Legal Commentary

A Houston Original

By Tom Kirkendall

One of Houston's many treasures is Jack Burke (earlier posts here), the 86 year-old co-founder and owner of Champions Golf Club. The energetic Burke was recently slowed by a "mild" stroke (my late father used to say that the only mild strokes were those that happened to someone else), but that didn't stop Jack from taking his family to Augusta National Golf Club last week for the Masters, where Burke is a former champion (1956). John Garrity provides this fine article on Burke's Augusta National visit (H/T Geoff Shackelford), which includes the following hilarious and typically Burkean anecdote that about former Masters champion Bob Goalby tells fellow PGA Tour member, Miller Barber:

"You know Miller?" Goalby arches an eyebrow. "He's got about 14 curlicues in his backswing, and then he sticks the club straight up in the air with no wrist cock. Anyway, he asked Jackie for a lesson."

"They went out on the range, dumped the balls out. Miller said, 'I'm mixed up on my backswing. Watch me hit some.' So he hit about a dozen balls before Jackie turned and started walking away."

"Miller's got this squeaky voice. He shouted, 'Jackie! Jackie! Where are you going?' And Jackie said, 'Back to the clubhouse. I'm not going to live long enough to figure out that backswing.'"

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on April 16, 2009 (boomark / email).