Michael Ridge (1955 – 2020)

Andrew Knott, a PGA Fellow Professional and Director of Performance at the Singha Elite Performance Centre, Thana City Golf and Country Club, Thailand, pays tribute to Mike Ridge, his golfing mentor who has passed away at the age of 64.

Mike was the epitome of what a PGA Member is. He went about his job quietly and unassumingly but was always there. He certainly wasn’t made for this current age of social media, creating brand ‘Me’ and telling everyone why you are the Best in… or the #1…

A search on Google for Mike or Michael Ridge golfer/PGA Professional doesn’t serve up much.

Mike came to Shooters Hill Golf Club in 1986 and spent a decade there before moving to Burford Golf Club in Oxfordshire where he spent the rest of his career until retiring three years ago.

His arrival at Shooters Hill came a year after I had joined as a junior, so he was the main club professional for my golfing development years.

As juniors when not playing we either hung out around the junior hut or the pro shop – making the place look scruffy! But Mike was always OK with us being there and encouraged us.

I would talk to him about my game all the time and although he didn’t have much to say, his few words of wisdom would give you something to go back out on the golf course with.

Mike had always taken me under his wing - he put trust in me and, more than anything else, showed great belief in me.

When I left school in 1988 aged 16, he was keen to have me come and work for him as his assistant. However, I had accepted a job in a bank many months before but right up to the last day he would still say the odd word to my parents and me trying to change my mind (only my mind, my parents were on his side already!).

I worked with him for two months before starting with the bank, with my game developing quickly under his watchful eye. But it wasn’t to be for me, not at that point anyway.

We remained close until he left for Burford and in the years since 1996, I think we only met twice and spoke another couple of times, but the bond was there and we both knew that.

Having passed my PGA exams in 2010 and qualified to apply for membership, I contacted Mike to ask if he would be my sponsor in becoming a PGA Member.

I don’t think he even knew I had finally become a professional and was doing my PGA training but he accepted and wrote the kindest words in his sponsorship letter.

Moreover, when I invited him to join me at the graduation ceremony in 2011 he had no hesitation in driving from the Cotswolds to Birmingham for an hour or two and then returning home.

Typically during the ceremony, he stood at the back just watching on proudly but unassumingly, waiting until after the graduation to come and speak to me.

I was saddened to learn of his passing, of course, and regretted I hadn’t reached out to him one last time, to let him know how important he had been to me - my first mentor in my golfing journey.

I should have told him when I was awarded the status of PGA Fellow Professional, but life sometimes gets in the way especially when you are 6,000 miles away.

That said it was not really our relationship and the bond was much deeper. As my emotion subsided, I am sure he knew and in his unassuming manner would probably have been too shy and embarrassed to take the praise anyway.

Michael Ridge, like many other PGA Members will not be a name known to many others within the Association or the wider golfing communities.

But I have no doubts that the clubs he served, especially Shooters Hill and Burford, he will be remembered fondly by all and I am sure my story is not unique.

For me Mike’s legacy is the hope that there is still a place in our sport for the quiet, unassuming club pro who goes about their job relatively unnoticed but, on reflection, leaves an indelible mark on the hundreds, maybe even thousands of golfers that cross their path without even realising it – he certainly left his mark on me.

Mike Ridge was elected to PGA membership in 1976 and worked at two clubs in Hertfordshire - Old Fold Manor (1974-81) and Arkley (1981-86) - before spending a dozen years at Shooters Hill in Kent and another 18 at Burford. Mike is survived by Deborah, his wife, and The PGA expresses heartfelt condolences to her along with his other family members and friends.

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