CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — It’s been nearly 20 years since the PGA Tour has visited Castle Pines Golf Club, former home of the International. That Tour staple, which used the Modified Stableford scoring system, was discontinued after 21 years in 2006 at the dawn of the FedEx Cup. Since then, the entire course has been renovated by Jack Nicklaus, the original course designer in 1981, who has made at least 10 trips to the course in the last decade, and Total Turf.
Six green complexes have been moved or modified and more than 70 bunkers on the course have been reshaped or rebuilt.
Castle Pines was always a ‘big boys’ course’ — it played 7,053 yards in 1986 and 7,619 yards in 2006 — but that is even more the case this year. Several new tees were built stretching the course to 8,130 yards, making it the longest in Tour history. That, of course, doesn’t factor in the altitude in the Mile High City. The course has 400 feet of elevation change with the highest point at 6,400 feet above sea level. Factoring in the ball going 7 percent further in the thin air, it should play much like a typical 7,400-yard Tour course. Here’s some advice from the pros on how to deal with the altitude and getting dialed in for Castle Pines and the 2024 BMW Championship.