Fred Scobie Ridley (born August 16, 1952) is an American amateur golfer and golf administrator who won the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

in 1975, was elected president of the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

(USGA) in 2004, and then became chairman of

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does no ...

in 2017.

Early life and education

Fred Scobie Ridley was born on August 16, 1952 in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

. He attended

Winter Haven High School Winter Haven High School is a four-year public high school located in Winter Haven, Florida, a city of 27,855 (2004 census). History The school opened in 1886 on the second floor of Boyd’s Hall, currently where City Hall stands. In 1890, a fr ...

in nearby

Winter Haven, Florida Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making i ...

Amateur career

Ridley attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

.
Florida Men's Golf 2011 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 37, 40, 41 (2010). Retrieved January 19, 2012. While attending the university, he played for coach

Buster Bishop Bernays Emery "Buster" Bishop (1920 – November 19, 2004) was an American college golf coach. Bishop was best known for leading the Florida Gators men's golf team of the University of Florida to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA ...

Florida Gators men's golf The Florida Gators men's golf team represents the University of Florida in the sport of golf. The Gators compete in Division I (NCAA), Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Th ...

team and was an alternate on the Gators golf team that won the NCAA national tournament in 1973. He graduated from the University of Florida's College of Business Administration with a bachelor's degree in marketing in 1974. In 1975, Ridley won the

, the preeminent amateur golf tournament in the United States, on the James River Course of the

Country Club of Virginia {{Short description, Country club in Richmond, Virginia, USA The Country Club of Virginia is a private club in the Richmond, Virginia, area, with three eighteen-hole golf courses. CCV, which was organized in 1908, has always been one of the larges ...

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. He defeated

Keith Fergus Keith Carlton Fergus (born March 3, 1954) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, the Nationwide Tour and the Champions Tour. Fergus was born in Temple, Texas. He started playing golf at age 8. In high school, he pla ...

in the 36-hole final, having beaten

Curtis Strange Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American professional golfer and TV color commentator. He is the winner of consecutive U.S. Open titles and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent ...

and

Andy Bean Thomas Andrew Bean (born March 13, 1953) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Bean has won numerous tournaments at both the amateur and professional level. Bean won 11 PGA Tour victories, includi ...

in previous rounds of the match-play championship. At the end of 1975 Ridley was ranked the #2 amateur in the country by ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competiti ...

''. In 1976 he won the

Monroe Invitational The Monroe Invitational Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament in the United States, played since 1937 at Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, New York, a suburb southeast of Rochester. Originally a match play event, it switched to 72-hole str ...

. He also competed in the 1976 British Open later in the year. Ridley was a member of the

1976 Eisenhower Trophy The 1976 Eisenhower Trophy took place 13 to 16 October at the Penina Hotel & Golf Resort in Portimão, Algarve, Portugal. It was the tenth World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team eve ...

team. Late in the year he was ranked the #10 amateur in the country by ''Golf Digest''. In 1977 he competed in the

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

. In the

1977 Walker Cup The 1977 Walker Cup, the 26th Walker Cup Match, was played on August 26 and 27, 1977, at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, New York. The event was won by the United States 16 to 8. The United States led 9–3 after the first day and 11–5 ...

, he won two singles matches (both against

Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr Lyle (born 9 February 1958) is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s. He spen ...

) and lost his foursomes match. Between 1974 and 1977 Ridley was a law student. He earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Stetson University College of Law Stetson University College of Law (Stetson Law), founded in 1900 and part of Stetson University, is Florida's first law school. Originally located near the university's main campus in DeLand, Florida, the law school moved in 1954 to Gulfport, Flor ...

in 1977.

Later career

Ridley never turned professional. Ridley remains the last U.S. Amateur champion to have never become a professional golfer. Ridley worked as a lawyer and golf administrator for most of his career. Ridley still occasionally played notable amateur events, however. For example, Ridley played the 1987

. He also served as captain for the American sides of the

1987 Walker Cup The 1987 Walker Cup, the 31st Walker Cup Match, was played on 27 and 28 May 1987, on the Old course at Sunningdale Golf Club, Sunningdale, Berkshire, England. The event was won by the United States 16½ to 7½, their eighth successive win. The ...

1989 Walker Cup The 1989 Walker Cup, the 32nd Walker Cup Match, was played on August 16 and 17, 1989, at Peachtree Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia. The event was won by the Great Britain and Ireland team, 12½ to 11½. It was the Great Britain and Ireland team's thir ...

, and the

2010 Eisenhower Trophy The 2010 Eisenhower Trophy took place 28–31 October at the Buenos Aires Golf Club and the Olivos Golf Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the 27th World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy and the second to be held in Argenti ...

. Ridley was elected president of the

(USGA) in 2004.Christine Brennan,
Keeping Score: New USGA chief won't cut old ties
" ''USA Today'' (February 4, 2004). Retrieved January 18, 2012. He has also served as co-chairman of the International Golf Federation.International Golf Federation, Press Releases,

" Retrieved January 19, 2012. He had been elected as a member of the executive board, treasurer, vice president of the USGA, and has also served as the chairman of the USGA's Championship Committee, Amateur Status and Conduct Committee, and International Team Selection Committee. Late in his career he was inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Distinguished Letterwinner." Ridley, who is a member of

, served as the competition committee chairman for

2011 Masters Tournament The 2011 Masters Tournament was the 75th Masters Tournament, held April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club. Charl Schwartzel birdied the final four holes to win his first major championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Adam Scott and Jason ...

. On August 23, 2017, Augusta National announced that Ridley would succeed

Billy Payne William Porter Payne (born October 13, 1947) is the former chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, having served in that position from 2006 to 2017 and overseeing the introduction of the first women to the club's membership rolls. He was Managin ...

as chairman of the club. Ridley took over when the club reopened for its 2017–18 season on October 16, 2017.

Personal life

Ridley works as a commercial real estate lawyer in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

.Foley & Lardner, Our People
Fred S. Ridley
Retrieved January 19, 2012. He is a partner in the law firm of

Foley & Lardner Foley & Lardner LLP (often referred to simply as "Foley") is an international law firm founded in 1842. In terms of revenue, it ranked 48th on The American Lawyer's 2022 AmLaw 100 rankings of U.S. law firms, with over $1 billion in gross revenue i ...

, and practices in the areas of commercial real estate finance and development, planned unit development, resort development, and multifamily and condominium development. He is married to the former Elizabeth ("Betsy") Herndon, a fellow

graduate. They have three daughters.

Amateur wins

*1975

*1976

Results in major championships

''Note: Ridley never played in the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

(winners),

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

(winners, non-playing captain),

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

(non-playing captain)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Fred American male golfers Amateur golfers Florida Gators men's golfers Golf administrators Golfers from Florida Stetson University College of Law alumni Florida lawyers Sportspeople from Lakeland, Florida People from Winter Haven, Florida 1952 births Living people