Jack Vickers, who founded both Castle Pines Golf Club and The International PGA Tour event that was held there for 21 years, passed away on Monday in Castle Pines. He was 93.

Vickers, who also made his mark on a variety of other sports in Colorado, was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1995. As a Denver Post headline aptly called Vickers in a 2013 story, he was a “Colorado sports shaker and mover”.

“We lost a tremendous friend today in Jack Vickers — not only a friend to Barbara and me, but a great friend to the game of golf,” Castle Pines course designer Jack Nicklaus said on Facebook Monday. “I have known Jack Vickers since I was 18 years old, when I played in the 1958 Trans-Miss. at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas. It would be pretty hard not to remember the first time Jack and I played golf. It was at Muirfield Village Golf Club in the mid-70s — not long after it opened. Jack made a hole-in-one on the 16th that day. I think it was the first one made on the golf course.

“Jack was someone who cared deeply about the history and the traditions of the game of golf, and wanted to protect them for the future. Jack was always a huge supporter of the game — whether it was in Colorado or nationwide; whether it was the game played at the highest level or his support of grassroots programs. Simply put, Jack Vickers was very good for the game of golf. Jack was a good man, and very well-liked by all.
Jack always handled himself incredibly well, and always with integrity. He was a very good man, and I’m blessed to say he was my friend.

“When Jack got ready to do his own golf course at Castle Pines Golf Club, I was flattered and honored that he asked me to be his designer. The golf course at Castle Pines is a very good one — challenging, beautifully maintained, and located in a fantastic spot. People seem to love it and we’re proud of it. My hope is Castle Pines will forever stand as a tribute to Jack Vickers. I know that through Castle Pines, a wonderful relationship with Jack Vickers only grew. He was involved from day one and until his passing. Everyone at Castle Pines loved Jack Vickers.”

Vickers’ most visible contribution to golf in Colorado was, of course, The International at Castle Pines Golf Club, which opened in 1981. The event ran from 1986 through 2006. It featured a unique modified Stableford scoring system, which promoted aggressive play as a birdie and a bogey were worth more than two pars. The tournament produced quite a few big-name champions including including Greg Norman, Davis Love III (twice), Phil Mickelson (twice), Vijay Singh and Ernie Els.

In addition, among the competitors over the years were Tiger Woods (twice), Arnold Palmer, Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin, Nick Faldo, Ray Floyd, Ben Crenshaw, Payne Stewart, Bernhard Langer, Nick Price and John Daly. (Vickers and Nicklaus are pictured at left.)

“The words that come to mind (when reflecting on Vickers’ legacy) are ‘visionary’ and ‘innovation’,” said CGA executive director Ed Mate. “I have a much greater appreciation today than I did when The International started about how much courage it takes to do some of the things he did. He really pushed the envelope and tried to create something brand new and outside the box. That’s who he was.

“Those were arguably the best years in terms of the profile of golf in Colorado when we had a regular Tour stop here. Having just started working at the CGA in 1988, I just sort of assumed that that was normal. Now I’ve seen since The International has gone away that it was not normal.

“It’s a loss for sure. He was also smart enough to recognize at the end that (golf) can’t compete with football. He had very good instincts for sure.”

In an interview with the Denver Post in 2013, Vickers reflected fondly on The International. The event formally went into the history books in early February 2007, when PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and Vickers announced the event’s demise at a Denver-based news conference. The end came due in large part to the lack of a title sponsor, with Woods’ often bypassing the tournament being another significant issue.

“I miss it,” Vickers told the Post in 2013 regarding The International. “I still think about The International a lot. If I got involved and there were the right circumstances, I’d like to revive it. I belong to a lot of clubs around the country, and I’ll put (Castle Pines) up against any of them. If I did another tournament tomorrow, it would go right on and it would be first-class.” (Vickers is pictured at left, in a red tie, at a 90th birthday celebration for journalist Kaye Kessler, who’s sporting a beige pullover.)

Beyond the entertainment The International produced, over the years its non-profit arm donated about $14 million to charities in Colorado and elsewhere.

“The other thing The International did that I was always appreciative of was that they became a very big sponsor of the CGA,” Mate said. “The Boys & Girls Clubs were always talked about (as beneficiaries), but they also made annual contributions to the CGA that (Vickers) was responsible for which led to a nice junior golf endowment fund, which now has about $300,000 in it that we use for junior golf. A good chunk of that money came from The International. And when we started our newsletter, The International sponsored it. They did a lot of great things for us for sure.”

Vickers’ contributions to the PGA Tour were acknowledged in 2014 when he became the 11th recipient of the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award on Sept. 4 during the BMW Championship that Cherry Hills Country Club hosted that year.

The Tour’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors individuals “who have made outstanding contributions to the PGA Tour over an extended period of time through their performances on the golf course as well as their actions off the course in serving as ambassadors of the game.”

Prior recipients had included some of golf’s biggest names: Gene Sarazen (1996), Byron Nelson (1997), Palmer (1998), Sam Snead (1998), Jack Burke (2003), Pete Dye (2005), Deane Beman (2007), Nicklaus (2008), President George H.W. Bush (2009), and Gary Player (2012).

“Jack Vickers was a gracious host of The International for 21 years and remains a great ambassador for golf with a strong commitment to charity,” Finchem said at the time. “Castle Pines’ spectacular mountain setting and the modified Stableford scoring system made The International one of the most unique tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule and a favorite among our players for its unmatched hospitality. Jack’s selection will be celebrated by everyone he touched, including the many hundreds of Tour players he befriended at his tournament.”

When the inaugural International was announced, it featured a $1 million purse, the largest in PGA Tour history at the time.

Even in its post-International days, Castle Pines Golf Club is considered one of the top courses in the U.S., currently checking it at No. 42 on Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 greatest courses.

Golf was by no means Vickers’ only foray into sports in Colorado. He was a majority owner of the NHL’s Colorado Rockies; helped found the University of Colorado’s Flatirons Club, a major fundraiser for the school; and helped sponsor Irwin at the beginning of his professional career. He also was involved in early attempts to bring major league baseball to the Centennial State.

Besides the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, Vickers was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame and the Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame.

Vickers also was named the 2003 Ambassador of Golf by Northeast Ohio Charities as part of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

(Updated Oct. 3: Memorial services for Vickers will be held Oct. 12 at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Englewood, 8035 S. Quebec St. Donations in Vickers’ honor can be made to Catholic Charities through the Archdiocese of Denver, 6240 Smith Road, Denver, Colorado 80216, or the Jack A. Vickers Boys & Girls Club, 3365 Holly Street, Denver, Colorado 80207.) 
 

For the fourth time since late May, the Colorado golf community lost one of its most notable members as Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Bill Bisdorf passed away last Monday (Sept. 19) in Denver at the age of 87.

Ironically, the man who was born exactly four months before Arnold Palmer in 1929 died just six days before The King did on Sunday.

In winning three of the first four Colorado Opens at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, Bisdorf is one of just three players who have captured that title at least three times, along with Dave Hill (four wins) and Bill Loeffler (three).

Bisdorf (pictured) was runner-up to Bob Pratt in the 1966 Colorado Open, meaning his first four finishes in the tournament were first, first, second, first. He was also second in 1975 (placing just in front of Peter Jacobsen), third in 1971 and fifth in ’72.

Add it up and that’s seven top-five finishes in the first dozen Colorado Opens. He also won the the 1959 and ’66 Colorado Section PGA Championships, the 1960 Wyoming Open and the 1965 Mile High Open.

Ronn Spargur, a former longtime executive director of the Colorado Open, noted that Rocky Mountain News golf writer Dave Nelson — who’s also in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame — had a nickname for Bisdorf back in his prime.

“He called him ‘the blacksmith’ because (Bisdorf) could hit the ball two or three miles,” Spargur said. “He was really strong.”

Indeed, it’s said that Bisdorf out-drove Jack Nicklaus during practice leading up to the 1967 PGA Championship at Columbine Country Club.

Not surprisingly, Bisdorf was named the Colorado PGA’s Player of the Year following his first two Colorado Open victories (1964 and ’65). He also claimed the championship in 1967. Interestingly, Bisdorf didn’t receive any official prize money for winning the first Colorado Open as there was no purse that year. And it’s notable that the runner-up that first year, amateur Jim English, also passed away in the summer of 2016. In ’65 and ’67, Bisdorf won $1,000 and $1,200, respectively, for his Colorado Open victories.

Bisdorf competed in 46 events on the PGA Tour from 1956 to ’71, including a career-high 14 in 1957. He posted two top-10 finishes, including a third place in 1956.

Bisdorf played 16 major championships over the years — 10 PGA Championships and six U.S. Opens. He finished tied for 20th — along with Raymond Floyd — in the 1967 PGA Championship at Columbine.

And after the creation of the Senior Tour — now known as PGA Tour Champions — Bisdorf competed in nine events on that circuit from 1980 to ’86, recording three top-25 finishes.

A member of the PGA of America since 1955, Bisdorf served as the head professional at Green Gables Country Club from 1959 through ’67. He later owned Denver Capitol Golf, where golfers could receive year-round lessons, then was head professional at Twilight Golf Course from 1979 to ’89.

Bisdorf was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1989. Since May, fellow Hall of Famers Will Nicholson Jr., English and Ed Nosewicz have also passed away.

Norma Bisdorf, Bill’s wife, said there will be no services, but half of his ashes will be placed at Fort Logan Cemetary. Bill Bisdorf served in the Navy and played on Naval Championship teams along with Billy Casper and Gene Littler during the early 1950s. 

Bisdorf is survived by Norma, five children, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
 

Kensler was the lead reporter for the Post’s coverage of many major golf events held in Colorado in the 21st century, including the 2014 BMW Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club, the 2013 Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club and the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor Golf Club.

Kensler also wrote a regular golf notes column during the season and covered events such as the Colorado Open, which is in progress this week at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. Several longtime regulars at the Colorado Open who knew Kensler, including Gunner Wiebe and his dad Mark, expressed disbelief and sorrow at the news.

Kensler also staffed numerous major championships for the Post, most notably the Masters and U.S. Open. He retired in June 2015 after more than 25 years at the newspaper.

The Ohio State University alumnus previously served on the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame board of directors and received a distinguished service award from the Hall in 2013 (pictured; CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO). He also earned the Colorado Open’s Ralph Moore Golf Journalism Award in 2006, and the CGA’s and Colorado PGA’s golf media honors.

The ever-upbeat Arvada resident also covered many other sports, mostly at the college level, both at the Post and at his previous newspaper stops, dating back to the 1970s — the Pampa (Texas) News, the Amarillo Globe-News and the Daily Oklahoman.

(July 24 Update: A service for Kensler will be held Aug. 6 at 11 a.m., at the Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary Chapel at 12801 W. 44th Ave., in Wheat Ridge.)