Jack Burke: Home Grown

Orange, Texas is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the border of Louisiana. This is Texas State men’s golfer Jack Burke’s hometown.

The main activities of this small quiet Texas town include playing golf and eating at the many Mexican restaurants scattered through town.

The Burke family specifically found interest in the golf course. Jack’s father, Aaron Burke, is a teacher and coach and spent his summers off at the golf course. He would put Jack in a car seat in the golf cart so he could play with the older guys at the Sunset Grove Country Club. 

“I would get him Nerf clubs and let him hit around the course, that grew into junior clubs and more and more golf in the afternoons,” said Aaron. 

Jack went from the car seat, to being dropped off by his dad in the summers to play golf and playing in junior tournaments. Even in the summers away from Texas State, Burke returns to the same courses to play with the older gentleman. 

Being among the wiser crowd was one of Burke’s favorite things about his hometown. “I think they definitely helped me mature a lot quicker,” said Burke. “Hanging around them I was able to be ahead of the other kids my age.” 

Burke graduated from Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School and there were about 200 kids in his graduating class. Burke quickly became phenom playing as a freshman on the varsity team and outshining his opponents. 

In his high school career Burke was a state champion, three-time District 22-4A champion and two-time Region 4A champion. 

Just a select few from Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School go on to have a collegiate athletic career. Burke was one of five to do so in his graduating class. 

“There have not been many people go through my high school and continue to play college golf,” Burke said. “It was really cool thing for me knowing that I have only done what a select few have accomplished.” 

It has been a ride for Aaron Burke watching Jack go from a little guy playing 5-hole modified tournaments, winning over 125 junior tournaments and now competing in college. “It was really emotional for me as his dad,” Aaron explained. “It is such a joy to watch your own kid have a dream, work at it so hard, and to see it all work it out.”

Texas State men’s golf Head Coach Shane Howell also grew up in the “The Golden Triangle”, with Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange making up the points. Howell kept his eye on local prosects and first heard about Burke through Austin Williams, one of his high school and college teammates, who coached Burke in high school. 

“Austin let me know early on in Jack’s career that he would be a great one,” Howell said. 

This accomplishment by Burke sparked even more support for him from the Orange community. 

“I would need three or four pages to list all the people that check in with me,” said Burke. “It is awesome to have that support because in college golf, and college sports in general, you usually reach some of your lowest points. When you have a support group like I do it is very easy to be reminded that you can do it.”

The Burke family likes to joke about Jack being a “hometown hero”, but Aaron says that it is pretty true, “the mayor honored Jack after he won his state championship and proclaimed July 9th in Orange as ‘Jack Burke Day’.” 

On the cusp of completing his second year at Texas State, Burke has recorded four top-five finishes in his career so far. This season he has finished first in the Bobcat lineup three consecutive times.  

“The people who keep up with you wonder how you do in tournaments, and you want to put up good results for those people,” Burke said. “You always want to make your hometown proud, especially the people that root and support you.” 

“I get tons of texts, emails, Facebook posts all the time, especially when Jack and the Bobcats are in a tournament,” Aaron said. “So, I would say Orange, Texas is very proud of Jack.”

Since the start of the fall season, Burke has put in the work in several areas of his game. “He is just scratching the surface of his talent,” Howell said. “The team tells him that if golf doesn’t work out, stand-up comedy should be his next line of work.” 

As someone who also grew up in the same area as Burke, Howell said, “One thing to know about growing up in the Golden Triangle is although you might leave town to spread your wings, you will always be that community’s guy.”