An eventful summer continues for Little Cypress-Mauriceville golfer Jack Burke.

Burke, who will be a sophomore this year, won a tournament that was special to his heart this week.

Burke is the 2018 Bruce Lietzke Golf Classic Champion.  The tournament was held Monday and Tuesday at Henry Homberg Golf Course in Beaumont.  It is the 25th anniversary of the annual summer tournament which is usually played at Idylwild Golf Club.

Due to the damage to the course caused by Hurricane Harvey the two-day event was moved by the Southern Texas PGA to Homberg.  Bruce Lietzke has held the tournament since 1993 and for many of those years came to town for the tourney to meet with the juniors playing the event.  Over the years the winners of the tournament have included golfers such as current PGA Pro Andrew Landry, who is in this years British Open, and Baylor’s Braden Bailey.  A decline in health prevented Mr. Lietzke from attending this year but golfers from San Antonio, Baytown, and a host of local junior talent still hit the course for the popular tournament.

Burke, who has played in several divisions of the tourney since he was 6, finally had a shot at the coveted “Classic Trophy” and made the most of it.  The course played tough as the rains from the past week had the rough tall and the greens running inconsistent.  Fresh off his strong finish in the AJGA College Station event, Jack played well enough to capture the title and will have his named etched on the trophy.

After the tourney Burke said “As a little kid I watched the older guys battle it out to win the tournament and it has always been a dream of mine to win and have my name put on the trophy.  Mr. Bruce always visited with me and a few years back he told me he knew one day I would win the tournament and my name would be on his trophy.  Today that came true and with him being sick and no longer able to make the tournament – the win was a little sad for me.  I would have loved to have shared this win with him.”  Next up for Burke is the big Texas Junior Amateur at Summit Rock Golf Course in Horseshoe Bay on July 23-25.

 

Boys Championship Division

Champion – Jack Burke (74-78/152)

T2 – Daniel Cormier (78-79/157)

T2 – Dalton Shields (79-78/157)

 

Girls 15-18

1st – Cari Denson (76-74/150)

2nd – Isabella Rice (86-80/166)

3rd – Cadence Underwood (89-94/183)