NOV 2018 proof 1 The Castle Pines Connection

Volume 10, Number 11
A round well played
Celebrating the life of Jack A. Vickers Jr. 1925 - 2019
“My hope is Castle Pines will forever stand as a tribute to Jack Vickers ...”
– Golf legend Jack Nicklaus
The ags ew at half sta at the Castle Pines Country Club for a week following the passing of its founder, Jack Vickers Jr. on September 24. Vickers was best known for bringing the International PGA golf tournament to The Village at Castle Pines, and he will be remembered as an entrepreneur, philanthropist and friend.
By Nancy Koontz; photos courtesy Jim Mandeville, The Nicklaus Companies
After living a life of remarkable accomplishments, businessman and philanthropist Jack A. Vickers Jr. passed away on September 24 at the age of 93. A Castle Pines resident for more than three decades, Vickers was the founder of the Castle Pines Golf Club and the International PGA golf tournament, held at the club from 1986 to 2006.
The namesake and oldest son of a prominent Wichita oilman, Vickers was born in Colorado Springs and spent much of his childhood in Kansas. He attended preparatory school in Oklahoma and later Regis College in Denver before being drafted into the Coast Guard in World War II. At the age of 26, Vickers was named president of the company his father had founded in 1918, Vickers Petroleum Company.
In 1959, Vickers returned to Denver with his family (then-wife Doris and their seven children) and eventually sold all interest in the company, trading in his business success for his true passion – golf.
Vickers learned to play golf at the age of 11 on the nine-hole golf course his father built on their
property in Wichita. But it wasn’t until nearly a half century later that he would come full circle and build his own golf course. In 1980, Vickers became involved in the development of what is now The Village at Castle Pines and the Castle Pines Golf Club.
He enlisted the help of good friend Jack Nicklaus to design the golf course, which would later be home to the International PGA golf tournament. Jack Nicklaus, upon hearing of the death of his friend said on social media, “We lost a tremendous friend in Jack Vickers Jr.; not only a friend ... but a great friend to the game of golf.”
Although it was his dream, and despite
his e orts to do so, Vickers was not successful in bringing the International back to Castle Pines following its quietus in 2006. However, Vickers’ contributions to the game of golf were many, and his golf accomplishments were acknowledged with distinguished honors.
(Continued on page 11)
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November 2018
Metro District Board Vacancy
Playing Pickleball
A Military Family’s Journey
Free Vaccinations for Veterans
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