Ridgewood C.C. Splendid Host For 68th U.S. Girls Junior
Stately Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus was bedecked in all its majesty as one of the nation’s finest courses as the home for the 68th U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship the third week in July..
The U.S. Girls’ Junior is the fourth USGA championship to be played at Ridgewood.
“The club members have gone all out. They are most of the volunteers here this week and they’ve really gotten to know the players,” said Ridgewood head professional David Reasoner. “It’s been like family this week. I’ve been here as head pro for 13 years and this is the first time we’ve hosted a USGA event.
“It’s a more intimate event than with the pros. You can walk down the fairway with the kids. They are raving about the conditions of the course, thanks to our superintendent Todd Raisch, who has been a magician working in this heat and humidity. The course is in incredible shape,” Reasoner added.
Ridgewood’s three nine-hole courses – East, Center and West – were designed by A.W. Tillinghast and opened for play in 1929. The course routing for the Girls’ Junior will incorporate holes from all three nines, using seven holes from the East, six from the West and five from the Center. The course is playing at 6,300-plus yards.
Reasoner was also proud of the fact that 85 Ridgewood caddies worked with the participants this week, and three of them were working bags in the semifinals. The other caddie was local participant Kelly Sim, winner of the past two state high school championships for Academy of Holy Angels in Demarest, who was disqualified earlier in the week. Sim inadvertently signed for a wrong score in Round 2 of stroke play.
She had been with her friend Yujeong Son of the Republic of Korea – a high school student in Norman, Okla. – since the Round of 16. Son was matched against fellow Korean and defending champion Eun Jeong Seong in the semifinals.Seong went on to win the match and the championship for a second straight year defeating Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, Calif., in the final.
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“Our caddies deserve to be here,” Reasoner said. “The greens have a lot of subtleties. The girls realized we can impart a lot of local knowledge. Overall, the membership couldn’t be happier. They wanted this and it’s very gratifying seeing it become the success that it is. This week has been very special.”
“Ridgewood’s members enthusiastically support the USGA’s ambitious efforts to grow the game, especially for girls, and it is our honor to work together to provide the best championship experience possible,” said Bruce Bitzer, President of The Ridgewood Country Club. “As proven throughout our storied history, Ridgewood is a place that identifies great champions, and we could not be more excited to host players who represent the future of women’s golf at the 68th U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship.”
Ridgewood’s most recent USGA championship was the 1990 U.S. Senior Open, in which Lee Trevino prevailed by two strokes over Jack Nicklaus on the Center and West courses. The club also hosted the 1974 U.S. Amateur, won by Jerry Pate, 2 and 1, over John P. Grace, and the 1957 U.S. Senior Amateur, won by J. Clark Espie, 4 and 3, over Frederick J. Wright.
“The USGA appreciates the club’s generosity in opening its long-celebrated facilities to this generation of female players,” said Diana Murphy, USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman.
Ridgewood will conduct the PGA Tour’s The Barclays again in 2018. Other notable events held at Ridgewood include the Barclays in 2014, 2010 and 2008, won by Hunter Mahan, Matt Kuchar and Vijay Singh, respectively; the 2001 Senior PGA Championship, won by Tom Watson; the 1981 LPGA Coca-Cola Classic, won by Kathy Whitworth, a World Golf Hall of Fame member who won a record 88 LPGA events; and the 1935 Ryder Cup Matches, in which the USA defeated Great Britain, 9-3.
The 2016 U.S. Girls’ Junior is the 60th USGA championship conducted in New Jersey. The Garden State also hosted the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, and will host the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster and the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield.
The U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship was first conducted in 1949 and is open to female amateurs who have not turned 18 on or before the final day of that year’s championship and have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4.
Notable champions include three-time winner Hollis Stacy, Mickey Wright, Nancy Lopez, Amy Alcott, JoAnne Gunderson Carner, Pat Hurst, I.K. Kim, Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson. Princess Mary Superal won the 2014 U.S. Girls’ Junior on the Meadow Course at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Ariz. The 2015 championship will be conducted July 20-25 at Tulsa (Okla.) Country Club.
