Remarkable: He shoots in the 80s

By Chris Lang
Sports writer
Published: June 11, 2008

Joe Burke’s approach shot to the 18th green at Winton Country Club was short. The ball settled on spongy fringe, making for a tricky up and down.

Burke pulled his club back and struck, but the chip was a little flat. The ball was a good 12 feet short of the cup. Burke looked skyward, slapped his hands on his thighs and trudged to the green, shaking his head.

Charlie Moss, Winton’s head professional, has seen this sort of reaction from Burke before.

“Come on Joe! You’re playing like an old man!” Burke sometimes says.

Generally, that’s not the case. Burke made a disappointing double bogey on 18, but it didn’t ruin the round.

“By the way,” one of Burke’s partners in Wednesday’s men’s wolf pack group said, “He shot 87 today.”

It should be noted that Burke is 90 years old. It’s not the first time Burke has shot his age this year. In fact, he rarely fails to shoot his age. When he was 87, he shot a 77 at Winton. When he was 84, he posted a 76.

That’s probably why Burke is so hard on himself. He’s competitive. When he makes double bogey, he knows he can do better. He won’t settle for mediocrity, even at an age where some men struggle to even finish a round of golf.

“He’s rough on himself out on the golf course,” Moss said. “He’s a real competitor.”

Humble start

For an hour each day, before the members began their rounds at the local country club in Highwood, Ill., the caddies were given run of the course.

Burke, a 9-year-old who earned tips toting bags during The Great Depression, first fell in love with the game then.

“I used to have a little old ladies’ bag with three or four clubs in it,” Burke said with a laugh.

He never played competitively, didn’t try to win state amateur championships in his home state of Illinois or in his adopted state of Virginia.

He moved to the Commonwealth when he was 22, taking a job at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

“My first 10 years were spent running through the woods, hitting illegal stills,” Burke said, noting he could spend hours talking about busting up moonshine troughs in the wilderness.

Shortly into his stint at the ATF, Burke left the agency to serve as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 104th Infantry. He was stationed in Germany, where he said he “shook hands with the Russians.”

He returned to the States unharmed and served the government until he retired in 1975. He moved to Amherst and joined Winton. Golf wasn’t his only passion. He enjoyed building houses and furniture, too. But Burke quickly became a favorite of the club’s members. So it’s no surprise that Winton members were there to pick him up last fall when Burke’s third wife, Frances, fell ill and later died.

“He seemed to go downhill, and it kind of worried some of us,” said J.D. Holton, who plays and works at Winton.

Burke found adequate therapy on the golf course, playing rounds with friends, enjoying the leisurely days in the fresh air. He plays three days most weeks, five days on others.

“He’s kind of coming out of his shell a little bit now,” Holton said.

Special day

Moss and member Bill Krebs helped spearhead an effort to make Burke’s 90th birthday at the golf course a special occasion.

On April 18, Burke posted an 86, shooting his age once again. Afterward, he headed back to the clubhouse for what he thought was a small gathering.

“I thought there might be cake and ice cream,” Burke said.

Instead, club members took up a collection to purchase Burke some new equipment, including a Taylor Made driver and a new pair of golf shoes.

Burke was flabbergasted.

“His wife was his best friend, and he didn’t know what he was going to do (after she passed),” Holton said. “I remember he got up and said, ‘when a man has this many friends, he’s very rich.’”

Burke loves the new driver. “He said he sleeps with it sometimes,” Moss joked. Playing from the super-senior tees designed for golfers 70 and older, Burke hits it a solid 200 yards, even 225 on occasion.

Burke, who is still strong and precise with his irons, plays well enough to help his group in the weekly pack matches.

The game still brings him great joy, as it has for eight decades now.

“Just to watch him is amazing,” Holton said.

“He gets more out of his swing for the strength he has than anybody out there.”

And as long as he maintains that strength, you can find Burke on the course, at least three mornings a week, doing what he loves at the one place he wants to be.