Lou Riggs, Jr., a longtime GAP competitor and 11-time men’s champion at Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club, died Dec. 30, 2025 at the age of 93.
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A two-time Philadelphia Amateur semifinalist (1959, 1969), Riggs totaled 12 match play appearances, upsetting a pair of GAP Hall of Famers in William Hyndman, III and R. Jay Sigel along the way.
In 1966 at St. Davids Golf Club, he made a 20-footer for birdie to defeat Hyndman in 21 holes.
“Bill obviously at that time was one of the best amateurs not only in the country, but probably around the world,” Riggs said during an interview with GAPTV in 2013. “He was a gentleman and a real credit to the game. He had a great reputation, and I felt I had nothing to lose. I thought ‘If I lose, I’m supposed to lose.’ It was a great victory for me. I felt very happy about it.”
During his Philadelphia Amateur run at Cedarbrook Country Club in 1969, Riggs dispatched Sigel, a rising star at the time, in 21 holes in the quarterfinals. He fell to another GAP luminary in Allen Sussel, 2&1, in the semifinals that year. Riggs is also attached to the longest match in Philadelphia Amateur history. In 1972 at Aronimink Golf Club, he lost to Bruce Disbrow in 27 holes.
Riggs, who measured a stout 6-foot-6, imposed his will on the golf ball throughout his career. He won the Tournament of Champions on four occasions (1971-73, 1975). He represented GAP in the Compher Cup (1962-63, 1965-67, 1970-71, 1973) and Mason-Dixon Matches (1959-62, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1973). Over a two-decade span, Riggs represented Manufacturers’ in the Philadelphia Team Championship; the club won titles in 1980 and 1982.
“Gordon Brewer once said to me, ‘If Lou could putt, nobody would have heard about Jay Sigel.’ He was that good,” George May, 78, of Dresher, Pa., said. “We have a group that plays on Wednesdays, and up until two or three years ago, Lou would play. His swing looks exactly the same as it did 50 years ago, just perfect. People were totally in awe of how he could play at age 90 in the Wednesday group.”
May joined Manufacturers’ 50 years ago; Riggs served as one of his sponsors.
“Obviously, he was a wonderful golfer. Far superseding his golf was who he was as an individual,” May said. “He was possibly the nicest man I ever met in my life. So many people have said that about Lou. He was so wonderful to be around. The first [men’s championship at Manufacturers’] I won, I beat him in the Final, and the reason I beat him is because he called a penalty on himself that I didn’t even know. That allowed me to beat him, 1-up. I still talk about that when people ask me what kind of guy Lou was.”
The Pennsylvania Golf Association declared Riggs a Senior Amateur co-champion when rain prevented the tournament’s completion. He competed in better-ball events, including the James S. Coale Memorial Tournament at Riverton Country Club and the Griscom Cup, throughout the Philadelphia region. A frequent teammate: another Hall of Famer in O. Gordon Brewer, Jr. The two won the William H. Bright Memorial Cup at Wildwood Golf Club (The Shore Club today) on four occasions (1964, 1967, 1969, 1980).
“We met with our wives as friends as well, all in Jenkintown, in the early 1960s. We got together at least once a month to play bridge because we couldn’t afford to go out. We were really good friends,” Brewer, 89, of Bonita Springs, Fla., said. “Lou was a very gifted player. I always felt that Lou had more talent than his results would show. He had a great swing, a very consistent ball-striker. In the tournaments win we had together, it was more due to his play than to mine.”
Riggs started playing golf at the age of 5. He participated in group lessons under the direction of Wally Paul at Old York Road Country Club, where his parents held membership. Riggs attended Penn State University as a business major and competed on its golf team. The Korean War briefly interrupted his tenure there; Riggs spent two years stationed at the Navy communications bureau in Washington, D.C. Upon his graduation in 1956, Riggs worked at Walker Cadillac Agency in Jenkintown, Pa. He then established a career as a life insurance agent for Equitable.
Golf never faded from his heart. Riggs started fundraising tournaments on behalf of the Abington YMCA and the Ann’s Choice scholarship fund. Ann’s Choice is a senior living community in Warminster, Pa.
“The biggest thing I’ve gotten from golf is it’s a gentleman’s game,” Riggs said in 2013. “I’ve met an awful lot of nice people over the years playing golf. It’s been a great experience. It’s a great game.”
Riggs is survived by his wife of 67 years, Pene; daughters, Shawna and Sara; grandsons Andy, Tyler, Zack and Colby and great-grandchildren Josette, Nora and Liam.
GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 130,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
