Mike Riste talks about Alderwood Country Club, host of the 1937 U.S. Amateur

Mike Riste serves as the historian for the BC Golf Museum, and is the official historian for the PNGA. In 1999, he co-authored the PNGA’s centennial history book, “Championships & Friendships.”

He also wrote “Just Call Me Mac,” the biography of noted Northwest course architect, and PNGA Hall of Famer, A. Vernon Macan.

In this podcast, Mike talks about Alderwood Country Club. Located in Portland along the south side of the Columbia River, the course opened in 1923 and was designed by Macan. It was considered Macan’s greatest design and one of the most challenging golf courses on the West Coast. It was the site of the 1937 U.S. Amateur, just the second time the championship had been held on the West Coast up to that point.

Alderwood closed in 1953 to make way for the larger runways being built for the Portland International Airport.

Mike first became involved in golf in the spring of 1960 when Capilano Golf and Country Club (in West Vancouver, B.C.) advertised for caddies for their opening day tournament. Mike would later become the very first Evans Caddie Scholarship recipient from the Northwest.

In 1986, when the University Golf Course clubhouse (in Vancouver, B.C.) came vacant, MIke assembled a group of volunteers to renovate the structure into a golf museum. Today, BC Golf House is in a building that is the oldest structure still used for golf in B.C., and the BC Golf Museum is the only provincial or state standalone golf museum in North America.

He administers the biennial Golf Hall of Fame of BC induction ceremony.

In 2013, Mike received the Distinguished Service Award from the Northwest Golf Media Association.