Two months out, BMW Championship buzz begins

Saturday is sold out, Sunday tickets are scarce, and 2,000+ volunteers are ready

By Jim Bebbington

Castle Pines Golf Club is almost ready.

The top 50 PGA Tour pros in the world are scheduled to come to Castle Pines in late August, and after three years of preparation the team that is putting on the BMW Championship are unveiling the course.

“We are eight weeks out and the excitement is building and it is really off the charts,” said George Solich, chairman and president of Castle Pines Golf Club said at Tuesday’s kick-off.

The BMW Championship is scheduled for Aug. 20 to 25. Since the event was announced three years ago, planners said, the ticket sales and volunteer support have been strong. Now, two months out, the group is getting ready for execution of a premier golf event.

It is the first time the PGA Tour has played in the Denver region since The International ceased operations after a 20-year run at Castle Pines.

“(Castle Pines founder) Jack Vickers would be proud knowing the Tour is returning,” Solich said.

The course has been modified extensively. From the back tees the 18-hole course now measures nearly 8,100 yards. Every bunker has been updated, there are new water features, the pine forest that gives the course its name has been trimmed and more than 500 new trees added.

“We’ve reshaped this golf course completely,” Solich said.

Denver-native Wyndham Clark was part of Tuesday’s kick-off press conference, and said the course was already PGA Tour worthy and the modifications have just added to the challenge.

“This is probably the most challenging course in Colorado because first the altitude, and then you have a lot of elevation change,” he said. “As George said, it’s 8,100 yards, so it’s very deep, long. But it’s very tough off the tee, and then around the greens you have to be very precise. At altitude – where we normally don’t play – that’s going to be difficult. You’re going to see a lot of us Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, spending a lot of time on the range with TrackMans and all the measuring devices on distance, trying to figure out how far the ball is going. If you see us airmail some shots over the green by 10, 15 yards, it’s not because we’re bad. We’re just not used to playing at this altitude.”

Bronco great John Elway, a member at Castle Pines, said the course is ready. “It is great for the sports fan of Colorado,” he said.

Tournament organizer Vince Pellegrino of the Western Golf Association said the grounds passes for the Saturday rounds have recently sold out, and Sunday’s final round passes are close to selling out.

Other coverage of the 2024 BMW Championship

Western Golf Association Evans Scholars

Ticket information – BMWChampionship.Com

Wyndham Clark: The pressure will be on when he returns to play at home for the first time

Evans Scholars benefit from BMW Championship

 

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Jim Bebbington is the Director of Content at Colorado AvidGolfer. Contact him at [email protected]