William Flynn

William Santa Flynn (December 25, 1890 - January 24, 1944) was a prominent golf course architect during the early part of the 20th century.

Flynn was born in Milton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Milton High School, where he had played interscholastic golf. He laid out his first course at Heartwellville, Vermont, in 1909 and was then hired to assist Hugh Wilson with the completion of the East Course at Merion Golf Club. He worked as the construction supervisor at Merion and continued his involvement with Merion for 25 years, perfecting the course.

Flynn and Wilson had hoped to form a design partnership, but Wilson's failing health prevented it. Instead, Flynn partnered with Howard Toomey just after World War I with Flynn the designer and Toomey handling the engineering side of the work. William Gordon, Robert Lawrence, and Dick Wilson all started out as assistants with the firm of Toomey and Flynn and all later became prominent designers in their own right.

Flynn was particularly active around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, producing numerous highly rated courses. Although his main body of work is found around Philadelphia, his most recognizable works are outside the area at places like Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, The Cascades in Virginia, The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, and Shinnecock Hills on Long Island.