High-quality amateur event finds a fitting home course
Jack Burke Jr. has an affinity for amateur golf. It’s the grass roots of the sport, and the 94-year-old cofounder of Champions Golf Club is all about promoting participation as well as dedication to competition.
“Amateur golf, the way it started in this part of the country, it was called cow pasture pool,” said Burke, a World Golf Hall of Fame member who in 1956 won the Masters and PGA Championship.
“Jimmy (Demaret) and I decided that we’re going to have to help bring the game here and the rules here, and so we’ve tried to do that. We started with this club.”
Over the years, Burke has invited some of the best mid-am golfers (age 25 and over) from around the country to compete at a high level.
This year’s Champions Cup Invitational is special in that it is the event’s 50th anniversary. Nathaniel Crosby, Bing’s son and the 1981 U.S. Amateur champion, is a featured speaker for Thursday’s players dinner. Crosby, who is Burke’s godson, will play with his son Nathaniel Jr. in the two-man, best-ball stroke play tournament that starts Thursday and concludes Sunday.
The average handicap among the 56 teams this year is just over +2.0.
“They can play and some have played on pretty big stages,” said Don Champion, co-chairman and treasurer of the Champions Cup Invitational committee. “We have a lot players that have played in USGA events, a lot of club champions.
“You’ve got to bring your game here to participate, but we cherish fellowship and relationships at the same time with the players. So we want them to have a good time while they’re here, too.”
Hal Sutton was part of the winning team in 1981.
“What is great about the Champions Cup is all the players in it are good and the presence of Mr. Burke,” Sutton said. “Mr. Burke drops the crumbs of wisdom on everybody all the time. Some people are smart enough to pick them up; some people aren’t.”
Burke and Champions Golf Club take golf seriously and want it played the right way. There are 342 members with a single-digit handicap at Champions, which is strictly for golfers. There are no tennis courts or a fitness center.
“It brings the best players out,” said Burke, who is scheduled to be interviewed at the club next week by David Feherty for an upcoming episode of Feherty’s show on the Golf Channel. “If you’re going to play something, at least try to be good at it. We’re happy we can build a club.”
What makes the Champions Cup distinctive is the golfers face competition they might not get at their respective clubs. As Burke pointed out, most golf clubs accept players that don’t play well.
“These players that are coming here for the Cup matches, these guys are almost all scratch players,” Burke said. “They could turn pro in the morning. But they are business people.”
Tournament play will be on the Cypress Creek Course, site of the 1967 Ryder Cup, 1969 U.S. Open, 1993 U.S. Amateur and five season-ending PGA Tour championships. Champions, founded in 1957, also will host the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open.
John Hunter and Brad Segreto, both from Houston, are the defending champions in the Champions Cup. Also returning are 2015 champions Kyle Maxwell of The Woodlands and Derek Meinhart of Mattoon, Ill.
Of the 112 players competing, 108 represent 18 states. There are two players each from Japan and Scotland.