Gerald A. “Pat” Burke a promoter and representative of junior golf on Guam died Aug. 20 at the age of 74. At the time of his death Burke served as the U.S. Golf Association representative on Guam and as president of the Guam Seniors Golf Association. He was also a member of the Guam National Golf Federation.
George Benoit president of NBK Trading Corp. the Titleist distributor on Guam was a fellow member of the Guam Senior Golf Association. Benoit said “He really loved the game of golf and dedicated his life to the game on Guam. He believed in helping kids and though golf would keep them from gangs drugs and crime.”
The Canadian-born Burke (Jan. 18 1931) lived a colorful life. He once managed a Playboy resort for Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire. Burke was also an entrepreneur and acquired the Vacation Inn in Maite Guam in 1999.
Burke ran afoul of the law in the early 1980s as president of Intraterra Development Inc. and Intraterra Golf & Country Club. He led a group of investors that sought to expand Guam’s first privately owned golf course (now Windward Hills Country Club) into a resort. Burke and two others were charged in a criminal case with conspiracy to commit theft and theft. They were accused of cheating 230 shareholders out of approximately $1.5 million in the 1984 sale of the golf course by representing that it sold for less than it actually did. At the time the attorney general’s office said it was the largest theft case ever prosecuted by its special operations division. Burke pleaded guilty to perjury in February 1988. MBJ
