When professional golfers and longtime friends Jack Burke and Jimmy Demaret opened Champions Golf Club in 1957, the Spring and Klein area was bare. Today, the Champions name can been seen on the fronts of hundreds of buildings and signs throughout the booming area, a testament to the course's effect on the community.

"The golf club was the cornerstone for our community," said Barbara Thomason, president of the Houston Northwest Chamber. "It was the one thing that was here that everything grew up around and adopted the name of. It truly is just the cornerstone of the community."

The golf course has grown to 900 members and has hosted more than 50 national events, Burke said, including the U.S. Open, the Ryder Cup, the U.S. Amateur and the Shell Houston Open. Nearly 50 years since the club's inception, Burke still holds firm to the club's same founding principles.

"We wanted to bring something down here to really educate the amateurs to what this is all about, particularly the competitive side," Burke said. "So we don't let everybody in this club. You have to have a certain handicap to get in here. Money's not going to get you in here. So we tried to build a club around players, people that play well."

Burke grew up in the game of golf. His father founded River Oaks Country Club and following in his father's footsteps, Burke picked up the game at age 8. He turned professional at a young age, competing in his first U.S. Open at the age of 18. However, World War II put a halt to his career, as the native Texan served as a combat instructor for four years.

He taught golf in New Jersey for five years following the war, but Burke eventually got back to touring the world. He won 15 Professional Golf Association of America Tour events from 1950-63, not including two Major championships in 1956, the Masters Tournament and the PGA Championship—according to the World Golf Hall of Fame.

"I've been around the world twice," he said. "Golf takes you everywhere."

However, golf was not the moneymaking endeavor then that it is today, Burke said. He won five tournaments in a single year but only made $10,000 total for his victories, a feat that earns about $6 million on the PGA tour today.

It was around Burke's two major victories in 1956 that he and longtime friend Demaret began discussions about creating a club somewhere in the Greater Houston area that could attract national events. Demaret was on his way out of the tour and Burke already had three children.

Burke said the partners purchased 1,500 acres of land near Jackrabbit Road—FM 1960 today—with a few others and sold off 1,000 acres to developers. The duo kept 500 acres for the course and hired architect Ralph Plummer to design the course to attract national events.

Burke admitted it took some time for the area to develop around the course, as there was nothing there when they first opened in 1957. However, he said the two men were confident that the golf course's national appeal would help build the community, and they opened the course with 500 members.

Maintaining the club's reputation has been integral to its success, Burke said.

"If you're going to be a beacon in this community, you're going to go by rules," he said. "No one gets lost on a straight road."

Aside from helping develop the area, Burke said he is proud of the club's efforts to educate and discipline children since its inception. Champions has trained as many as 3,000 young golfers.

"Letting the game build kids, that's what it's all about," he said. "Without children, you're not going to perpetuate this [game]."

Champions also regularly donates to local causes, including the Northwest Assistance Ministries and various nearby schools as well as improvement projects, such as the Green Medians program completed in 2011 along FM 1960.

"Jack Burke's creation of a championship golf course, his contributions to promoting amateur golf, and his teaching philosophy of the game have put our area on the map," said Barbara Schlattman, creator of the Green Medians program. "Not only has Jack played a major role in the golf community, he has actively supported our local charities, cultural, education systems, and youth programs. I'm thankful that he is my friend."

At 91, Burke said he continues to fight to bring national events to Champions Golf Club. Burke said he hopes the club will be successful in the years to come.

"I hope [it stands the test of time]," he said. "Perpetuation, that's a job in itself, to not send the course in another direction. We want it to keep build[ing] national events in the Houston area."

Golf achievements

• Won two Majors in 1956: the Masters and the PGA Championship
• Won 15 other tour victories from 1950-63, including five wins in 1950 and five in 1952
• Appeared in six Ryder Cups, including five as a player—'51, '53, '55, '57, '59 —and two as a captain—'57, '73
• Won the Vardon Trophy in 1952 and Player of the Year in 1956
• Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000
• Received the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement award in 2003 and the PGA Distinguished Service Award in 2007

Champions Golf Club tournament history

• Ryder Cup in 1967
• U.S. Open in 1969
• ouston Champions Internationals (now Shell Houston Open) from 1966–68, 1970-71
• Southern Amateur in 1973, 1980
• Nabisco Championship in 1990
• U.S. Amateur in 1993
• U.S. Women's Mid Amateur in 1998
• Tour Championship in '97, '99, '01, '03
• Champions Cup Invitational from 1961–68, 1976–2014