Ridley Talks Golf, the Masters with AmLaw

Partner Fred Ridley discussed with The American Lawyer his first year as chairman of the Masters in the article, “At the Masters, Foley & Lardner Partner Will Present the Green Jacket.”

Ridley told The American Lawyer that he attended the University of Florida on a golf scholarship and thought he would earn his living as a professional golfer, but said he was a “run-of-the-mill” player on a team that won the collegiate championship in 1973. In 1975, Ridley won the U.S. Amateur championship, which earned him the right to play in the Masters.

Ridley said he was inspired to go to law school by golf legend Bobby Jones, who was also a lawyer.

“I would have never dreamed that things would develop the way they did,” Ridley said Friday. “One way I put it is I don’t think there’s any amount of money that I would have traded [to have] been the most successful golfer imaginable for what my life has been,” he said. “The professional satisfaction of working as an attorney and being for the last 18 years in a really wonderful organization and having so many friends inside [Foley & Lardner] and having my life in golf. I don’t know if I could have orchestrated anything more rewarding or gratifying than what I’ve received. So I’ve been very fortunate.”

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