A Tilly Gem On Display At U.S. Amateur Championship

PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY | Though it traces its roots back to 1890 – and to a two-hole track that came to be called the Ho-Ho-Kus Golf Club – it was not until the spring of 1929 that the course on which this year’s U.S. Amateur is being contested opened. A.W. (for Albert Warren) Tillinghast designed and then led construction of 27 holes across rolling terrain in this town some 25 miles northwest of New York City. By that time, the association had taken a new name, Ridgewood Country Club, which seemed appropriate considering that the forested site was bisected by a ridge.

Golfers praised the new layout as well the stately stone clubhouse that Clifford C. Wendehack, who was as celebrated in that design realm as Tillinghast was in his, had crafted. And Ridgewood quickly became regarded as one of the finest golf clubs in the Northeast, as well as a terrific tournament site. The membership rolls filled quickly. And just six years after coming online, the club hosted the Ryder Cup, which an American team led by playing-captain Walter Hagen ca...