Bill Tilton moved to the Muskegon area from Terra Haute in 1964.  An avid golfer, he won 38 golf tournaments during his days in Muskegon, but he is best remembered for his work within the sport.

A retired engineer, Tilton spent much of his adult life passing golf lessons on to hundreds of area junior golfers and to the less fortunate. Gathering unclaimed and demonstration clubs from area courses, Tilton would put together free sets of clubs for those who want to try the game.

Among his many accomplishments, in 1967 Tilton developed the junior program at Oak Ridge Golf Course, then known as the Pontaluna Country Club. He started the county junior traveling golf program in 1971 and helped run it for the next 19 years. Soon after, Tilton began the local “Golfer of the Year” program and was the driving force behind the tournament which is now known as the James Henderson Memorial Match Play Championship. From 1989 to 1993, he coached the Muskegon Community College golf team and he served as president of the Greater Muskegon Golf Association in 1994.