AUGUSTA, Ga. – Fred Ridley came off the top rope Wednesday during Augusta National’s annual president’s news conference, his first after succeeding Billy Payne as president of the event and Augusta National Golf Club last fall. Ridley announced that Augusta National will host the 2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship.
The 54-hole event will feature 72 players, and the first two rounds will be played at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Augusta before the final round with 30 golfers takes place at Augusta National the Saturday before the 2019 edition. Masters.
“We believe this event will have a lasting impact on the game,” Ridley said. “I think focusing on amateur golf is consistent with our history, with our founder, our co-founder, Bobby Jones.
“We also believe that this is how we can have the greatest impact on the development of football, and in this particular case women’s football. So we thought this was the best way forward (than amateur sport men) and the best use of our resources But having said that, I think that over time it will also be very beneficial for women’s professional football.
The Augusta National Women’s Am Finals will be held the day before the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship, which is yet another amateur initiative undertaken by Augusta National. The women’s tournament, however, was established within five months of Ridley’s arrival, which is a remarkably quick amount of time.
“We are always looking for new ways to benefit and impact the game,” Ridley said. “And we start with the principle and the reality that we are very fortunate to have the resources to do this. I met with our senior management in October and told them I thought this was the right time to do it. It was the right time.” It was time for the women’s match. I wanted to do this, and I wanted to do it here.
“I thought for us to have the biggest impact on women’s golf, we had to commit to doing that here at Augusta National, and I also wanted to be able to talk to you about that today. So that was a big challenge. which was given just five months ago But in characteristic fashion of our staff, they took it and committed to being able to allow us to talk about it today. this event next year.
It’s a bold move for Ridley and good for the club. If ventures like this end up defining Ridley’s time as president, we could find ourselves in a progressive era since Augusta National. Ridley alluded to this on Wednesday.
“I’ve read a lot in recent months about what our founders have said about our role and obligations in golf,” Ridley said. “It’s a constant theme and part of our culture that we have an obligation to give back to the game.
“Originally it was done exclusively through the Masters tournament. In recent years, again, with the capacity that we have, we’ve done a lot more. And I think that really comes down to the belief of the founders. ‘Augusta National and the Masters…had an obligation to contribute to the game, and we’re going to continue to do that.’
