Around the Green

South Team Surges to 14-10 Lead at Jackie Burke Cup

TYLER, TX – The South Team secures eight out of 12 possible points in the second-round Foursome matches to take a 14-10 lead in the 13^th annual Jackie Burke Cup at The Cascades Club. Teams split the morning Four-Ball matches with six points apiece.

The Jackie Burke Cup is a Ryder Cup-style event and the final tournament on the Legends Junior Tour schedule. Players are teamed up with the top 12 players from north Texas playing the top 12 players from south Texas. Players earned their way onto their teams by earning points towards the LJT Player of the Year standings. The players are captained by Cooper Dossey for the South Team and Blaine Hale Jr. for the North Team.

Dossey, a two-time player in the Jackie Burke Cup, and his team are looking to win the Cup for the first time since 2013. Dossey is currently a member of the Baylor Bears golf team and won his last college event, the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate.

 “Being a captain is different than being a player,” said Dossey after the Foursome Matches, “It’s more stressful since I have less control of the shots, but these are good guys and gals out here on both teams.”

Hale Jr. is a sophomore at Oklahoma University and was a member of the National Champion golf team in 2017. He is looking
for his North Team, which has won the cup the last three years, to comeback and control Sunday’s Singles matches right out of the gate.

When asked about the advice he gave his players before tomorrow’s round, Hale Jr. answered, “Manage the momentum swings tomorrow, match play is a different animal and you can apply pressure to the other team by hitting fairways and greens.”

The matches got started with Four-ball matches in the morning. Boys 15-18 Player of the Year Jansen Smith and McKinney’s Jake Kuwitzky won the first match over Luke Dossey and Trey Bosco, 2 up. Smith made birdies on holes 16, 17 and 18 to help seal the charge by Dossey and Bosco.

Holden Wisener and William Paysse won the second match for the North Team 3 & 2 over John Keefer and Garrett Martin. Dallas’ Wisener made four birdies in his final five holes to help close out the match.

The North Team added a third victory and sixth point to its Jackie Burke Cup total with a 4 & 3 win by Brendan Powers and Tommy Boone over Andre and Francois Jacobs. Powers and Boone combined to make four birdies in the first round.

The South Team got on the board after a 2 & 1 win by Brandon Hoff and Damin Strydom. Both players combined for 10 birdies in the round, including three in a row on holes five through seven. Austin’s Hoff and Kingwood’s Strydom are making their first appearances in the Jackie Burke Cup matches and are two of 18 players competing in the matches for the first time.

Shaheen Momin and Andrew Spaulding won 3 & 2 over Matthew Comegys and Gaven Lane to give the South Team another two points towards the overall score, while Zoe Slaughter and Elina Sinz defeated Hailey Jones and Libby Winans to draw the score even at 6-6.

The afternoon matches commenced after the conclusion of the morning Four-ball matches. The second round pitted players in a Foursome match. Foursome matches consist of players alternating shots to get the ball in the hole in the fewest strokes.

Andre and Francois Jacobs kept the south winning streak alive after a 6 & 4 win over Jansen Smith and Jake Kuwitzky in the first match of the afternoon. The Jacobs’ made three birdies to one bogey in the alternate shot format, including the 534-yard 14^th, which clinched the match.

The second match of the afternoon was halved by the North and South Teams. William Paysse and Jake Holbrook won three of the final five holes, including No. 17 and 18 to come back and earn a point for the North Team.

Luke Dossey and Garrett Martin picked up another win for the South Team in match No. 3. Dossey and Martin made birdie on holes No. 9, 10, 12 and 13 en route to their 3 & 2 victory.

Brandon Hoff and John Keefer won the third match of the afternoon for the South Team with a 2 & 1 win over Brendan Powers and Tommy Boone. Hoff and Keefer made four birdies in the second round including the 444-yard par 4 fourth.

The fifth match of the afternoon and the 11^th match of the day was halved after Andrew Spaulding made 15-foot birdie putts on No. 17 and 18. Spaulding teamed with Shaheen Momin against Matthew Comegys and Gaven Lane of the North Team. 

Hailey Jones and Libby Winans hit the green in two on No. 18 and Winans sank a 3-foot birdie putt to give the north a 2 up win over Zoe Slaughter and Elina Sinz. Jones and Winans played up and down through their round, making three birdies in the first six holes followed by three bogeys in the next six and two more birdies in the final six holes.

The final round consists of singles matches with tee times starting at 8:00 am on Nov. 12. Each match will be worth two points for a win and one point for a halve. The North Team needs 24 total points to retain the cup, while the South Team needs to earn 25 points to win.

To see all the scores and pairings from the Jackie Burke Cup matches, click here. For more information about the event, click here.