Far Hills, N.J. (Feb. 24) – Past USGA President Fred S. Ridley of Tampa, Fla., has been named captain of the USA Team for the 2010 World Amateur Team Championship, to be played this October in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“Being named captain of the USA World Amateur Team is a great honor and an experience I am very much looking forward to,” Ridley said. “With golf in the Olympics now a reality, international interest in the game is at an all-time high. The World Amateur Team Championships represent international amateur golf at its highest level.”
Ridley, 57, served as USGA president in 2004 and 2005 and was a member of the Executive Committee for 12 years. He was also USGA treasurer in 1998 and 1999 and vice president from 2000-2003.
He has had a distinguished career in amateur golf. Six years after losing in the first round of match play of the 1969 U.S. Junior Amateur, he won the 1975 U.S. Amateur. That earned him a berth on the 1976 USA World Amateur Team. One year later, he was named to the USA Walker Cup Team. He also served as a non-playing captain of the USA Walker Cup Team in 1987 and 1989.
Ridley also served as chairman of the Championship Committee, the group responsible for the conduct of all USGA competitions, from 2000-2003 and has chaired the Amateur Status and Conduct and the International Team Selection Committees.
An attorney, Ridley is a partner and a member of the management committee of Foley & Lardner, an international law firm of almost 1,000 lawyers. He is a 1974 graduate of the University of Florida and a 1977 graduate of the Stetson University College of Law.
He and his wife, Betsy, have three children: Maggie, Libby and Sydney.
The World Amateur Team Championship, for the Eisenhower Trophy, will be played Oct. 28-31 at Buenos Aires and Olivos Golf Clubs.
The World Amateur Team Championships began in 1958, with the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship starting in 1964. The International Golf Federation (IGF) was founded in 1958 to encourage the international development of golf through friendship and sportsmanship. Today, the IGF consists of more than 120 national governing bodies of golf and is recognized as the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee. As one of its main functions, the IGF conducts the World Amateur Team Championships for women and men on a biennial basis.
The World Amateur Team Championships were last played in 2008 in Australia. Scotland claimed the men’s title and Sweden won the women’s championship.
For more information, visit www.internationalgolffederation.org or www.usga.org.
About the USGA
The USGA is the national governing body of golf in the USA and Mexico. The USGA annually conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior Open and 10 national amateur championships. It also conducts two state team championships and helps conduct the Walker Cup Match, Curtis Cup Match and World Amateur Team Championships.
The USGA also writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing, provides expert course maintenance consultations, funds research for better turf and a better environment, maintains a Handicap System®, celebrates the history of the game, and administers an ongoing “For the Good of the Game” grants program, which has allocated more than $65 million over 13 years to successful programs that bring the game’s values to youths from disadvantaged backgrounds and people with disabilities. For more information about the USGA, visit www.usga.org.
Contact:
Pete Kowalski
pkowalski@usga.org
Web Address: www.usga.org
USGA Phone: 908-234-2300 ext.1322 (office)
908-216-8435 (cell)
