Amateur. (Phil, Frank and Doug were the club pros.)

To extend the magic of this family, which began in 1896 with the birth of the oldest brother, Phil, two generations later Marc Turnesa (grandson of Mike, the fourth-born of the seven brothers) won the 2008 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children tournament in Las Vegas.

“Whatever city I’m in, people always come up and say, ‘Hey, are you related to the famous golfing Turnesas?’ ” Marc Turnesa once told the New York Times. “It’s flattering. It never gets old.”

Likely, Joe Turnesa Jr., who was born April 6, 1932, faced the same question and felt the same pride. His father, Joe Turnesa Sr., the third-oldest brother, won 15 times on the PGA Tour and was runner-up to two legends – Bobby Jones at the 1926 U.S. Open and Walter Hagen at the 1927 PGA.

Maybe he didn’t follow his father into the winner’s circle, but in many ways Joe Turnesa Jr. – who went to work for U.S. Rubber after graduating from Georgetown, then joined Titleist in 1964 – had just as significant an impact on the game in nearly 40 years with Titleist and FootJoy.

“He was a trusted product expert,” said David Maher, Acushnet Company president and CEO, “and an innovator and pioneer in the field of player promotion on the PGA Tour and across the worldwide professional tours.”

It is not hyperbole to suggest that Titleist became the dominant golf ball in large part to Joe T’s innovation, savvy, and tireless commitment to his job. “Joe T was not just the original player promotion expert, but he became a key member of both the Titleist Golf Ball R&D and Quality Assurance teams,” said Uihlein, who noted that the Titleist ball count was between 30 and 40 percent when Turnesa in 1975 became the first full-time Titleist Player Promotion Manager.

“Joe T (had) a passion for the product, for the process, and for the people, (and it) resulted in him seen as the personification of the Titleist culture of excellence.”

Employing his savvy knowledge about the game to identify rising talents and working closely with the R&D on a new generation of Pro Trajectory and Low Trajectory balls, Turnesa helped turn around the numbers. By the early 1980s, the Titleist ball count surpassed 60 percent and the company’s dominance was re-established.

Curtis Strange, a two-time U.S. Open champion who was on the PGA Tour those years when Joe Turnesa Jr. was a dominant presence, echoed Uihlein’s sentiments. “He was,” said Strange, “the ultimate gentleman and most loyal brand rep of all.”