on August 30, 2018
August 19, 2018 By: Jim McCabe — On the eve of the 2018 FedExCup Playoffs, storylines are plentiful, though likely the leading one is the return of Tiger Woods – the only multiple FedExCup winner – to postseason play for the first time since 2013.
This will be the fourth time in the 12-year history of the FedExCup that Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey, has hosted THE NORTHERN TRUST to get the Playoffs underway. Two of the previous three playoff winners at Ridgewood – Vijay Singh in 2008, Hunter Mahan in 2014 – will not be involved in this year’s tournament, but by and large this is a classic and timeless golf course where comfort is of the essence.
Gil Hanse was early in what has developed into a brilliant career when in 1995 he was signed on to restore much of A.W. Tillinghast’s design of the 27-hole Ridgewood CC. The work was met with such resounding success that 23 years later, Hanse’s company is still involved at Ridgewood.
“It’s so exciting to be involved in a club of that caliber,” said Hanse, whose restoration work at TPC Boston (next week’s Dell Technologies Championship) and Aronimink Golf Club (the BMW Championship, Sept. 6-9) means his fingerprints will be on each of the first three Playoffs venues this year.
He deflects that storyline and points instead to what he was blessed with way back in 1995, “the chance to work at a Tillinghast.” You could make a strong argument that “Tillie” was the best of the best, eccentric but imaginative, a designer praised as “a genius” by Hanse.
“His work is so diverse. At Ridgewood, like at Winged Foot, (Tillinghast’s) holes feel so different,” said Hanse.
There is much to embrace about Ridgewood Country Club, but five things stand out:
1. The Routing: With 27 Tillinghast holes from which to choose, it could be suggested that the PGA TOUR was enjoying an embarrassment of riches. The options, said Hanse, are numerous, but he passionately endorses the choice they have gone with this year, which is slightly different from when the FedExCup Playoffs started here in 2008, 2010 and 2014.
This year, the routing will offer the first seven holes from the East Course, mix in five from the Center (Nos. 2-6), and conclude with six from the West (Nos. 4-9). What will be incorporated are some of the flavors that Tillinghast embraced – a cozy par 3 (the 155-yard 15th or No. 6 West); a par 5 that pays tribute to Pine Valley’s vast expansive of sand, “Hell’s Half Acre” (the 626-yard 13th, or No. 4 West); and a short par 4 that can be driven (the 291-yard 12th).
“He was,” Hanse said, “the master of variety.”
2. History: For good reason, Ridgewood CC loyalists take pride in being the club where a gentleman assistant pro named Byron Nelson came of age as a golfer. Nelson’s time at Ridgewood is chronicled here, but the rich history at this 27-hole club goes much deeper.
The 1935 Ryder Cup, for instance. It was the third time the biennial competition was played on American soil and it was pretty much over by lunchtime of the first day’s four 36-hole Foursomes games. Stuart Cameron, the reporter from United Press International, didn’t even bother weaving in the results, except to say that the Americans won three games “by brutal scores.”
For the record, Gene Sarazen-Walter Hagen prevailed 7-and-6, while Johnny Revolta-Henry Picard (9-and-8) and Paul Runyan-Horton Smith (6-and-5) didn’t break a sweat, either. The two-day affair went the home team’s way, 9-3, and Cameron mocked the visitors: “The English should have done better, if only because the weather was as dark, dismal, and drizzly as any they ever experienced on their native moors and heaths. It was bleak and forbidding.”
It was nearly 40 years before a big-time golf show returned to Ridgewood – Jerry Pate winning the 1974 U.S. Amateur – but a steady procession of Hall of Fame names soon recorded wins there. Kathy Whitworth at the 1981 Coca-Cola Classic; Lee Trevino in the 1990 U.S. Senior Open; Tom Watson at the 2001 Senior PGA; and Vijay Singh in 2008 at THE NORTHERN TRUST.
3. Fond memories: Of the 120 players who will tee it up in the first Playoffs event, eight can take solace in the fact they’ve made the cut in the three prior visits to Ridgewood.
Tops on that list would have to be Jason Day, who was T-2 in 2014 and T-5 in 2010. He was also T-31 in 2008 and owns eight sub-par scores in 12 rounds, a robust 23 under combined.
Paul Casey (T-22, T-12 and T-7), Stewart Cink (T-15, T-15, T38) and Kevin Streelman (T-46, T-3, T-4) have also fared well at Ridgewood, going 18 under, 14 under and 19 under, respectively.
The others to make all three Playoffs cuts at Ridgewood: Kevin Na, 13 under; Charley Hoffman, 9 under; Bubba Watson, 12 under; and Ryan Palmer, 4 under.
Tiger Woods’ only appearance at Ridgewood? In 2010, he shot 65-73-72-67 to finish at 7-under 277, tied for 12th.
4. What’s in a name? A newspaper editor and sportswriter early in his career, Tillinghast was said to have lived a lifestyle that was “F. Scott Fitzgerald-like.” Reportedly, he also dined once with Leon Trotsky during the years he was in New York City writing for a Russian newspaper.
So, with such a backdrop around words, it isn’t a surprise that a man of Tillinghast’s imagination chose to name all the golf holes he designed. Actually, it played into his philosophy that every hole should be judged individually and have its own character.
“But I wish I knew all the names or paid closer attention,” Hanse said, “because I’m sure it’s fascinating.”
Consider the opening hole in the upcoming THE NORTHERN TRUST, No. 1 on the East Course. It’s called “Adam.” Simple, theorizes head professional Dave Reasoner. “First man.”
OK, fine. But what will play as the 10th hole, the 486-yard, par-4 (a par 5 for members as 4 Center) that runs adjacent to George Washington Memorial Park? It’s called Briars, but Reasoner concedes “no clue.” Nor does he know why the 13th, the 626-yard, par-5 fifth that is No. 4 on the West Course, is called “Muckle.”
Reasoner does know that “Beeches,” the 155-yard, par-3 15th, is so named because “the hole used to be surrounded by beech trees.”
Not all Tillinghast names take hold, however. Consider what might be the tournament’s most intriguing stop, the 291-yard, par-4 12th (known to members as No. 6 on the Center Course). It was where Phil Mickelson once drove into a chalet and played his shot off the deck. The hole is called “Scoonie,” but to many the hole is called “Five and Dime,” as Nelson suggested it was best played with a 5-iron and wedge.
With all due respects to “Tillie,” it’s a re-write that will stick. With its tiny 2,200-square foot putting green, the 12th will likely be referred to as the “Five and Dime” hole frequently through the tournament.
5. Final resting place: Kevin Streelman was an unheralded contender at Ridgewood CC in the 2008 playoff opener, his story enhanced by the fact that every day he played, he could pay silent acknowledgement to his grandparents, both of whom are buried at George Washington Memorial Park.
The cemetery is to the right of the fourth hole on the Center Course (No. 10 for the tournament) and Ridgewood’s website notes that “tee shots too far right will be mourned” as it is out-of-bounds.
Expect to hear mention of Streelman’s grandparents (they were from the nearby borough of Glen Rock), but George Washington Memorial Park is the final resting place for many others. For instance, former Yankees catcher Elston Howard, the first African-American to win the American League MVP, as well as Grammy-winning singer Luther Vandross. Most fitting, perhaps, is that George Jacobus, the beloved former head professional at Ridgewood and a pioneer in the PGA of America, is buried there, able to keep watch over his home club for nearly 50 years.