Scope and Contents
This collection includes the business records associated with Champions Golf Club located in the area of Houston, Texas. The club was founded by pro golfers Jimmy Demaret and Jack Burke, Jr. in 1957 with the purpose of promoting the game of golf and bringing active competition to its members and guests and to host significant national championships. This collection includes photographs, business papers, correspondence, news clips, and area maps from 1956 to 2007. Subject areas include golf course design, the logistics of hosting local and national competitions, photographs of celebrity guests including Hollywood stars, and information about club-related subdivisions. The collection is in excellent condition. It consists of 24 boxes and cartons with oversize items in a map draw. The collection is 22 linear feet.
Biographical/Historical note
In 1959 the Cypress Creek Course was opened for play, designed by Ralph Plummer. This course has hosted tournaments such as the 1967 Ryder Cup, the 1969 U.S. Open, multiple Tour Championships, the U.S. Amateur, and the Houston Champions International, which was a PGA Tour event. There are 2 courses, Cypress Creek, and Jackrabbit. The Club boasts several hundred members with single-digit handicaps, a statistic that can be matched by only a handful of other clubs in the country.
James Newton Demaret (May 24, 1910 – December 28, 1983) was an American professional golfer. He won 31 PGA Tour events in a long career between 1935 and 1957 and was the first three-time winner of the Masters.
Demaret was born in Houston, Texas. He reached his peak in the late 1940s with wins in the Masters in 1947, runner-up to Ben Hogan in the 1948 U.S. Open, and leading money winner and Vardon Trophy winner in 1947. He reached the semifinals of the PGA Championship four times in all but never won. He played on three Ryder Cup teams: 1947, 1949, and 1951. His career declined in the 1950s although he managed several key wins including the 1952 Bing Crosby Pro-Am. Demaret was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1983. In 2000, he was ranked as the 20th greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine. Known for his keen sense of humor and colorful outfits, Demaret was one of first Tour pros to become involved in golf broadcasting. After working as a commentator for "All Star Golf" in the early '60s, he replaced George Rogers as co-host for Shell's Wonderful World of Golf along with Gene Sarazen in 1966. Jimmy Demaret was a guest on "I Love Lucy" in the early 1950s. The over-70s groupings on the Senior PGA Tour were named the Friends of Demaret in his honor. He died of a heart attack in Houston, Texas as he was getting ready for a round of golf.
John Joseph "Jack" Burke, Jr. (born 29 January 1923) is an American professional golfer who was most prominent in the 1950s. He first rose to fame with two lopsided victories in the 1951 Ryder Cup matches. He was subsequently selected for the 1953, 1955, 1957, and 1959 teams, serving as playing captain in 1957. He also served as non-playing captain in the 1973 matches.
Burke was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He turned professional in 1940. He won 16 PGA Tour events in his career, including the 1956 Masters and PGA Championship. Perhaps his most famous match was his nine-hour, 40-hole quarterfinal loss to Cary Middlecoff in the 1955 PGA Championship. Burke won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average in 1952 and was selected PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1956.
After retiring from competition, Burke, along with Jimmy Demaret, was the main force in creating the Houston Champions Golf Club which has been the site of many PGA Tour events, as well as the 1969 U.S. Open and 1993 U.S. Amateur. He became the fifth recipient of the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000. Burke shares his permanent locker at Augusta National Golf Club, home of The Masters in Augusta, Georgia with Tiger Woods. As tradition dictates, both keep their prized green jackets, awarded to the annual winner of the tournament, in a wooden, finished locker with gold name plates on the front, with each year listed for the year they won.
Sources:
Rule, Bob (with forward by Ben Hogan) (1976). "Champions Golf Club 1957-1976".
Page/International Communications, United States. 2003, second edition.
Champions Golf Club (April 2, 2009). Retrieved April 27, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champions_Golf_Club
Jimmy Demart (April 21, 2009). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 27, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Demaret.
Jack Burke Jr. (April 21, 2009). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 27, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Burke_Jr.
