Augusta National chairman announces women’s amateur event ahead of 2019 Masters

AUGUSTA, Georgia — Fred Ridley descended from the top rope at the annual Augusta National chairman’s press conference Wednesday, his first since taking over for Billy Penn last year as chairman of the event and Augusta National Golf Club. Ridley announced that Augusta National will host the 2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship.

The 54-hole event will feature 72 players, and the first two rounds will be played at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Augusta, while the final round will be played at Augusta National on the first Saturday of 2019 with 30 golfers. Masters,

“We believe this event will have a long-term impact on the sport,” Ridley said. “I think focusing on amateur golf is consistent with our history, our founder, our co-founder Bobby Jones.

“We also feel that this is the way that we can have the biggest impact in growing the sport, and in this particular case the women’s sport. So we thought it was a better way (than the men’s amateur sport) and a better use of our resources. But having said that, I think over time it will be very beneficial for the women’s professional sport as well.”

The Augusta National Women’s Am will take place the day before the Final Drive, Chip and Putt Championship, another amateur initiative launched by Augusta National. However, the women’s tournament was created in the five months since Ridley took over, a remarkably fast time frame.

“We’re always looking for new ways to benefit and impact the sport,” Ridley said. “And we start from the premise and reality that we’re very fortunate to have the resources we have to do this. I met with our senior staff in October and said I think this is the right time to do this. It was the right time for women’s sport. I wanted to do this, and I wanted to do it here.

“I thought that in order to have the greatest impact on women’s golf we needed to commit to doing this here at Augusta National, and I wanted to tell you all about it today. So, five months ago it was a huge task. But the way our staff responded, they embraced it and were committed to talking about it today. So we’re looking forward to this event next year.”

It’s a bold move for Ridley and a good one for the club. If ventures like this define Ridley’s tenure as chairman, we could be seeing a progressive era at Augusta National, Ridley hinted at on Wednesday.

“Over the last few months I’ve read a lot about what our founders said about what our role and obligation is to the game of golf,” Ridley said. “It’s been a constant theme and part of our culture that we have an obligation to give back to the game.

“Originally, that was only possible through the Masters Tournament. In recent years, again, we’ve done a lot more with the capacity that we have. And I think that’s really based on the founders’ belief that Augusta National and the Masters … have an obligation to contribute to the game, and we’re going to continue to do that.”