2/18/04

E–mail address: mediarelations@usga.org

Far Hills, N.J. USA – Fred S. Ridley of Tampa, Fla., newly elected president of the United States Golf Association (USGA), has been named to succeed Reed Mackenzie as the joint chairman of the International Golf Federation (IGF), the organization has announced. 

Ridley becomes a joint chairman of the organization along with David Harrison, chairman of the general committee of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A). As joint chairmen, the two will work closely with the women's chairman of the IGF, Vicky Whyte, Vice President, Brazilian Golf Confederation, and the joint secretaries of the IGF: Peter Dawson, secretary of the R&A, and David Fay, executive director of the USGA. Ridley had served the past two years as the USGA's delegate to the IGF and the IGF Administrative Committee.

"I am looking forward to working with my good friend and counterpart, David Harrison, in co-chairing the IGF, " Ridley said.  "Since the inception of the IGF, the USGA, the R&A and many other governing organizations from around the world have worked closely to promote amateur golf as a international game which can and does provide spirited competition combined with the highest level of sportsmanship. I remember my positive experience from competing in the 1976 World Amateur Team Championships and I know the IGF will continue to be a vehicle for the promotion of international goodwill."

An attorney, Ridley, 51, is a partner in the Tampa office of Foley & Lardner, an international law firm of more than 900 lawyers. Ridley is the second Foley & Lardner partner to serve as USGA president, following the late Lynford Lardner, who held that position in 1972-73. Ridley is a 1974 graduate of the University of Florida, where he was a three-time letterman for the Florida golf team, and a 1977 graduate of the Stetson University College of Law.

He began his professional career as assistant to the general counsel for International Management Group (IMG) in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1977 to 1980, before moving back to his native Florida to begin practicing law.

Ridley has had a distinguished career in amateur golf. He has competed in 15 USGA championships, including 10 U.S. Amateurs. He won the 1975 U.S. Amateur and earned a selection to the 1976 USA World Amateur team and the 1977 USA Walker Cup team. He was also named captain of the USA Walker Cup team in 1987 and 1989.

Ridley and Bill Campbell are the only participants in the World Amateur Team Championship who have gone on to serve as USGA president.

Ridley is the last U.S. Amateur champion to never have become a professional golfer. He has played in three Masters Tournaments and a U.S. Open, where he was paired with Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. Internationally, Ridley competed in the 1976 British Open as well as the 1977 and 1987 British Amateurs. He has a career-low round of 63.

Ridley also served as chairman of the USGA's Championship Committee, Amateur Status and Conduct Committee, and International Team Selection Committee.

He and his wife, Betsy, have three children: Maggie, Libby and Sydney.

The IGF was founded in 1958 to encourage the international development of the game and to employ golf as a vehicle to foster friendship and sportsmanship.  Recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the official international federation for golf, the IGF comprises the national governing bodies of golf of more than 100 countries.

As one of its main functions, the IGF conducts the World Amateur Team Championships for women and men on a biennial basis.  Future championships are scheduled for 2004 in Puerto Rico and 2006 in South Africa.

For more information on the IGF, contact Stephanie Parel, IGF joint deputy secretary, at (908) 234-2300 (USA).