Mountain Ridge was founded in 1912 on a different site in West Orange. After a decade of difficulties on that steep original ground—even after A.W. Tillinghast’s 1916–17 work—the club sold the property and, in 1929, purchased a 282-acre tract in West Caldwell expressly to build a first-class course. The Board retained Donald Ross for the new layout, paying him $2,500 plus $14,000 for construction supervision. Ross made “a number of visits to the site,” planned two returning loops, and intentionally closed each nine with a long hole that climbed back to the clubhouse. The course opened in 1931 with Wendehack’s clubhouse and Ross’s routing; the order of the nines was later reversed, but the routing itself has remained unchanged.
The modern restoration arc began in 1998, when the club engaged Ron Prichard to prepare a Ross-based master plan using the architect’s field sketches. Over the next decade, the club removed hundreds of trees to restore long views and agronomic health; added back tees to re-engage fairway hazards at modern distances; reinstated clipped chipping areas and original green corners lost to mowing line creep; and, in the winter of 2011–12, significantly widened fairways toward Ross’s original scale. In 2012 the USGA Senior Amateur came to Mountain Ridge—the club’s first USGA championship—effectively christening the restored presentation. Golf Magazine recognized the work as its “Renovation of the Year” that same season. Select refinements continued (e.g., additional work at the 7th green in 2014), and in 2022 the club appointed Andrew Green to advise on future projects while praising the course’s “best Ross putting surfaces I’ve ever encountered.”
Unique Design Characteristics
Routing and finishes. Ross’s twin loops still ascend to the clubhouse on 9 and 18, a deliberate stagecraft echoed in his field notes and preserved on the ground. The club’s history page, written from primary materials, underscores these uphill finishes and the two-loop organization.
Greens and surrounds. Mountain Ridge’s identity lies in its green complexes—tilts influenced by the property’s westward fall, distinct interior ridges, and run-offs restored to short turf. The USGA’s 2012 reporting and the club’s own narrative emphasize that the putting surfaces themselves were not rebuilt; rather, lost perimeter “corners” and short-grass surrounds were re-established to Ross’s dimensions and intentions.
Hole-specific evidence from Ross’s field sketches:
No. 1 (par 4): The opening fairway “wiggles” visually though it is essentially straight, with staggered diagonal bunkers that dictate line; Ross specified raising the green “not less than three feet” and cutting the fronting bunker to a depth of four feet, with a “sharp terrace” ramp at the front. These details survive via the course tour and restored mowing lines.
No. 7 (par 3): The club used Ross’s drawing to re-establish a mid-green left bunker and the pronounced internal undulations Ross sketched but that were never fully executed originally. A 1960s right-side bunker was removed early in the restoration; a period cross-bunker short of the green had been removed decades earlier. The 2014 work here brought the surface plan closer to the original sketch.
No. 10 (par 4): Prichard highlighted the Rossian bunker shaping near the approach—“catcher’s mitts” oriented perpendicular to the line of play—and a subtle trough short of the green that modulates both water and running approaches. Those features were central to the restoration and are visible today.
No. 13 (par 4): On the flattest section of the property, the restoration altered hydrology to add back strategic interest: a brook formerly crossing the fairway straight on was piped; the stream from 12 now snakes diagonally through the landing zone, creating choice and risk along a widened, ~70-yard fairway. The club documents these 2012 changes explicitly.
No. 18 (par 4): The uphill finisher culminates at a two-level green Ross called “natural—very slight grading required.” The club notes removal of a prominent oak in 2019 (airport constraints) and replacement defenses at the corner, but the essential uphill finish and green scheme remain as Ross intended.
Best-preserved Ross holes. The 1st and 10th are exemplary for original bunker intent and approach ground contouring; the 18th is the clearest surviving expression of Ross’s finishing-hole theater married to a largely “natural” green; and the 7th illustrates how the club has used Ross’s sketches to complete original ideas without inventing new ones.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s New Jersey portfolio (Deal, Plainfield, Montclair, among others), Mountain Ridge occupies a late-1920s/early-1930s slot and showcases a mature hand routing over generous property with clubhouse-centric stagecraft. The routing has endured intact, and contemporary observers have called the course underrated relative to its neighbors. The club’s long, documented restoration—driven by Ross drawings rather than conjecture—has been used by the USGA to illustrate best practices in recovering Golden Age intent. Recognition includes Golf Magazine’s 2012 Renovation of the Year and entry into national classic-course rankings following the restoration. The course has hosted the 2012 U.S. Senior Amateur (won by Paul Simson) and the 2021 LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup (won by Ko Jin-young), as well as multiple Met-area championships.
Current Condition / Integrity
What remains. Ross’s routing, the scale and orientation of many bunkers, and the green platforms and internal contours largely survive. Club sources and the USGA report agree the greens were never rebuilt; changes addressed perimeters, mowing lines, and surrounds to bring back edges and corner hole locations Ross used. Fairway width has been restored toward Ross-era scale (significantly widened in 2011–12), re-exposing fairway bunkers to modern lines of play. Tree removals reopened long views and improved turf conditions without altering hole corridors.
What changed—and why. Strategic refinements included the 2012 re-routing of the brook on 13 to add diagonal hazard pressure across a broad landing area, plus select green-surface and bunker restorations executed off Ross’s sketches at holes like 7. The club reversed the order of the nines at some point after opening, but not the routing itself. In 2019, the signature oak at 18 was removed due to airport constraints, with alternative defenses added along the right. In 2022, Andrew Green was engaged to advise on future work; reporting emphasized stewardship rather than wholesale change, with particular regard for the greens.
Sources & Notes
Mountain Ridge Country Club — History page (club archival narrative with fees, land purchases, Ross site visits, routing/finishes, honors, and tournament list).
USGA, Jeff Neuman, “Prichard Restores Ross Masterpiece at Mountain Ridge” (2012) — restoration chronology (1998 plan; tree removal; fairway widening 2011–12; green-corner reinstatement; bunker orientation; details at the 10th and 13th; first USGA championship and rankings impact).
Mountain Ridge Country Club — Course Tour: Hole 1 (Ross’s diagonal bunkering; raise-green and bunker-depth notes; “sharp terrace”), Hole 7 (2014 green restoration to sketch; bunker history), Hole 13 (2012 stream work and fairway widening), Hole 18 (two-level “natural” green; 2019 oak removal and revised defenses).
Top100GolfCourses — Mountain Ridge CC (Prichard master plan 1998; use of Ross field sketches; 2011–12 widening; reversal of nines; note of U.S. Senior Am 2012 and LPGA Founders Cup 2021).
USGA, Jeff Neuman, “Top of the Mountain” (2012) — confirmation of recent restoration by Ron Prichard and championship context.
PVCMA (Club job profile PDF) — concise club history (1912 founding; Hunter nine; Tillinghast 1916–17; 1929 acquisition; Ross’s repeated site visits; 1931 opening; Wendehack clubhouse; 2012 Renovation of the Year; event list).
GolfCourseArchitecture.net — “Mountain Ridge appoints Andrew Green to advise on future work” (2022) — Green’s role and comment on the quality of the Ross greens; succession after Prichard.
Uncertainties & items needing primary verification
Ross post-opening involvement: Club history notes multiple site visits during design/construction; no documentary evidence located here of a post-1931 return by Ross.