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Last of the Legends of Texas Golf
 Tough and fair. Legendary and helpful. Gruff and kind. A true Texas original, a champion in three different eras, all would be good descriptions of longtime Champions Golf Club kingpin and former Masters Champion Jack Burke Jr. Burke, 86, a Fort Worth native who has lived in Houston almost his entire life, is one of Texas’ last remaining links to its glorious golfing past and tradition. He grew around the dinner table at Houston’s River Oaks Country Club where his father, Jack Burke Sr., was the head professional.
The elder Burke taught and entertained an always-changing cast of Lone Star golfing greats from Byron Nelson to Harvey Penick to Ben Hogan and Texas golf promoter John Bredemus, with the younger Burke an eager witness. In his teens, Burke Jr. worked for his dad at River Oaks, serving as a caddy before becoming a top amateur player, competing against such Houston-area future legends as Dave Marr Sr., Jimmy Demaret and Babe Zaharias. He turned pro at age 17, and embarked upon a long and successful career on the PGA Tour, winning 17 times, including four straight tournament wins in 1952—a PGA Tour record at the time—capturing the Vardon Trophy that year for lowest scoring average. In 1956, he withstood 50-mile-an-hour winds at Augusta National Golf Club to rally from eight shots back on the final day to capture the Masters title over Ken Venturi. It was his first major championship, but he validated it by also winning the ’56 PGA Championship at Blue Hill Golf Club in Boston. Burke was named PGA Tour Player of the Year in ’56 and named to the Ryder Cup team, one of five appearances, twice as a captain. But his contributions to golf and especially Texas Golf were far from finished. In the late 1950s, he teamed with his good friend and fellow Houstonian Demaret on a project that would become their lasting legacy. The two men decided to build a first rate private club on land most thought was too remote and uninhabited to be useful for anything. But in 1958, the two Texas legends, working with Texas golf architect Ralph Plummer, unveiled Champions Golf Club, off of Highway 1960 in North Houston. The course soon lived up to its name as it became the only course in Texas to have hosted a U.S. Open (1969), Ryder Cup (1967), U.S. Amateur (1994) and PGA Tour Houston Open (1966-71) and a Tour Championship (five times). Burke still teaches PGA Tour players such as Steve Elkington and Hal Sutton along with top amateurs, including his wife Robin, who has enjoyed her own stellar amateur career. TEXAS GOLFER: It seems like you’ve been around Texas golf your entire life. What has always kept you in love with the game?
JACK BURKE Jr.: I started out in the caddie yards at River Oaks and stayed around the dinner table where my father entertained some of the greats of the game on a nightly basis. I always loved the game, especially the amateur side, because that’s the lifeblood of golf.
Not many golfers today come from the caddie yards. Those don’t exist much anymore. What did you learn from that?
You learn a lot about life and about golf. You learn to claw and scratch and play your way out. Ben Hogan was famous for saying he ‘dug it out of the dirt’ when it came to golf. That’s because he started in the caddie yards at (Fort Worth’s) Glen Garden.
There is a lot of doom and gloom about the economic health of the game today, what do you think about that?
We’re marketing the game to death. We’re concentrating on other things that are not nearly as important as the game itself.
Such as?
If you’re a golf club, but the main focus is food and a fancy fitness center and swimming and tennis, you’re losing your mind. I don’t get one inch from the game myself.
What does it take to build a good club?
You look for good land and good players. Nobody gets into golf to get bad. You want players who are serious and interested in getting good. That’s why (at Champions Club) we have so many good players, single handicappers who want to get better. We don’t take applications from people who aren’t serious about the game.
Texas had not hosted a national amateur championship in 100 years until you had the 1994 U.S. Amateur at Champions with Justin Leonard as the defending champion. Why was that important to you?
Amateurs are the lifeblood of the game. That’s why we erected a small statue at the club titled Tomorrow’s Champions, because that’s who we wanted to come and play at the U.S. Amateur championship and enjoy the great course we have here.
Do you still like to give tips to players?
Tips are for horse racing, not golf. If somebody wants to come here I will watch them swing and see what I can do.
Over the years several players like (Champions member and resident) Steve Elkington and Hal Sutton have said you were very helpful to their game, so I guess you still like to teach?
They have had great careers and I didn’t do much to help. Hal is doing a great job in building his own club (Boot Ranch) in Kerrville now.
Do you still get out and play some?
I’ll go out and play with (wife) Robin some of the time. But there’s really nothing to play for, so it’s kind of hollow.
How did the first and only Ryder Cup come to Texas and to Champions in 1967?
A guy named Bob Hudson was really the personal sponsor of the Ryder Cup back then. It wasn’t nearly as big or as sponsored by corporations as it is today. The United States won most of the time and it wasn’t nearly what it is today.
How did it go?
We had a big opening ceremony at a hotel downtown and a great beginning to the matches. But it was during the fall during football season and I think UT had a big game that weekend. There weren’t many people here. I think we just left the gates open on Saturday, hoping people would come. I did it because it was good for golf and good for Texas.
Ben Hogan chose Champions for his last competitive round at the Houston Open. Why did he come here to finish his career?
I knew Ben, of course, for a long time. He wanted somewhere familiar where he had friends and knew a lot of people. He stayed in a house on property and took his meals here. I think he enjoyed the course.
What were your playing days like when you were on the PGA Tour?
We all traveled around and every week, Fred Cochran, who was the manager at the time, would line up speeches for us where the Tour was that week. I kept notes from my speeches and that wound up being a large part of the book I wrote.
Was winning the Masters win the highlight of your career?
I certainly enjoyed winning the Masters. The conditions that last day were unbelievable. I think I shot 71, the only under-par score. Ken Venturi couldn’t make a putt on the back nine. I haven’t been back in a while, but I think I’m going back this year.
What about winning four straight tournaments in 1952?
Again, it just wasn’t as big as it is now. There weren’t the sponsors or the media or the fans. I think Gary Player may have broken my record in the 1970s.
Do you still watch and enjoy golf today?
It seems like today’s players are more interested in taking lessons than giving lessons and helping. I see some players who have a caddie line up every shot for them on the greens. It’s not the caddie who makes the putt, but the player.
Photo caption: PHOTO BY DARREN CARROLL |
