BIG-TIME AMBITION
VENERABLE CHAMPIONS GOLF CLUB MAKING A PLAY TO HOST MANY MORE
When Jimmy Demaret and Jack Burke Jr., broke ground on Champions Golf Club in the late 1950s, a lot of people shook their heads.
An all-golf club? In, what then, was considered just about the middle of nowhere? Good luck with that.
Sixty years later, Champions is going strong. Make that stronger than ever.
A few weeks ago, the club put an exclamation point on its first 60 years by stepping in to host the 2017 Women’s Mid-Amateur when Hurricane Irma damaged Quail Creek Country Club in Naples, Fla.
Now Robin Burke, vice president of Champions and wife of the co-founder, is already working on the first signature event for the club’s next 60 years — the 2020 U.S.
Women’s Open.
“I believe Jack and Demaret built this club for competition and I love all levels of it,’’ she said. “It’s what we’re all about.’’
Tom Godbold, a Houston attorney, longtime Champions member and 6-handicapper who has been tapped to serve as the chairman of the 2020 Women’s Open, takes it a step further.
“I know this place is all about major championships and for us to keep going for another 60, we have to keep doing what we’ve done and that’s hosting these major championships,’’ he said. “The course is a true test of the players’ skills.’’
It has been for 60 years.
History of big events
Champions’ first big event was the 1967 Ryder Cup and the 1969 U.S. Open, won by Orville Moody, came next. Since then, the course has hosted two women’s MidAmateurs (1998 and 2017), the 1993 U.S. Amateur, five Tour Championships, five Houston Champions Internationals (now the Houston Open) and two Southern Amateurs.
“I like to think of us as the national club of Texas,’’ Godbold said. “I can’t think of another club in Texas that has the championship résumé we’ve got.’’
The recent Mid-Am only added to that impressive list.
When Burke saw a message on Facebook that the Mid Am would have to be postponed, she contacted the USGA and in less than a week the event was relocated to Champions.
With just seven weeks to pull together an event that usually takes two years of intense planning, Burke and Champions impressed both players and officials.
“It was pretty extraordinary how it all came together,’’ said Mark Hill, the USGA’s senior director of competitions. “Some of the more daunting tasks like volunteer recruitment and training, they shined in all areas, but that particular aspect pretty remarkable.
“It was a very unique situation, but we knew and trusted Champions, Robin and Mr. Burke … I don’t know if you could have drawn it up any better.’’
Burke credits the Champions membership and staff, including club manager Shawna Wallstein, head pro Brett Nutt and golf course superintendent Chris Ortmeier. For good measure she also asked friend and former USGA regional affairs director Alli Jarrett, owner of Harold’s Restaurant & Tap Room, to chair the Mid-Am.
“Alli pulled the committees together quickly and organize the teams and we had Houston helping us,’’ she said. “It came together fast. Our membership, the Houston Golf Association, the Texas Golf Association, friends and friends of friends all helped. It’s a credit to Houston. All of Houston.
“I feel we were fully prepared. It was as if we had two years to prepare. We had done it before.’’
Added Godbold, “As Robin says, we stay ready.”
Good impression
Burke and Godbold thought the Mid-Am would be a good barometer to see what they needed to strengthen for the Open. They realized it wasn’t much.
Players were impressed with the course and the field also got a chance to visit with 94-year-old Hall of Famer Jack Burke, who dropped by daily to visit, tell stories and offer advice.
“The players met him and took the opportunity to get to know him and vice-versa,’’ Hill said. “They really enjoyed it. How often do you still have a club founder still there 60 years later?”
The course played just under 6,000 yards for the MidAm, but will play closer to 6,500 yards for the Open. Expect Champions’ large greens with their subtle breaks that were running 13 ½ last month to be faster for the Open.
Although there are still 30some months to work on logistics, they’re already looking at areas on the club’s second course ( Jack Rabbit) for hospitality and other infrastructure. And, instead of 250 volunteers for the Mid Am, they’ll need a few thousand for the Open.
Come January, Burke and Godbold will launch their twoyear marketing and corporate sales plans, a luxury they didn’t have last month.
“It’s really a matter of scale,’’ said Godbold, who works for Twin Eagle Resource Management. “The Mid-Am was an international event. The Women’s Open is a global sporting event.’’
Burke and Godbold have been to several USGA events and will attend the next two Women’s Opens — at Shoal Creek next year, then at Country Club of Charleston in 2019 — to see those operations and tweak or incorporate ideas for 2020.
Or maybe they’ll come up with an idea for their next championship. “I’d love to host a Solheim Cup, a Ryder Cup, a Curtis Cup,’’ Burke said.
Stay tuned.
Melanie Hauser, a former sportswriter for the Houston Post, writes a weekly column sponsored by the Harris CountyHouston Sports Authority.