Class of 2016

Robin Burke

Amateur Player

Biography

Robin served as captain of the 2016 women’s U.S. Curtis Cup team. She was the runner-up in the 1997 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, falling to Silvia Cavalleri at Brae Burn Country Club in West Newton, Mass. The following year, she was a member of the USA Team that took a 10-8 victory over GB&I at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Burke paired with Virginia Derby Grimes for two foursomes victories and lost her singles match.

Burke has competed in more than 35 USGA individual championships, including three U.S. Women’s Opens. She has reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship three times and, in 2003, she took stroke-play medalist honors in the Women’s Mid-Amateur at Long Cove Club in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Her 38 Women’s Mid-Amateur match-play victories are tied for third-most in championship history with four-time champion Meghan Stasi, trailing only past Curtis Cup captains Ellen Port (58 victories; 2014 captain) and Carol Semple Thompson (56 victories; 2006, 2008 captain). Additionally, Burke has played for Texas in four USGA Women’s State Team Championships, helping her team to runner-up finishes in 1995 and 2011.

Burke won the 2001 Ione D. Jones/Doherty Championship, as well as the 1992 and 2001 Southern Women’s Amateur Championships. She won the 1990 and 1991 Texas Women’s Amateur Championships, and she is an eight-time Greater Houston Women's City Amateur champion.

Burke is married to two-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member and Texas Golf Hall of Fame member, Jack Burke Jr. The Burkes owned Houston’s famed Champions Golf Club until October 2021, where Robin Burke served as vice president. The club hosted numerous professional and amateur events, including the 1967 Ryder Cup (won by the USA), the 1969 U.S. Open Championship (won by Orville Moody), the 1993 U.S. Amateur Championship (won by John Harris), the 1998 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship (won by Derby Grimes) and five PGA Tour Championships. Most recently the club hosted the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open, won by A Lim Kim.

Legacy Video

Career Highlights

1990 and 1991 Texas Women’s Amateur Champion
1992 and 2001 Southern Women’s Amateur Champion
2001 Ione D. Jones/Doherty Champion
Eight-time Greater Houston Women's City Amateur champion
2003 stroke-play medalist honors in the Women’s Mid-Amateur
38 Women’s Mid-Amateur match-play victories tied for third-most in championship history

Life Lessons

Robin Moran moved to Texas in sixth grade and learned to play golf from her dad at Austin’s Onion Creek Club. Her dad took her to play with his friends and played on her newly-created high school golf team. She took lessons from the legendary Harvey Penick, but still struggled to post scores. It was her struggles on the green that led her dad to get Robin, a college freshman walk-on golfer at the University of Texas, a putting lesson with the master of putting at Champions Golf Club. The lesson with Jackie Burke, Jr., proved to be life-changing on and off the course.

A Power Couple

In 1987, three years after meeting, Robin and Jackie were married. With access to one of the world’s best golf instructors (as well as the family’s famed golf club) on a daily basis, her playing career quickly soared to new heights. She won back-to-back Texas Women’s Amateur Championships in 1990 and 1991 and claimed eight Greater Houston Women's City Amateur championships. The “first couple of Texas golf” became the first husband and wife to both become Texas Golf Hall of Fame members, when Robin was enshrined in 2016, joining her husband, a 1979 inductee. They celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in 2022.

Rockin’ Robin

Robin has competed in more than three dozen USGA individual championships during her career, qualifying for three U.S. Women’s Opens. At the age of 35, she advanced all the way to the championship match at the 1997 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. She thrived on the mid-amateur stage as well, reaching the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship three times and taking stroke-play medalist honors in 2003. Her 38 Women’s Mid-Amateur match-play victories are tied for third-most in championship history. Additionally, Robin played for Team Texas in four USGA Women’s State Team Championships, helping her team to runner-up finishes among the 50 teams in 1995 and 2011.

Representing the Flag

In 1998, Robin was a member of the United States Curtis Cup team that defeated Great Britain and Ireland, 10-8, at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, Minn. She posted a 2-1 record in the prestigious event that features the top eight American and top eight GB&I amateurs. In 2016, Robin again earned a national honor, being selected to serve as the non-playing captain of the U.S. Curtis Cup squad. It was the latest installment in the Burke family representing the United States, as her husband, Jackie, played on the 1951, 1953, 1955, 1957 (playing captain), and 1959 winning Ryder Cup teams. He also was a non-playing captain in 1973.

2020 Vision

Robin played a key role on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of the family-owned Champions Golf Club over the years. Her leadership and determination helped bring the club the one major event missing from Champions’ resume – the U.S. Women’s Open. Robin’s work paid off when the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open, which was historic in more ways than one, came to Houston. Not only was it the 75th anniversary of the tournament, but it also was delayed from its normal summer timeframe until December due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kim A-lim won the event by making birdies on her last three holes to turn a five-shot final-round deficit into a one-stroke win.