From the club website:

Champions Golf Club was founded by Jack Burke, Jr. and the late Jimmy Demaret in 1957. From its origin, Champions has consistently carved its place in golf history hosting such prestigious events as the Ryder Cup Matches in 1967, the United States Open in 1969 and the Champions International, a PGA tour event.

The Cypress Creek course was designed by Ralph Plummer and opened for play in 1959. With over 70,000 trees, wide fairways and enormous greens, it remains one of America's premier tournament sites.

History

Ask Jack Burke or Jimmy Demaret when they first decided to build a golf course of their own and neither can remember an exact time or place that the subject was discussed. It didn't happen as a result of a specific plan. It simply evolved, somewhat like a trip to the altar after a long courtship during which marriage was never discussed.

Individually, they nurtured the idea of building a course during most of their playing careers. And although they had developed a strong friendship early in life that was to stand the test of time, their coming together as partners in the spectacularly successful venture that was to become Champions Golf Club was almost by accident.

So late in 1956 almost everything was "go". The land was bought, partnerships had been formed, building architects and land planners were employed, and Demaret's old friend from Hermann Park days (Ralph Plummer) was to build the course. With a lot of help from James Newton Demaret and Jack Burke, of course.