The Ridgewood Country Club

The Ridgewood Country Club is a twenty-seven-hole private golf course and clubhouse constructed in Paramus, New Jersey and opened on May 30th, 1929. The Norman Revival clubhouse, located at the north end of the property, is the core from which three nine-hole loops extend toward the southwest, south, and southeast. The golf course was designed by A.W. Tillinghast, and the clubhouse by Clifford Wendehack. Tillinghast and Wendehack, respectively, were among the foremost golf and clubhouse architects of the early twentieth century.

In 1927 Ridgewood Country Club purchased some 257 acres in Paramus to relocate the club and golf course from its original Ridgewood location. The Board of Directors chose A.W. Tillinghast, notable for previous designs at local clubs such as Quaker Ridge, Winged Foot, Somerset Hills, Essex County and Baltusrol to design the golf course. According to the Tillinghast granddaughters, his favorite design, and his "local" was the course he developed at Ridgewood.

Clifford Charles Wendehack was a resident of Upper Montclair and was responsible for the design of other significant buildings in the region. In articles published in Golf Illustrated in 1929, he explained his inspiration for Ridgewood’s clubhouse design was the similarity between the landscape of northern France and the landscape of northern New Jersey. Hence the Norman style clubhouse with tower and porches.

Both course and clubhouse retain the majority of the features contributed by these two great designers. The Ridgewood Country Club has an active preservation and restoration program for the entire site.