NEWS
Inside Legends Billiards, a young Burak Temel chalked his cue and scanned the room. Between racks of pool tables, a Golden Tee cabinet caught his attention. Curious, he asked his friends if the game was any fun. Their answer was simple: “A lot. With how technical you are with pool, you’d be really good at Golden Tee.”
One game was all it took. Temel was hooked.
For a decade, Burak had been sharpening his skills in competitive pool halls, thriving on precision and strategy. But now, another game of skill had captured his full attention.
Asked when he began to take Golden Tee seriously, Burak doesn’t hesitate: “Honestly, from day one. I’ve always had a competitive mindset, and when I started playing Golden Tee, I loved that the game had an annual World Championship, pro tournaments, and strong local competition. That fueled my drive right away.”
Early on, Taylor Bell—known to the Golden Tee community as TINK!—took Burak under his wing. Temel absorbed knowledge like a sponge, but what set him apart was his ability to immediately put what he learned into practice.
Soon, he was traveling to National Tour stops, where he met Brandi and Chad Hart. They welcomed him into the Golden Tee family, and Burak leaned on Chad for countless lessons and advice. That dedication paid off when he captured the purple bracket title at the 2020 Sussex Open, punching his ticket to the World Championships.
Then came the global shutdown. Just weeks after Sussex, the world locked down, and Temel’s competitive drive shifted to Call of Duty, where he quickly built a following as a respected content creator.
Life also moved forward. In 2024, Burak married and welcomed a daughter. One quiet night while rocking her to sleep, he stumbled across a replay of his Texas Shootout finals match against Paul Luna. That moment rekindled his passion. “I realized leaving Golden Tee had been a mistake because it was the game I truly loved and had talent for,” he said.
By the end of 2024, Temel was back in the swing. When his family relocated to Cypress, Texas, in 2025—just 15 minutes from the Vector Room—his training accelerated. Playing 300–400 games a month, and practicing alongside world-class talents Paul Luna and Sean Gervais, Burak sharpened his edge.
That work paid off at the 2025 Golden Tee World Championships. Burak took down veterans Mike Johnston and Chris Brewer, pushing into the winners-side top eight before running into a red-hot Matt Woods. After Woods aced two holes and sent him to the losers bracket, Burak’s run ended against Luna in the 9–12th eliminator after a missed putt on 18.
For some, that might have been a disappointment. For Temel, it was validation. He knew he belonged on the biggest stage in Golden Tee.
Just weeks later at the Music City Madness Open, in Nashville, Temel proved it. Qualifying strong, he stormed through the gold bracket with wins over Dylan Lux, Chris Wengler, Ryan Wells, and Derrick Trumbly. In the King of the Hill match against Paul Luna, a misstep on hole 5 gave Burak the opening he needed. He capitalized, earning his first King of the Hill victory.
Clawing his way to the finals was none other than Andy Haas—on a warpath to win his third straight Music City Madness title. But after Haas missed a putt on hole 15, Temel showed ice in his veins, holding steady to claim his first-ever Golden Tee National Tour championship!
How did Burak rise so quickly? He points to a mix of factors: an inquisitive nature, a deep drive to improve, and being surrounded by some of the best players in the world. Beyond raw practice, Temel studies tape—analyzing live broadcasts to identify both strengths and weaknesses. “I approach Golden Tee as a perpetual student,” he says. “That’s what lets me keep growing.”
Through it all, Burak credits his family and friends. “Many of them believe in me more than I believe in myself,” he admits. Above all, he thanks his wife, Kelli: “She is my rock. Her love and support do not go unseen.”
With his first National Tour title under his belt, Temel’s future in Golden Tee looks limitless. After his Nashville triumph, when asked if he planned on attending more events this year, Burak just smiled and said:
“Well, I think I have to attend them all now.”
