Field: Top 125 FedExCup Pts. Standings •
Yards: 7,468

Inside the course: Ridgewood Country Club

Aug. 23, 2010

The Barclays heads to Ridgewood Country Club for the second time in the tournament's history. Learn more about the host venue.

How to play Ridgewood C.C.

Todd Jones, the head instructor at the TOUR Academy at TPC Sawgrass, analyzes this week's course.

Welcome to the FedExCup! Welcome to its first event, The Barclays, and welcome to Ridgewood Country Club. This A.W. Tillinghast design is steeped in tradition as it has not only hosted significant golf events but also had one Byron Nelson on its professional staff as he was launching his playing career.

Ridgewood Country Club played host to the 1935 Ryder Cup, the 1990 U.S. Senior Open, the 2001 Senior PGA Championship, and the 2008 Barclays. The 2008 Barclays was one of the most exciting Playoff events to date as it ended regulation play with three players tied atop the leaderboard at 8 under par an another eighteen players within three shots of the lead. The eventual champion Vijay Singh beat Sergio Garcia and Kevin Sutherland in a dramatic sudden death playoff.

The course is a special tournament course designed from a collection of the finest 18 of its 27 holes to accommodate the modern-day golfer. The course will play to a par of 71, stretching to 7,319 yards, forming a new Tillinghast course some 66 years after the classic designer's death. The layout which puts a premium on ball striking will be a test of patience for the worlds best. To quote the great Jack Nicklaus -- Youve got to play this golf course the way it dictates.

You can't play an attacking game. or youll start making bogeys. You've got to be patient. Patient golf means playing to your strengths and taking advantage of opportunities. Impatient golf means trying to hit shots that you are not prepared to hit (mentally or mechanically), forcing the situation. Impatient golf leads to mistakes that produce big numbers, and big numbers take players out of contention.

If history holds true, there will be a lot of players in the mix on Sunday afternoon, and the ones who stick to their routines, stick to their game plans, and stay patient will have the best chance to claim the title. Welcome to the PGA TOUR Playoffs!

For more information about the PGA TOUR Academy golf schools, click here

Fast facts

Original Architect	A.W. Tillinghast (1929)
Course remodel	Gil Hanse (2007)
Course superintendent	Todd W. Raisch
Number of TOUR events as host venue	2 (including 2010)
Yardage History	7,304 (2008-present)
Grass	Perennial ryegrass; Poa annua (Tees)
	Creeping bentgrass; Poa annua; perennial ryegrass (Fairways)
	Poa annua (Greens)
	Kentucky bluegrass; perennial ryegrass; fine fescue (Rough)
Tournament Stimpmeter	12 feet
Sand bunkers	78
Water hazards	1
Course tour	Click here

Course record

Player
Hunter Mahan

Year
2008

Round
1st

Finish
T31

Course origins

Ridgewood Country Club was ranked No. 81 by Golfweek in April 2007, as well as being ranked No. 87 by Golf magazine in September 2007. Hole No. 6 was ranked among the Top 500 Holes in the World Golf Magazine in 2000, while the club was ranked the No. 84 Most Prestigious Club in America in 2006 by Golf Connoisseur. -- Source: Golf Course Superintendents Association of America

The Barclays spent 40 years at historic Westchester Country Club and moved to Ridgewood Country Club for the first time in 2008. Last year, the tournament was held in the shadow of the New York City skyline at Liberty National.

The course has hosted many events, including the 2001 Senior PGA Championship (won by Tom Watson); the 1990 U.S. Senior Open (won by Lee Trevino); the 1981 Coca-Cola Open; the 1981 Coca-Cola Classic; the 1974 U.S. Amateur (won by Jerry Pate); the 1957 U.S. Senior Amateur; and the 1935 Ryder Cup. The 1935 Ryder Cup was won by the United States 9-3. The U.S. team members included Walter Hagen (competing in his final Ryder Cup), Gene Sarazen, Paul Runyan and Horton Smith, while the Great Britian team included the Whitcombe brothers (Charles, Ernest and Reg) and Percy Allis.

PGA TOUR Tournament course history

Course	Location	Years
Westchester CC	Harrison, N.Y.	1967-2007
Ridgewood CC	Paramus, N.J.	2008, 2010
Liberty National GC	Jersey City, N.J.	2009

Ridgewood Country Club in 2008

The signature hole at Ridgewood Country Club is the 291-yard, par-4 fifth hole, known as the "Five and Dime." In the old days the members called it the "five and dime" because most played it with a 5-iron off the tee and a 10-iron (now a wedge) into the green.

Hole	Par value	Yards	Avg. score	Rank
1	4	380	3.766	18
2	3	190	2.998	11
3	5	588	4.87	14
4	4	444	4.024	10
5	4	291	3.841	16
6	4	471	4.087	9
7	4	447	4.118	7
8	3	217	3.184	2
9	4	440	4.13	6
10	3	230	3.147	4
11	4	467	4.157	3
12	4	475	4.343	1
13	5	626	4.867	15
14	4	412	4.109	8
15	3	155	2.908	12
16	4	422	3.901	13
17	5	594	4.814	17
18	4	470	4.143	5

For detailed descriptions of each hole, click here.

This week's Kodak Challenge hole

HOLE: The par-5, 594-yard 17th at Ridgewood
LAST YEAR: The 17th played to a stroke average of 4.814, with players recording 3 eagles, 115 birdies, 256 pars, 36 bogeys, 4 double bogeys and 0 others.
DESCRIPTION: Dogleg left and long, it's one of the great par 5s in the game. Long drives from an intimidating tee box must cut the dogleg to avoid very deep rough and trees to the right where the fairway makes a sharp left. A strong second shot is also needed to avoid the cross bunker on the left side of the fairway, and/or to pass the giant tulip tree that sits imposingly on the corner on the right side of the fairway. The third shot requires power and accuracy to reach a small green, carry past the false front but not carry the back of the green ... or to get caught too early in the severe right-to-left swing that can channel a ball steeply downhill into dangerous bunkers. This is a tough green on which many a match has been decided, including the 2008 Barclays, where Vijay Singh outdueled Sergio Garcia in an exciting playoff.(Click here for Ridgewood tour