Looking down on Hole 11 at Castle Pines Golf Club. (Courtesy Castle Pines Golf Club)
George and Geoff “Duffy” Solich have been working since 2014 to bring the PGA tour to Castle Pines.
That year, Cherry Hills Country Club hosted the BMW Championship and since then, the tour hasn’t returned to Colorado. The brothers and Castle Pines Golf Club got to work shortly after the tournament, dreaming up renovations and remodels with the hopes of hosting the tournament.
George and Geoff “Duffy” Solich at a 2022 press conference. (Courtesy Castle Pines Golf Club)
The club is now making its final preparations as the BMW Championship will make its “homecoming,” as Duffy Solich described, to Castle Pines and Colorado later this month. The event runs from Aug. 20 to 25, with the main event starting Aug. 22.
“There’s a real appetite for the tour in Colorado,” Solich said. “The state is starved for the PGA Tour and wanted it back.”
Castle Pines wrapped up the renovations and remodels to its course and clubhouse in 2022. These renovations included lengthening the course to about 8,100 yards, changing holes, updating the greens and driving range as well as updating the irrigation systems. Castle Pines also renovated the cottages on the course, including club founder Jack Vickers’ cottage.
The club remodeled its clubhouse, updating the kitchen, expanding the men’s locker rooms to add a gym area that the professional players will be able to use, adding a health facility for the pros and expanding its outdoor patio areas that will be joined with other patios for the tournament.
“We’ve touched every hole and almost every space … We’ve been working on every standpoint to be able to host a tournament in today’s age like this,” Solich said.
The country club’s clubhouse has been renovated. (Courtesy Castle Pines Golf Club)
Solich said they expect attendance to be between 30,000 to 32,000 people, not including the players and their entourages and those spectators who can get in for free, like military and children below age 15.
Grounds tickets, which range from $15 to $125, are sold out for Saturday and Sunday. Trophy Club tickets, which range from $50 to $225, are sold out for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Summit tickets, which range from $185 to $385, are sold out for the entirety of the tournament. Canyon Club tickets, which are $600, are sold out for Thursday and Friday. Finally, Centennial Club tickets, which are $1,350, are sold out for Friday.
The club has limited course play and golf cart usage on the course ahead of the event.
While BMW is main sponsor, several other brands, including PepsiCo and NetJets, are helping sponsor a concert series that will take place the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of the tournament week.
The green leading to Hole 14. (Courtesy Castle Pines Golf Club)
For Solich, bringing the PGA tour and the BMW Championship specifically to Castle Pines is more than just a decade-long endeavor.
The championship is historically a major fundraiser for the Evans Scholars Foundation, which gives caddies full tuition and housing college scholarships. Solich and his brother were both Evans Scholars at the University of Colorado Boulder.
“There are moments you can pick out in your lives that changed it or altered its direction,” Solich said. “My moment and my path was being an Evans Scholar. That directed the path of my life to a university that I probably couldn’t afford otherwise. That’s a debt that will never be repaid.”
Since BMW became lead sponsor in 2007, the BMW Championship has contributed $50 million to the Evans Scholars Foundation.
Castle Pines, which opened in 1981, previously hosted the International tournament from 1986 through 2006. Solich said he hopes the PGA tour can more regularly come to Colorado and that Castle Pines will become a chosen venue for more tournaments.
Looking down on Hole 11 at Castle Pines Golf Club. (Courtesy Castle Pines Golf Club)
George and Geoff “Duffy” Solich have been working since 2014 to bring the PGA tour to Castle Pines.
That year, Cherry Hills Country Club hosted the BMW Championship and since then, the tour hasn’t returned to Colorado. The brothers and Castle Pines Golf Club got to work shortly after the tournament, dreaming up renovations and remodels with the hopes of hosting the tournament.
George and Geoff “Duffy” Solich at a 2022 press conference. (Courtesy Castle Pines Golf Club)
The club is now making its final preparations as the BMW Championship will make its “homecoming,” as Duffy Solich described, to Castle Pines and Colorado later this month. The event runs from Aug. 20 to 25, with the main event starting Aug. 22.
“There’s a real appetite for the tour in Colorado,” Solich said. “The state is starved for the PGA Tour and wanted it back.”
Castle Pines wrapped up the renovations and remodels to its course and clubhouse in 2022. These renovations included lengthening the course to about 8,100 yards, changing holes, updating the greens and driving range as well as updating the irrigation systems. Castle Pines also renovated the cottages on the course, including club founder Jack Vickers’ cottage.
The club remodeled its clubhouse, updating the kitchen, expanding the men’s locker rooms to add a gym area that the professional players will be able to use, adding a health facility for the pros and expanding its outdoor patio areas that will be joined with other patios for the tournament.
“We’ve touched every hole and almost every space … We’ve been working on every standpoint to be able to host a tournament in today’s age like this,” Solich said.
The country club’s clubhouse has been renovated. (Courtesy Castle Pines Golf Club)
Solich said they expect attendance to be between 30,000 to 32,000 people, not including the players and their entourages and those spectators who can get in for free, like military and children below age 15.
Grounds tickets, which range from $15 to $125, are sold out for Saturday and Sunday. Trophy Club tickets, which range from $50 to $225, are sold out for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Summit tickets, which range from $185 to $385, are sold out for the entirety of the tournament. Canyon Club tickets, which are $600, are sold out for Thursday and Friday. Finally, Centennial Club tickets, which are $1,350, are sold out for Friday.
The club has limited course play and golf cart usage on the course ahead of the event.
While BMW is main sponsor, several other brands, including PepsiCo and NetJets, are helping sponsor a concert series that will take place the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of the tournament week.
The green leading to Hole 14. (Courtesy Castle Pines Golf Club)
For Solich, bringing the PGA tour and the BMW Championship specifically to Castle Pines is more than just a decade-long endeavor.
The championship is historically a major fundraiser for the Evans Scholars Foundation, which gives caddies full tuition and housing college scholarships. Solich and his brother were both Evans Scholars at the University of Colorado Boulder.
“There are moments you can pick out in your lives that changed it or altered its direction,” Solich said. “My moment and my path was being an Evans Scholar. That directed the path of my life to a university that I probably couldn’t afford otherwise. That’s a debt that will never be repaid.”
Since BMW became lead sponsor in 2007, the BMW Championship has contributed $50 million to the Evans Scholars Foundation.
Castle Pines, which opened in 1981, previously hosted the International tournament from 1986 through 2006. Solich said he hopes the PGA tour can more regularly come to Colorado and that Castle Pines will become a chosen venue for more tournaments.
