Jack Burke Jr., also known as “Jackie” is not only known for his accomplishments as a professional golfer. He is also known as one of Golf’s greatest architects and one of the sport’s greatest teachers. Jack Burke Jr was born on January 29, 1923 in Fort Worth, Texas. The person who made a big influence on Jack to pursue the sport of golf was his father. Jack Burke Jr practically grew up in River Oaks, a golfing club which his father fostered.
Jackie turned professional in the year 1940. His first rise to fame happened in the 1951 Ryder Cup match. He was then made to play for the US Ryder Cup team several times after that specifically in the years 1953, 1955, 1957 and 1959. He played as the team captain in 1957 and as a non-playing captain in 1973.
| Born | 29 Jan 1923 |
| Nationality |
United States
|
Aside from his victories in the Ryder Cup matches, Jackie has a recorded sixteen wins on the PGA Tour. He also has 2 major championship wins in his professional career one in the 1956 Masters and the other in the 1956 PGA Championship. Jackie was also awarded the Vardon Trophy in 1952 for garnering the lowest scoring average for the season. He was also proclaimed as PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1956.
After retiring from competitive golf, Jackie was known famously for creating the Houston Champions Golf Club together with Jimmy Demaret. The Houston Champions Golf Club has been the chosen site for many PGA Tour events and championship events among them the 1969 US Open and the 1993 US Amateur. Here, Jackie was approached by many players, amateur and professional alike for golfing lessons and advice. All the players who ever tutored under Jackie could say one thing, that he was a great teacher. In 2000, Jackie was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and in 2003 he was awarded the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award, the fifth recipient so far.
