Jackie Burke Cup: North Rallies to Fourth Straight Victory
12 Nov 2017
by Texas Golf Association
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The victorious North team
(TXGA Photo)
TYLER, TX (November 12, 2017) - Jake Kuwitzky’s four-foot par putt on No. 18 clinched the win for the North Team at the 2017 Jackie Burke Cup at The Cascades Club. The McKinney-native sank the clinching putt for the North Team in the 2016 Jackie Burke Cup at Escondido Golf & Lake Club.
Kuwitzky hit his second shot left of No. 18 green and was up against a tree near the putting green of the 557-yard hole.
“I saw the lie and told him to just get it near the green and give yourself a chance at par,” said North Captain Blaine Hale Jr.
Kuwitzky chipped the ball up next to the green and then got up and down from there for a clutch par to tie San Antonio’s John Keefer on the hole and win his match 1 up.
“This was a totally different feeling,” said Hale Jr. about winning the Jackie Burke Cup as a captain. “As captain I had a feel in all the matches and my players gave great effort and fought hard to win this cup.”
Dallas’ Holden Wisener and Granbury’s Tucker Allen helped erase the four-point deficit that the North Team faced heading into the Singles Matches. Wisener defeated Austin’s Luke Dossey in the first match, 2 & 1, holding off a late charge by Dossey which included an eagle on the par-5 14th. Allen won 3 & 2 over Kingwood’s Damin Strydom, making four birdies in his final 11 holes and without a bogey in that stretch.
“I knew Holden and Tucker could get the job done in the morning,” said Hale Jr. “Them winning allowed the other players on the team to play more freely in their own matches.”
League City’s Francois Jacobs faced a two-hole deficit standing on the 14th tee. The Jackie Burke Cup first timer, who is one of 18 first-time players this year, made back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 to square up the match. A bogey on No. 16 dropped him one back again, but a par on No. 17 brought the match all square heading to 18. Jacobs reached the green in regulation on the 557-yard 18th hole and sank a 10-foot birdie putt to win the match for the South Team.
Austin’s Trey Bosco followed his teammate’s 1 up win on 18 with one of his own. Bosco defeated Mansfield’s Brendan Powers in the fourth match of the morning after knocking in a 4-foot par putt on the last green.
With the South Team regaining a four-point lead over the North Team, Plano’s Matthew Comegys defeated Sugarland’s Shaheen Momin in the fifth match 2 & 1. Comegys made birdie on the 498-yard sixth hole and a par on No. 17 to secure his victory.
Spring’s Andrew Spaulding won the sixth match of the day, regaining the South Team’s four-point lead and bringing the squad within five points of winning the Jackie Burke Cup. Spaulding made birdie on No. 9 to bring his match all square and then made a consecutive birdie on No. 10 to take a 1 up lead. He never relinquished that lead to win 2 up.
Libby Winans of Richardson got off to a hot start in her match versus Houston’s Zoe Slaughter. Winans made back-to-back birdies on No. 3 and 4 to go 3 up and got it to 4 up through seven but Slaughter answered with an eagle on No. 8 and Winans double-bogeyed No. 9. Slaughter stormed back by making seven pars on the back side, but a bogey on No. 18 and a par by Winans secured the 1 up victory for the North Team.
Richardson’s Tommy Boone got the North Team back into a tie with the South Team following his 3 & 2 win over League City’s Andre Jacobs. Boone played consistently all day making one birdie and on bogey in 16 holes. With four matches left undecided the North Team needed to earn four points to retain the cup.
Hailey Jones, who was named 2017 Girls 12-18 Player of the Year, defeated Katy’s Elina Sinz to get the North Team within one match win of retaining the Jackie Burke Cup. Jones started with a bogey on No. 1, but made five straight pars to get the match back to all square and took a lead with an eagle on the par-4 seventh, holing out from the fairway with a 7-iron. Jones made a birdie on No. and another birdie on No. 14 as well as playing bogey free for the final holes to win her match 2 & 1.
Boys 15-18 Player of the Year Jansen Smith fought back on the back side to finish all square in his match with good friend Garrett Martin of San Antonio. Smith birdied three of his final six holes, including the 18th to secure a point for the North Team and extend the lead to 25-21.
Austin’s Brandon Hoff won the final match of the day over Temple’s William Paysse 1 up. Hoff made birdie on No. 18 to win his match and was the only player in this year’s Jackie Burke Cup to win all three matches and secure six total points for his team.
With the win, the North Team has now held the cup for the last four years. The overall record of the Jackie Burke Cup still has the South Team leading 7-6.