There was plenty of big news from Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley’s press conference on the eve of the 89th Masters, many of which he brought up before any questions were asked by those packed into the media interview room.
After the chairman acknowledged, among other things, the 50th anniversary of Lee Elder breaking the colour barrier and Bernhard Langer competing in his final Masters, Ridley spoke about: the current state of pro golf reunification; pace of play; the golf ball rollback; changes to the Augusta course and property; and even the impact of the Name, Image and Likeness issue in college sports.
Pace of play
Ridley deemed one of the game’s current hot-button issues, slow play, important enough to bring up in his initial address.
“Golf is a special game because it requires us to be considerate while also being competitive. Respecting other people’s time, including, importantly, the fans who support the game, is a fundamental courtesy,” he said. “Therefore, I want to encourage continued dialogue on this topic, especially at the professional levels, which serve as the most visible representation of our sport.”
Interestingly, the Masters usually doesn’t face obvious pace issues because its field is smaller. But there are more players than usual this week, at 95, and Ridley admitted, “I’m not going to tell you that I’m going to be happy with the results [of pace], but I think I am encouraged that the PGA Tour is doing some things, experimenting with some timing procedures that might be a little bit more aggressive than we’ve seen in the past.”
In a pace question asked of Ridley, a reporter noted that one young competitor in Sunday’s Drive, Chip and Putt Championship took nearly two minutes to line up a putt. “There’s even the thought that,” the reporter stated, “you might lead the way in trying to encourage these young players to get a bloody move on.”
Everyone laughed, including Ridley, who said he observed the same deliberate effort. “I think that example really illustrates the problem, and unfortunately, these young people are looking to their heroes who play the game each week for a living as to how they’re going to approach competitively playing the game,” he said.
The chairman did make this promise: “I think it’s safe to assume that next year at the Drive, Chip and Putt you will see some sort of time limitations placed on the competition.”
Golf’s reunification
While the stalemate between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund continues, Ridley confirmed that he invited new LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil to attend the tournament this week.
“Scott is here, and we’re pleased to have him as our guest,” Ridley said. “Although I don’t have any specific plans to meet with him, I know that we will have some discussions with him, and we’re happy that he’s here.”
There has been widespread speculation about what Augusta National’s role has been in the tour-PIF negotiations; nevertheless, Ridley encouraged “cooperation” between the entities to bring the best players together more often than the majors, adding, “regardless of what the structure of it is, to where everyone can play together again.
“I’m going to continue to be saying that and encouraging the leaders of the organisations involved to try to work together to come up with a solution. But I think we all agree that four times a year is not enough to have the great players of the game together.”
Golf ball rollback
The USGA and R&A announced in 2023 that a rollback of golf balls to limit their distance will be instituted for professionals in 2028 and recreational players in 2030. The issue has more quietly caused as much divide in the golf world as the PIF-tour negotiations, because it involves many more stakeholders—the governing bodies, PGA of America and its teachers, Augusta National, pro tours, manufacturers and regular golfers.
Ridley, a former USGA president, has continued to support the governing bodies’ initiatives on distance and reiterated that on Wednesday.
“Implementation is the next challenge, as we all knew it would be,” he said. “It is critical for the good of the game that all stakeholders work together as this issue evolves. I’m encouraged by the constructive and positive discussions that are aimed at successfully implementing this important change.”
Changes at Augusta 
A view from the fairway back to the tee on the 13th hole at Augusta National. (JD Cuban)
The course changes at Augusta are more subtle than in recent years, with slight alterations made to the first, eighth, 15th and 16th greens—which are difficult for anybody but the players and caddies to notice. Then there’s the loss of trees far more recognisable in some portions.
Two years ago, the iconic par-5 13th hole was lengthened by 35 yards to 545 yards, and one expectation was that there could be fewer players trying to go for the green in two shots. As Ridley noted Wednesday, the opposite happened.
“If you look at drives that were hit too far to the right [previously], many of those went into the trees,” he said. “Now a shot like that doesn’t reach the trees. So players actually in the fairway a long way from the green—250, 260 yards—but as we all know, that is not a big problem for these players. So we actually had more players going for the green.
“Now, correspondingly, we may have had a few more hit it in Rae’s Creek, and maybe that’s the reason that the scores were up a little bit. But I think what our motivation was in making that change, in adding that distance, was to create more excitement and to have more players go for the green.”
The statistics of the last three years show that “Azalea” has gotten slightly easier. In 2022, the last year it played at 510 yards, the average score was 4.852; it was 4.736 in 2023 and 4.758 last year. However, and to Ridley’s point, the most double bogeys (7) and most eagles (8) in the three years were suffered and celebrated in 2024. There were also 108 birdies scored in each of the past two years, far more than the 91 in ’22.
So, we can confirm, the 13th is as great as it’s ever been.
Coming Soon: Player Services Building
In one other big announcement for the Masters competitors, Ridley said that 2026 will welcome a new “players services building” that will feature state-of-the-art fitness and physio rooms, a new locker room and hospitality for the players, their families and entourages.
The renderings made the facility look almost as nice as the media centre.
Augusta National Golf Club renderings
NIL and golf
One question Ridley might not have been prepared for was one about the NIL movement in college sports. The chairman, who won the 1975 US Amateur, seemed to carefully choose his words, but it was clear he was torn. After all, Augusta National was co-founded by Bobby Jones, the man considered to be the best amateur golfer of all-time.
“Change is a constant in life,” Ridley said solemnly. “Would I prefer that sort of the amateur world that I remember was still kind of how the game was being played at that level? Yeah, I would. But I don’t think that’s realistic.”
Ridley recalled that as a young player he wasn’t even allowed to accept a free sleeve of golf balls.
“I guess what I worry a little bit is about what does that do to what I would call the spirit of amateurism,” he said. “… It’s not necessarily dictated by whether or not you’re paid to do something or not, but at our Amateur Dinner on Monday night, I was encouraged by what I heard and by all the speakers, including our amateur who spoke that night, Hiroshi Tai. A very impressive young man. He spoke from the heart. Amateur means love, and his love for the game was very clear.
“I think it presents some challenges, but I think it’s just all part of the evolution of sports. It’s happening in every sport. We’re just going to have to deal with it.”
