There is a Jacked-up way for The International to restore its name and return to the game.
Golf should come home to Castle Pines next summer for a newly created International Cup — a four-day challenge among a dozen U.S. senior champions and a team of 50-and- older players representing the rest of the world.
The International truly would be a significant international affair again — with rolling hills, tall pines, duck hooks and three-jacks, double bogeys on No. 10 and double eagles on No. 17 and the best chocolate milkshakes in golf.
The U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor this week, the Colorado Open last week and the U.S. Amateur Publinx two weeks ago remind us that the Denver area belongs, annually, in big-time golf, on fairways and greens, not O.B.
From 1972-2006, the Denver area and Colorado played host every year to pro tournaments, more than one many years, and majors frequently.
Last year, all was quiet on the Front Range. Too quiet.
The International, a (unique) PGA Tour stop for 21 years, suddenly shut down in February 2007. Denver was the site of 16 LPGA tournaments until 1987. And the PGA Senior (now Champions) Tour was played in Denver from 1982-87.
In a 25-year span, the U.S. men’s and women’s (twice) Opens, the PGA Championship, the Gerald Ford Invitational, the U.S. Senior Open and assorted other pro tournaments have been held all over Colorado. Castle Pines, Cherry Hills and The Broadmoor have been designated among the best and the brightest. (HBO recently aired a spectacular show on the most incredible U.S. Open, at Cherry Hills in 1960.)
Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam and Greg Norman have won in the state. Those were great tournaments.
Tom Watson, Hale Irwin, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, Ian Woosnam and Norman are coming to the state this weekend. It should be a great tournament.
Why not a combination Ryder/Presidents Cup for seniors at Castle Pines next year? It would be a great tournament.
International patriarch Jack Vickers ought to consider the concept.
He said on the day of The International’s demise, “I’m hopeful this is not the end of the tournament, that when the time is right, I think we will be back.”
The timing could be just right for 2009.
The economy is awful, and the Colorado sports-entertainment dollar is stretched like Silly Putty. But happy days are due.
I had this weird golf idea when the final guest list was announced for the 2008 U.S. Senior Open. In 1982, I had another weird golf idea, and it turned into The Denver Post Champions of Golf senior tournament. The inaugural tourney belonged to Arnie. That’s good. Pick it up.
The Ryder Cup (Americans and Europeans) has developed into one of the world’s most exciting sports events and led to the Presidents Cup (Americans vs. non-European pros) and several Ryder Cup-type competitions. But the USB Cup, featuring golfers from the U.S. and Europe in their 40s and 50s, lasted only four years (2001-04).
On Tuesday, while doing research for this column, I found an unsubstantiated report that a new seniors international event is being considered for the future. Weird minds.
The International, sponsors (International House of Pancakes? It’s a joke) and CBS, ESPN or The Golf Channel could put up $5 million (the last International offered $5.5 million), which would be the biggest purse in PGA Champions Tour or European Seniors Tour history, with $250,000 to each winning team member, and $1.2 mil to be divided among the losing team players. (Ryder Cup participants are not paid.)
Instead of changing locales, the tournament would be played every summer at Castle Pines, and each team would consist of 10 pros who have played in Ryder or Presidents cups and two others on a hot streak. All would be captain’s choices. The first captains would be Gary McCord and David Feherty, or Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
Look to the U.S. Senior Open for potential International Cup rivals.
For example, the U.S. team could go to the tee with Colorado’s Irwin and Craig Stad- ler, plus Watson, Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Tom Kite, Larry Nelson, Andy North, Hal Sutton, Dave Stockton, Fuzzy Zoeller and John Cook (an International winner).
The international team might include Woosnam, Langer, Sandy Lyle, Costantino Rocca, Gordon Brand Jr., Des Smyth, Joe Ozaki, Sam Torrance, Mark James, Mark McNulty and, of course, Norman (another former International champion) and Nick Price (who is not here).
The International Cup could consist of 72 holes with different formats on four days — a two-man better ball, a two-man scramble, an individual match play round and, on Sunday, for old time’s sake, modified Stableford scoring.
Jack, come back, and bring the International Cup with you.
In 2026, Tiger Woods might come to the tournament.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
