Fred Ridley Recounts A Clifford Roberts Encounter That Definitely Sounds Like The Club Co-Founder We All Love And Know

Augusta Chronicle Sports Editor John Boyette gets an exclusive sitdown with new Masters Chairman Fred Ridley.

The discussion sticks to golf stories from Ridley's days as a three-time participant in The Masters. Naturally, his best tale involves a Clifford Roberts encounter the week before playing his first Masters. Ridley was visiting the club and practicing. And of course, he just turned and there was co-founder.

“I don’t remember what I was doing, but I was standing by myself, probably just soaking it all in,” Ridley recalled. “And I turned around and there was Clifford Roberts. I thought I’ve done something wrong, I was ready to be lectured. But we had the nicest conversation, and I remember he was very polite, very kind.

“As we were finishing up, he said, ‘Son,’ and he pointed over to the Par-3 Course, ‘You’re going to play over there next Wednesday. I want you to get a few rounds in before the Par-3 Contest.’ That didn’t have a lot of meaning to me at the time, but I now know that that was a really special place for him. He loved the Par-3. I do have that recollection, which is pretty special.”

Well, the Par-3 Course was certainly was a place of interest to Mr. Roberts.