Open Championship visits The Ridge at Back BrookThe Ridge at Back Brook will undergo its Golf Association of Philadelphia Major initiation when it welcomes the organization’s 112th Open Championship on Monday, July 18.
A field of 78 – 46 amateurs and 32 professionals – will traverse the Ringoes, N.J. track. The Open Championship is a 36-hole stroke play tournament. “It’s obviously a very prestigious event. Our place is a great venue for it,” Travis Deibert, who is in his first year as The Ridge at Back Brook’s head professional, said. “We’re looking forward to seeing how the guys play it. The field will be extremely strong, which is good. We’re excited. A lot of people still don’t know where we’re at; [the golf course] is kind of a hidden secret.” The secret is starting to slip out. A year ago, The Ridge at Back Brook hosted the New Jersey PGA Professional Championship. The Tom Fazio design, which opened in 2002, includes four par 5s and five par 3s — a unique feature that caters to long-hitters. The Ridge at Back Brook has earned numerous awards from a variety of publications since its founding. In 2006, Golf Digest ranked The Ridge at Back Brook No. 6 in the nation among America’s Best New Private Courses. The publication later rated it No. 6 in the state in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 and 2008, Golf Digest recognized the club with an Architecture Award in outstanding design as well as ranking it among the Best Golf Courses in the State of New Jersey. In a 2014 New Jersey GolfStyles magazine poll, The Ridge at Back Brook was voted the top favorite private course in New Jersey. In 2006 and 2014, the New Jersey Golf Course Owners Association voted The Ridge at Back Brook the New Jersey Course of the Year. “If you drive it well and keep it in the fairway, there are definitely some opportunities to score,” Deibert, 42, of Pipersville, Pa., said. “Our course is very generous off the tee, but the greens can be pretty fast and firm, which keeps everything in check from a scoring standpoint. It’s very easy to get out of position around the greens, and that’s what makes it difficult. You have to be in the right place when you miss it.” Deibert, now in his fourth year at The Ridge at Back Brook, earned low professional honors in 2012 at Pine Valley Golf Club. He will tee off alongside the Association’s reigning Major winners — Matthew Mattare of Saucon Valley Country Club (Middle-Amateur presented by Callaway Golf) and Michael McDermott of Merion Golf Club (BMW Philadelphia Amateur) — at 8:50 a.m. “I’m going to be comfortable playing at my own facility. Hopefully my course knowledge will help a little bit,” Deibert said. “I have high expectations to be able to compete with these young kids.” Expectations are null for Matthew Teesdale; the 2014 Open Champion excludes those type of thoughts from his pre-tournament crosshairs. “I kind of like to play free, take it one shot at a time,” Teesdale, an amateur out of Commonwealth National Golf Club, said. “Hopefully length will be to my advantage. That’s usually my game plan: birdie the par 5s and try to par everything else.” Such a strategy may pay dividends for Teesdale, whose ball-striking is turning a corner of late. “My driver is getting a lot more consistent. I’m taking the left side of the golf course out of play,” Teesdale, 25, of Maple Glen, Pa., said. “I play my best when I’m hitting my driver well. it’s getting a lot more consistent. I’m taking the left side of the golf course out of play.” Teesdale is one of six former Open champions in the field. Others include John Appleget of Wildwood Golf & Country Club (2002), Michael R. Brown, Jr. of Links Golf Club (2010), Stuart Ingraham of MGOLF Driving Range and Learning Facility (1994), Rich Steinmetz of Spring Ford Country Club (2009) and David Quinn of Links Golf Club (2006). Last year’s victor Brandon Matthews, an amateur out of Lu Lu Country Club, is not competing. Total purse for the professionals is $35,000. The low professional will receive $7,000. Amateurs have won the last six editions, 18 overall. R. Jay Sigel holds the most Open titles at six. He won all those as an amateur. The Golf Association of Philadelphia serves as the sole administrator of the Open Championship. It increased the field size from 72 to 78 players in 2013. Fifty-four players secured a spot in the field by qualifying at either Indian Valley Country Club or North Hills Country Club. The remaining 24 earned exemptions based on previous results. Participants include professionals who are members in good standing of the Philadelphia Section PGA, head professionals of GAP Member Clubs and amateurs who are members of member clubs and carry a handicap index of 7.0 or less. As always, the public and media are welcome to attend.
Golf Association of Philadelphia
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A Walk Through Time
GAP is the oldest state or regional golf association in the country. It started courtesy of a friendly competition – the Team Matches – and has grown into the preeminent golf association in the country. Along the way, golf history has been made.
