South Team builds 14-8 lead at Jackie Burke Cup

Match Day One of the 2026 Jackie Burke Cup opened with tight Four-Ball matches in the morning and a strong afternoon from the South Team. The South Team leads 14 points to 8 over the defending champion North Team, with one Girls Division match left to finish Sunday morning.

The Jackie Burke Cup is a team match-play event modeled after the Ryder Cup, with North Texas facing South Texas. Each team features 12 players, and each match is worth two points. The team with the most points at the end of Sunday will win the cup.

The Four-Ball matches kicked off the morning at Eagle’s Bluff Country Club in Bullard. The South Team won three matches and halved another to earn seven points, while the North Team answered with five points.

The opening match set the tone for a competitive day. Madden Myers of Amarillo and Veer Dev of Lucas battled Marco Baima of San Antonio and Andrew Bird of Nacogdoches to a tie, with each side taking one point.

Dallas duo Krish Shah and William Ballotta put the North Team on top with a 1-up win over Drew Dickens of Dripping Springs and Jake Knobler of Sugar Land.

The South Team responded with three straight victories. Isaiah Diaz of Del Rio and Sonny Sciantarelli of Austin edged Cooper Nichols of Farwell and Knox Barnard of Waxahachie, 1 up. Ryan (Woojin) Lee of College Station and Thomas Ashy of Austin followed with a 2-and-1 win over Jacob Babb of Mansfield and Ryle Cooper of Alvord.

In the Boys 14-and-Under Division, Mason Hwang of Houston and Pablo Mora of The Woodlands defeated Jude Mourning of Granbury and William Cothran of Fort Worth, 3 and 2.

In the Girls Division, Lois Lee of Northlake and Elizabeth Bellendir of Coppell closed the morning with a 1-up victory over Pippa Fikes of Fair Oaks Ranch and Michaela Partridge of Leander, bringing the North Team within two points heading into the afternoon.

The South Team carried that momentum into Foursomes. Bird and Diaz opened the afternoon with a 5-and-4 win over Nichols and Ballotta. Baima and Sciantarelli posted the most lopsided result of the day, defeating Shah and Dev, 8 and 6. Diaz and Sciantarelli each finished the day with two wins.

Cooper and Barnard delivered the North Team’s lone afternoon victory, topping Dickens and Ashy, 2 and 1. The South Team answered as Ryan Lee and Knobler defeated Babb and Myers, 3 and 2, giving Lee a perfect day as well.

In the Boys 14-and-Under Division, Mourning and Cothran rebounded from their morning loss to tie Hwang and Mora. The result sets up a pair of compelling singles matches on Sunday.

In the Girls Division, Lee and Bellendir were tied with Fikes and Partridge when play was suspended due to darkness. The match will resume Sunday at 7 a.m. on No. 13.

Singles will commence Sunday, November 8, off of No. 1 tee at 7:30 a.m. With 26 points still available, the North Team needs 16 more points to reach 24 and retain the title, while the South Team needs 11 more points to reach 25 and reclaim the trophy.

To learn more about the Jackie Burke Cup, click here. To view match results from today, click here.