Wisconsin Badgers alumnus Spencer Turtz wins 2026 State Am

WEST BEND – Spencer Turtz began the final round of the 125th Wisconsin Amateur Championship on July 23 as a co-leader, and he hoped to feel some nerves on the 18th hole with a chance to claim the state’s most prestigious amateur event.

He did, but not until his final full swing into No. 18. The approach found the center of the green, leading to a par for a final round 2-over 73 and a tournament victory at 3-over 287.

“I was pretty happy feeling those little nerves,” Turtz said. “It was fun. Fun to compete.”

Turtz’s playing partner and co-leader Ricky Kuiper [Racine] gave Turtz some breathing room when he double-bogeyed the par 3 17th, which gave Turtz a three-shot lead heading to the last. After finding the fairway with his tee shot, Turtz wanted to know what he needed to do to win.

When caddie and former Badgers teammate Cameron Huss told him to play it safe, and that he could capture the trophy with a two or three-putt, Turtz felt the butterflies.

A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, it was Turtz’s first individual victory as an amateur in Wisconsin. He won the 2025 men’s four-ball title with James Boustead.

“It means a lot,” said Turtz, who just graduated from the University of Wisconsin. “It’s finally a good breakthrough for me individually, especially. It’s my last, at least for this year, my last WSGA event.”

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Turtz made one birdie on the back nine, and it was a massive one as it gave him a one-shot lead over Kuiper. It came on the 537-yard, par 5 15th, which was playing into the wind. He found the rough with his tee shot and his second shot positioned him just behind a green side bunker. A favorable lie allowed him to pitch it to inside four feet, and he rolled in the birdie.

A cadre of University of Wisconsin players and alumni cheered for Turtz when his last putt dropped and raced to the green to celebrate him after the play was concluded.

“It’s tough to hold back the emotions when that happens,” Turtz said with a smile. “They’re all my best friends and teammates and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to go through college with.”

Turtz said he is headed to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland for graduate studies and to play.

No other players really challenged Turtz as Hartland’s Cody Guetzke was the only player to post a round under par with a 1-under 70. That did move Guetzke up nine spots into a tie for second with Kuiper at 6-over 290, however.

Danny Behm (Hubertus), Preston Dembowiak (West Bend) and Marquette University alumnus Brandon Cloete tied for fourth at 7-over 291. Oconomowoc’s Garrett Schultz finished seventh at 8-over while defending champion Vince Sigl of Seymour and Merrill’s Russell Dettmering tied for eighth at 10-over.

The top 10 was rounded out by Marquette’s Ryan Banas, former champion Garrett Jones of Madison and Badgers player Charlie Erlandson at 11-over.

A line of spectators were ready to celebrate what was almost Tony Romo’s shot of the day when he nearly holed a bunker shot on the short side of the par 4 ninth hole, his last of the tournament. It slid just past the cup, but the Burlington High School alumnus cleaned it up with his fourth up-and-down of the day.

He smiled afterward, happy his final round 82 was not an 83. He had spent hours working on those shots following his third round on July 22, and even for a former four-time Pro Bowl quarterback it was a lesson learned.

“That was pretty good for me,” Romo said of the bunker shot. “Honestly, I’ve worked so hard. To be that short sided with that – that is not the spot you want to be.

“I was like, that’s because I spent all that time yesterday. That’s the secret to this whole sport, and anything, is doing it over and over again and then trusting it in the moment. I did it there on nine.”

The 46-year-old once again was a popular figure for spectators and his playing partners at a tournament that he prioritizes every NFL offseason.

“Growing up here, it’s nostalgia in a lot of ways,” he said. “Growing up and watching Andy Podolak win all these things, he caddied for me now and I’m so fortunate to have him. Watching my dad [Ramiro], who’s won the senior state am; here at West Bend [in 2015] by the way. So he was giving me tips coming into the week. I gotta go talk to him about the tips now. But it’s just one of those things where you love it and it feels like going back home. For me, I feel like the WSGA does such a great job.

“This is the U.S. Open here, I feel like, each year. You know the conditions are going to be tough. Greens are going to be tough. The rough was up this week. It was pristine on the golf course. I couldn’t say anything better about West Bend Country Club, how amazing they were. But to me, I sit there it’s just like coming home and competing and going back to your youth, I guess you could say.”

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current CBS Sports analyst took time for photos, autographs and even some quarterbacking lessons for a young fan.

“I was that kid one time,” he said. “I remember when somebody came back from Whitewater who was a football player and talked to us when I was in high school, and I was like, oh my gosh, he plays at Whitewater. I have three boys. I want to make people feel happy and special and try and give ’em all the energy you have. The truth is, it gives me joy as much as him.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Badgers alumnus Spencer Turtz wins 2026 State Am