2017 Volunteer of the Year: Bill Best

At the 96th WSGA Annual Meeting, held Oct. 28 at Bear Creek Country Club in Woodinville, Wash., Bill Best was honored as the 2017 George Holland Volunteer of the Year.


Dependable, quiet, responsible, and a whole lot of fun to be around, Bill has been a valued member of the WSGA Course Rating Committee since 2013. In 2017, he traveled all over the state, working 12 days rating courses.

Bill grew up in Illinois, graduating from Millikin University in Decatur in 1973 with a degree in Industrial Engineering. He relocated to Washington in 1978, where he began working for Boeing. And he stayed at Boeing for 36 years, finally retiring in 2015.

He took a year off to “adjust” to retirement, and then decided he wanted to get going again with his volunteer interests. He called the WSGA office, saying he wanted to do more. He had been involved with Course Rating, but had some extra time available, so he signed up as a volunteer for WSGA championships, which he then began doing in 2017. Along with the time he gave to Course Rating in 2017, he also worked 10 days in support of WSGA championships.

Bill lives in Puyallup, where he has been a member at Linden G&CC for 10 years, and he still plays golf every Tuesday with other Boeing employees.

He is a good man and a valued volunteer, and is the epitome of a worthy recipient of the George Holland Volunteer of the Year Award.

Click here for more information on the George Holland Award, including a list of past recipients.