Wheels in motion for Colorado’s next pro golf event

Success of BMW Championship has Colorado golfers wanting more

By Jim Bebbington

When the tens of thousands of golf fans went home…

After an underdog who barely even qualified for the tournament – Keegan Bradley – won $3 million and changed the course of his career…

After more than 2,000 volunteers and staff went home exhausted to get some sleep…

The 2024 BMW Championship entered Colorado’s golf history. The tournament, first announced in 2022, was the first PGA Tour stop in Colorado since 2014. All the national tournaments that had visited since then – the regular Korn Ferry stop at TPC Colorado and especially the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club and the Colorado Golf Club in 2023 – had shown this state’s impressive appetite for great golf.

But for four days at the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club – six if you count the two practice rounds – more than 140,000 people poured through the gates. Viewing stands were typically swamped. The winning putt was made in front of thousands of people who surrounded the 18th green.

And they did much more than just watch. They bought $99 polos. They waited 10 minutes and more in line for milkshakes. They trekked 20,000 steps and more a day up and down hilly terrain. Yes, they came to watch the 50 best golfers in the world – Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm notwithstanding – ply their trade. But in the end, the party, the tournament, the crowds, the vibe – the show – could hardly have turned out better.

The results were so good it left – again – the lingering question in many people’s minds: Can Colorado expect to see them come back more often?

The short answer is every year, very unlikely. But more often than once a decade? Most definitely yes.

What’s the pull: In the wake of the BMW Championship, it is clear that the professional tours like coming to Colorado.

“The tournament was so successful we’re looking at coming back to Denver,” said Vince Pellegrino, the senior vice president of tournaments for the Western Golf Association, which puts on the BMW Championship.

The tournament helped the WGA raise more than $7 million for its signature charity, the Evans Scholar program, Pellegrino said. The original sponsorship opportunities and the most expensive seating packages sold so strongly that by summer 2023 – a year in advance – they realized they had to add more. Volunteers also poured in – more than 2,000 total – from around the country and the state.

One of the things keeping a professional tournament from locating here regularly is not the demand, but the supply. The region’s finest courses have paying members who pay thousands in fees every year for exclusive golfing excellence. They are very reluctant to open their doors to outsiders like this more than once every few years. The gorgeous fairways and rough at Castle Pines, for instance, were ground in some spots into mud by the thousands of tramping feet.

Also, the number of courses in Colorado ready and willing to handle the crowds is limited. Cherry Hills Country Club, Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Castle Pines Golf Club and The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs are the only clubs in recent decades to open their doors for the largest gatherings.

The Broadmoor is hosting the 2025 U.S. Senior Open – which will likely see yet another strong turnout of fans and volunteers. TPC Colorado’s crowds at the Ascendant presented by Blue Korn Ferry stop are enormous for the Korn Ferry. RainDance National Golf Club in Windsor, at 8,000 yards, has the length to host the pros, said Colorado PGA Director Steve Bartkowski. The Rodeo Dunes complex being built northeast of Denver by the Dream Golf family is expected to open with two courses within the next two years. But planners say they hope to build up to six courses, including one using the highest dunes available at that location to provide a worthy venue for a professional stop.

Woody Paige reported immediately after the conclusion of this summer’s BMW Championship that 2028 would make a nice return date. Golfweek’s Adam Schupak reported that Cherry Hills officials are lobbying the USGA to host the 2035 U.S. Open, which would be the 75th anniversary of Arnold Palmer’s iconic U.S. Open win there. LIV Golf is also a possibility, but the 2025 tournament season has yet to be announced.

Pellegrino said they will likely announce the location of the 2028 BMW Championship late next year or early 2026.

Keith Schneider, general manager of Castle Pines, stood on the 18th green after Keegan Bradley’s winning putt and considered when this scene could come to Colorado again.

“That’s for the powers that be to get together and discuss how often they’d like to see something,” he said. “But, you know, we’re going to enjoy the fruits of this one first.”