Eddie Roach Jr. named new superintendent at Cedar Ridge

Eddie Roach Jr. knows he has big shoes to fill in replacing Mike Wooten as superintendent at Cedar Ridge Country Club, but he is also confident he’s the right man at the right time to do just that.

Roach, a Claremore native, returns to Oklahoma after being two years at Hickory Hills Country Club in Springfield, Mo., the former club of Payne Stewart. For the previous 11 years he was at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Course, helping elevate that course into one of the region’s finest public courses.

Roach said he regarded Wooten and other Oklahoma veteran superintendents such as Jim Wood and Craig Elms as “guys we’ve modeled our careers after who have seen a lot and been through a lot. Mike has the respect of all the guys in Oklahoma. He’s always been a great mentor to many of us.”

Roach, 36 and his wife are both from nearby Claremore and happy to be returning to the area. He appreciates the responsibility of maintaining Cedar Ridge in excellent condition and said there are projects on the horizon which will make it even better. The Cato-Crenshaw variety of bent grass on the greens will be updated at some point in the not-too-distant future.

“I’m not going to reinvent the wheel but I’m sure I’ll have a different perspective and view on things,” Roach said. “If there are areas where I feel we can make improvements we will.”

“He’s excited and he’s going to do a great job,” Cedar Ridge General Manager Cleve Stubblefield said of Roach. “We’re glad to have him and his previous work with Tripp (at Jimmie Austin) will help as well as we go forward with our master plan.”

– Ken MacLeod