Friday, April 2, 2010

Jackie Burke, Jr. talks about Ben Hogan








In our production of the 'Ben Hogan Collection' DVD set we had the opportunity to interview Jackie Burke, Jr. in early 2006 when he was down in Miami teaching with Jim McLean at Jim's golf school at Doral Golf Resort.

We did our filming in one of the conference rooms in the Doral main building. Mr. Burke told a lot of stories about Mr. Hogan and responded to a film we showed him taken at the 1967 Masters during a practice round. Mr. Burke, Gardner Dickinson, and Mr. Hogan were playing together and the film depicted their shots on several holes. It certainly brought back memories for Mr. Burke and quite a few interesting stories about Ben Hogan. These are included in the 'Legacy' dvd documentary that is part of the 'Collection'.

Mr. Burke is shown in the photos conducting instruction on putting for several of McLean's instructors at the Great White Course at Doral. It was a real treat for all of us and especially the instructors. I hope they all could appreciate the opportunity they had to hear what a great champion had to say about putting and the short game. He does not mince words that's for sure. Mr. Burke was one of the best putters on tour in the 1950's. He currently resides in Houston and continues to operate the Champions Golf Club there.

Also, during that week Mr. Burke went out on the course and demonstrated his remarkable golf skills even at the young age of 80+. He can still outdrive most amateurs as he striped drives over 250 yards on the course and practice area!

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