Page 48 - AreaNewsletters "Aug 2021" issue

Did You Know This about...?
The International
by Lora Thomas
Douglas County Commissioner and former State Patrol O cer assigned to Castle Rock in the 1980’s
Golf Tournament
LAST ISSUE this column focused on the catastrophic 1965 ood that started with extreme weather including a tornado near Palmer Lake, just south of the Douglas County Line. That storm left gashes on mountainsides that are still visible today on Dawson Butte and other Douglas County landmarks. (Click to read)
THIS ISSUE:
L
et’s learn about The INTERNATIONAL Golf Tournament that was held from 1986 through 2006 at the Castle Pines Golf Course just north of Castle Rock.
As a State Trooper in
Castle Rock in the ‘80s
I worked the event for
overtime pay each year, directing tra c on Highway 85 and getting visitors
both in AND out of the parking lots.
I got sunburned, rained on, dusty, and yelled at, but I also saw how thrilled all those people were! There was something special and di erent about watching The INTERNATIONAL at Castle Pines.
As I researched the golf tournament and interviewed people, it became obvious
to me that any article about this stop
on the PGA Tour DEMANDED an introduction of Mr. Jack A. Vickers.
In 1918, Jack Vickers Sr. borrowed some money from his dad, who was a
August 2021 • Castle Rock “AreaNewsletters”
farmer, for some oil and gas leases, and this was the start of Vickers Petroleum Company. But Jack Vickers Sr. died
at age 49, leaving his wife with eight children and a business to run. One of his sons, named Jack A. Vickers, joined the military then
came back and started his own oil company which he ran until two key executives
of his father’s company died. Jack A. Vickers, at age 24, decided that he had
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CASTLE ROCK HISTORY