North and South Tied at Jackie Burke Cup
BULLARD – The North and South teams are tied 12-12 after the first day of the Jackie Burke Cup Matches at Eagle’s Bluff Country Club. As it so happens, the all time series is also tied at 9-9. Needless to say, both teams will be eager to take home the win on Sunday.
The Jackie Burke Cup is a team match play event modeled after the Ryder Cup. Each team features 12 players as North Texas takes on South Texas. Each match is worth two points and the team with the most points after Sunday will win the cup.
Opened in 1999, Eagle’s Bluff Country Club is a 462-acre master-planned community bordering the eastern shoreline of Lake Palestine. The golf course was designed by Carlton Gibson and is set on a rolling piece of property highlighted by stately pines, dogwoods, azaleas, and picturesque views of the lake. The strategic par-71 layout, which measures close to 7,000 yards from the back set of tees, features holes that play in a variety of directions, with contoured fairways and greens, and numerous water hazards.
The South Team jumped out to an early 7-5 lead after winning the morning session of Four-Ball Matches against the North Team. Reese Roberts and Alex Huang got the North Team on the board first with a 3&2 win over Trenton Mierl and Jaxon Bandelier. Bradley O’Donnell and Kyle Doolittle secured the first points for the South Team with a 4&2 victory over Wylie Waldrip and Rhett O’Rear. Preston Hiller and Shaunak Nair won 5&4 against Nicholas Norris and Lucas Latimer, while Austin Hofferkamp and Shiv Parmar won 4&3 over Daniel Ferguson and Nathan Zmolik. Aadi Parmar and Dylan Knox tied tied with Luke Olive and Landon Hilario in the most compelling match of the morning. After claiming the first points of the day, the North Team got back on the board in the morning session’s last match as Kaylee Yuan and Eileen Lee bested Krysta Loftin and Carly Sherman 4&2.
The afternoon Foursomes Matches saw the North team draw even with the South behind three match victories. For the South, Preston Hiller and Kyle Doolittle captured a 4&3 victory over Daniel Ferguson and Lucas Latimer. Carly Sherman and Krysta Loftin won 5&4 over Kaylee Yuan and Eileen Lee. For the North, Alex Huang and Rhett O’Rear secured a clutch 2&1 win over Trenton Mierl and Austin Hofferkamp. Wylie Waldrip and Nathan Zmolik were impressive in 5&4 victory against Shaunak Nair and Bradley O’Donnell. Rounding out the North afternoon victories was Reese Roberts and Nicholas Norris who defeated Shiv Parmar and Jaxon Bandelier 1UP in 18 holes. The duo of Aadi Parmar and Dylan Knox tied with Luke Olive and Landon Hilario again in the final match of the day. Luke Olive made a clutch putt on the final hole to halve the match and tie things up overall.
Temperatures started in the low 50s on Saturday and crept up to 60 in the early afternoon. The wind was near non-existent as it stayed around 3-5 mph throughout the day.
The Final Round of the Jackie Burke Cup is Singles Matches with tee times starting at 7:30 am. Following the conclusion of the Final Round, the cup will be awarded to the winning team or the South Team if there is a tie.
The South has won two years in a row to even up the all-time series. Last year they defeated the North 27-21 at The Hideout Golf Club & Resort in Brownwood. They will look to extend their streak to three on Sunday.
To see all the scores from Saturday at the Jackie Burke Cup, click here. For more information on the event, click here.