Before the legendary milkshakes, the memorized made-to-order locker room drinks, the opulent clubhouse and glorious trees, there was the first hole at Castle Pines Golf Club.

The breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountain front range from the tee box remain the No. 1 reason this course should always have a PGA Tour stop.

The International called the course home for 21 years, from 1986 to 2006, establishing itself as one of the tour’s most successful and distinctive events. Then it was gone, its sudden departure announced in February 2007.

“It was devastating when it went away,” said David Duval, a former world No. 1 golfer and longtime resident of Denver. “Back then, there were only about two or three events you looked at as special. And that was definitely one of them.”

For those who know golf, there is no explanation necessary for why Castle Pines should host a PGA event. For those who don’t, the explanation is well-worn, involving an ill-fitting slot on the summer calendar and the absence of a title sponsor and, too often, Tiger Woods.

The best day of golf in America, the club’s motto, welcomes the pros back this week with the BMW Championship, the penultimate event in the PGA Tour FedExCup Playoffs featuring the top 50 players in the points standings.

Through the guidance of the Solich brothers — George as the chairman and president of the club, and Duffy as tournament chairman — Castle Pines is back in the game. With the help of Jack Nicklaus over the past decade, the course underwent landscaping Botox. Ten holes have been redesigned, 77 bunkers and 10 water features rebuilt, and 600 yards in length added to adjust to the new technology off the tee.

“Jack Vickers would be proud knowing that the tour is returning,” George Solich said, “and not just returning, but returning for the playoffs.”

Vickers, a Colorado businessman, wandered into the beauty of Castle Pines in 1969. He founded the club in 1981 and five years later brought the PGA to Colorado. Vickers was The International. His fingerprints were all over the event, from its high standard of excellence and service to the novel modified Stableford scoring system that rewarded points for eagles and birdies and deducted points for bogeys or worse.

The golfers didn’t play the course. They invaded it. It was a battle of aggression, golfers playing calculus with the altitude that helped the ball travel roughly 8% to 12% farther but required recalibration when there was rain or cooler weather. Risk-takers were embraced if they had the courage to go against the normally conservative voices in their heads.

“The Stableford system felt like it was the perfect format for a golf course that begged you to take chances,” said former PGA golfer and Sky Sports analyst Rich Beem. “For every birdie you made, there was a double bogey lurking. In order to win, you had to have more birdies than bogeys. It really rewarded shot-making. I loved it. It fit my style.”

Early winners of the tournament included Greg “The Shark” Norman, Davis Love III, Jose Maria Olazabal and Phil Mickelson. Those names gave the event credibility, but The International also earned an audience through excitement. Forget laying up. There were, in basketball parlance, a lot of dunks.

“Having been a member here since 1989, I appreciate the vision that Mr. Vickers had for the tournament,” said Broncos Hall of Famer John Elway, an avid golfer. “Having The International here was great for the sports fans of Colorado.”

The 2002 tournament demonstrated The International at its peak. Steve Lowery, the 1994 champion, began to simmer on the final day, making a run at the leader, Beem. He eagled the 14th. And then he double-eagled the 17th. Lowery has 20 holes-in-one as a professional but called that four-hole march the best stretch of his career.

It was nearly the worst for Beem as he watched, waited and wondered if he was going to be gulping Pepto-Bismol on the flight home.

“I was playing great. And once I made an eagle on 17, I thought I had it with a nine-point lead with one hole to go. All of a sudden I hear this massive roar. I remember asking (TV analyst) David Feherty if Lowery made eagle and he said he made two. It was a sinking feeling.”

Beem steadied his nerves and watched Lowery miss a putt on the 18th that somehow hung on the lip of the hole. It capped what many believe was the best tournament in the event’s 21-year history.

“It worked out for me. I was playing exceptionally well then. My parents and in-laws were there to watch. And everything kind of fell into place,” Beem said. “I was over the moon about that win. I really enjoyed that tournament.”

Part of the charm of The International, especially in the middle years, was players meeting the moment. Woods brought attention to a crescendo when he played the event in 1998 and 1999. He finished fourth one year and delivered a hole-in-one on the par-3 seventh.

“I was there as a fan that day with a friend. And we were sitting on the seventh. Tiger was on the sixth, and I told my buddy if we leave now we can go watch Tiger hit his driver on the eighth hole,” said Eric Christiansen, who later covered the event for CBS4. “A few minutes later, we hear the roar that can only accompany an ace. I couldn’t believe it. Then, he gets to the eighth and doesn’t even hit the driver. He hit a 3-wood.”

Wyndham Clark, currently the fifth-ranked golfer in the world, will play for the first time in front of his home fans at Castle Pines. He credits The International for inspiring his career.

“I remember sitting on the ninth hole and watching (2005 winner) Retief Goosen, Ernie Els and David Duval,” Clark said. “That’s when I knew I wanted to do this and become a professional golfer.”

Beem talked about his win like it happened yesterday, saying it still resonates. Els captured the event in 2000. He, too, fell in love with the course.

“It felt like home,” Els said a few years ago. “I actually looked at buying a home on the 10th hole.”

Els’ comment offered a peek into what made The International. It went beyond the grounds. The hospitality, even by pampered professional golfer standards, was unmatched. Vickers wanted a premier event — The Masters of the Mountains — from the driving range to the cottages to the silverware on the tables in the clubhouse and the menu.

“A lot of it goes back to the course, which is spectacular. A lot of it goes back to the area. But it is also the people down there at Castle Pines. They made it special,” said Duval, who placed second at The International in 1999. “It was a first-class experience. They wanted guests to feel like they were members and members to feel like family. And they lived up to that.”

There was “Tiny,” the security guard with the brimmed hat who kept stragglers out of the clubhouse. As former CBS4 sports reporter Mark McIntosh said with a laugh, “He was not a small dude.”

Multiple golfers interviewed for this story brought up locker room attendant Tommy. He could go years without seeing a golfer and walk up to him with his favorite drink. And about those milkshakes. Mention them on the grounds, and smiles follow. They are to Castle Pines what the pastrami and corned beef sandwich is to Carnegie Deli.

“They are otherworldly,” Beem said. “The consistency, the way you have to work your way through it. Just perfect.”

Added Duval, “They are just spectacular. If I am ever out there in a match, I make sure the person I am playing against gets a milkshake at the turn, and I guarantee I am winning holes 10, 11 and 12 because they have enjoyed the shake too much.”

The International ended because of a confluence of factors. There had been no title sponsor since 1999 or corporate sponsorship since 2003. There was also the problem of the schedule. The International was positioned around the PGA Championship, from a week before it to one and two weeks after it. This made it hard to secure commitments from the top players, including Woods, who was to golf then what Caitlin Clark is to women’s basketball now.

“I’d have to say, yeah if he shows, everything changes,” Vickers, who passed away in 2018, told The Associated Press in 2007. “But I also know in fairness to him, he can’t be everywhere. He can’t be everything to everybody.”

Sadness followed. Players were most disappointed for Vickers, who poured his heart into bringing a world-class event to Colorado. Seventeen years later, George Solich has “taken the torch from Mr. Vickers,” as Elway said, and spearheaded the charge to bring pro golfers back to Castle Pines.

“We had a Picasso and we just made that Picasso better,” Solich said of the course and club renovations. “Pair that with our passion for excellence and quality at every turn and our warm and welcoming service, we are ready once again to host the best players on the PGA Tour.”

The BMW Championship is the present and hopefully the future. But the event would not be here without The International flavor of the past.