Ex-USGA President Ridley is Augusta National chairman

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Fred Ridley recalls soaking up the ambience of Augusta National a week before his debut in the 1976 Masters as the U.S. Amateur champion. He was alone under the massive oak tree next to the clubhouse when he turned around and realized he had company.

Clifford Roberts, co-founder of the club and the first chairman of the Masters, was standing behind him.

“I kind of jumped and thought, ‘Oh God, what have I done?’ ” Ridley said. “We had a nice conversation. The interesting thing was, we were leaving and he says, ‘Now young man, you’re going to be playing in the Par-3 next Wednesday. You make sure you get some practice over there.’ He loved the Par-3. That was my recollection of the only conversation I had with him.”

Forty-one years later, Ridley is the seventh chairman in the 85-year history of Augusta National.

He took the job Monday when the club reopened for a new season.

Ridley, a 65-year-old business lawyer from Tampa, succeeds Billy Payne, who is retiring after 11 years. Payne’s tenure was marked by the club inviting female members for the first time, and for creating events geared toward American youth (Drive, Chip and Putt) and two amateur events in Asia and Latin America that offer the winners a spot in the Masters.

Payne, who chose Ridley as his successor, becomes chairman emeritus.

Starting with that chance meeting with Roberts under the oak tree, Ridley says he has met every chairman who preceded him.

Ridley was not specific on any changes or initiatives he had in mind for the club, saying only that he would lean on the principle established by Roberts and Bobby Jones.

“That principle here is constant improvement,” Ridley said. “That permeates the culture here”

Ridley is the second Augusta National chairman, along with Hord Hardin, to have served as USGA president. He has not stayed active with the USGA, where executives are known for their blue blazers, saying that “my jacket has been green for quite some time.”

Ridley was USGA president in 2004 when the final round of the U.S. Open was marred by the overly baked condition of the greens at Shinnecock Hills and a pin position at the par-3 seventh that made it impossible for anyone to hold the green without putting water on it.

He was not directly in charge of the golf course, but “I was the president, so the buck stops there.”