Jack Vickers is one of Colorado’s great sports promoters. From hockey and golf, to football and baseball, he has helped to make Colorado a premier sports state.
Vickers used his success in the oil business to support his ventures into sports. A booster of the University of Colorado, he helped found the prestigious Flatirons Club and underwrote CU golf great Hale Irwin’s early professional career.
Vickers forayed in major league sports in 1976 when he introduced the NHL to Denver with the establishment of the Colorado Rockies (now the New Jersey Devils). He was also involved in efforts to bring major league baseball to Colorado, most notably through his attempt to buy the Oakland Athletics. Vickers also participated in the campaign to bring the 1976 Winter Olympics to Colorado.
Vickers most successful sports venture began when he purchased a tract of land near Castle Rock and hired his friend, Jack Nicklaus, to design a championship golf course. He then successfully lobbied the PGA to add a new tour stop, The International, at the Castle Pines Golf Club.
Vickers most successful sports venture began when he purchased a tract of land.