Fred Scobie Ridley (born August 16, 1952) in Lakeland, Florida is an American amateur golfer and golf administrator who won the U.S.G.A. Amateur Championship in 1975, was elected president of the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 2004, and then became chairman of Augusta National Golf Club in 2017.

Ridley was introduced to golf by his father, Claude, a citrus grower and later assistant superintendent of schools in Polk County. Claude once recalled to a reporter “sawing off some clubs so [Fred] could knock the ball around a little when he was very tiny.” He played in his first junior tournament when he was 14. Ridley spent his early years learning the game from Jamie Jackson, the head pro at Lone Palm in Lakeland, and later he worked with PGA professionals Mike Killian and his mentor, Irv Schloss.

Fred Ridley developed into a talented golfer and played his college golf at University of Florida, where he was an alternate on the 1973 national championship-winning team. He graduated from the University of Florida’s College of Business Administration with a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1974. He went on to earn a Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University College of Law in 1977.

“Fred was a good player in college, but not a solid player. We used to fight it out for the seventh and eighth spot on the team,” says former Gator teammate Steve Smyers. But it was a nonchalant comment Ridley heard from another of his teammates at Florida his senior year, Brad Baldwin, that would soon turn his golf game around and alter the course of his life. A friend’s simple suggestion led him to Grout.

“He had taken lessons from Jack Grout,” Ridley said. “Brad and I were going to Pinehurst for the North and South Amateur in 1974 and he said, almost flippantly, ‘I’m going to call Jack Grout and see if he’ll give us a lesson and tune us up for the North and South.'”

Ridley was stunned that his teammate could just ring up such a famous teacher, but they headed south to La Gorce Country Club in Miami Beach, Florida.

“I took two days of lessons and thought, ‘Golly, I’ve never hit it this good,'” Ridley said. Lessons from Jack Grout helped Ridley become a better driver. “I had a good short game, and the thing he did was he made me a good driver of the ball,” Ridley said. “That was always my Achilles’ heel.”

“I won two or three matches at the North and South, beat Jay Sigel (who achieved one of the more illustrious careers in the history of U.S. amateur golf), and then that summer (1975) I qualified for the U.S. Amateur.”

Ridley started law school and said his father allowed him to take the following summer off to play golf.

“That was going to be my last fling,” Ridley said. “I spent a lot of time with him (Grout) that summer at Muirfield Village Golf Club. He continued, “To be at one of the world’s great facilities with one of the best golf instructors of all times was like dying and going to golfer’s heaven … and then I won the U.S. Amateur at the end of the summer. Those other gentlemen (teachers) were great, but Jack Grout really took my game to another level.”

At the 1975 U.S. Amateur championship played at the Country Club of Virginia (James River Course) in Richmond, second-year law student Fred Ridley, played the best golf of his life. On his way to the matchplay title, he defeated the far-more heralded players and future PGA Tour winners Curtis Strange, Andy Bean and, in the final, Keith Fergus. The key to his victory was Ridley’s work with Jack Nicklaus’ lifetime teacher, Jack Grout.

Steve Smyers, who later became a member of American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGA), and roomed with Ridley during the early stage of the amateur championship said, “We played all three practice rounds together. He was following what Jack Grout was telling him, and you could just see him hitting these great golf shots, and his game had improved dramatically. Grout had been training him to hit it hard, telling him to take a bucket of balls on the range and hit driver as hard as he could while still holding his finish position in balance. Everything was sequencing up right, and he was hitting this low draw that went forever, and straight. It was a magical week.”

At the end of 1975, Ridley was ranked the #2 amateur in the country by Golf Digest Magazine. In 1976 he won the Monroe Invitational in Pittsford, New York; one of the oldest amateur events in the country. Later that year, he competed in the British Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. In addition, Ridley was selected as a member of the 1976 Eisenhower Trophy team which competed in Algarve, Portugal. In 1977 he played in the British Amateur Championship in Ganton, England. Later that year, he participated in the prestigious Walker Cup Matches held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, New York, where he won two singles matches (both against Sandy Lyle).

Fred Ridley remains the last U.S. Amateur champion to have never turned professional. After Ridley’s time as a serious competitor came to an end he continued his dedication to the sport in other ways. He served as non-playing captain for the American sides of the 1987 Walker Cup, 1989 Walker Cup, and the 2010 Eisenhower Trophy. In 2004, Ridley was elected president of the United States Golf Association (USGA). He was awarded the PGA of America’s Distinguished Service Award in 2006. Later in his career he was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a “Distinguished LetterWinner.”

Ridley became a member of Augusta National Golf Club in 2000. He served as the tournament’s Competition Committee chairman from 2007-17. On August 23, 2017, Augusta National announced that Ridley would succeed Billy Payne as chairman of the club. He took over that responsibility on October 16, 2017 when the club reopened for its 2017–18 season.

One of the more popular photos when Fred Ridley became the new chairman of Augusta National Golf Club is shown below. It features Ridley and Jack Nicklaus playing together in the 1976 Masters, the traditional pairing of the defending Masters champion and the current U.S. Amateur champion.

Personal Life
Ridley works as a commercial real estate lawyer in Tampa, Florida. He is a partner in the law firm of Foley & Lardner, 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 University of Florida graduate. They have three daughters and two grandchildren.

My thanks to Doug Ferguson – Golf Writer – The Associated Press for portions of this article.