One of the inspirations for creating this blog was discovering that although Samuel Ryder had lived in St Albans, recognition of the man who had conceived the world’s greatest team event in golf is remarkably sparse within the City.
I found this even more remarkable when I learned, partly through reading the excellent Samuel Ryder The Man Behind the Ryder Cup by Peter Fry (Wright Press, Dorset, 2000) that Ryder had also been a highly successful entrepreneur – his mail order seed business would teach a thing or two to modern online retailers – a progressive employer, City councilor, Mayor and generous benefactor – to non-conformist Christian causes as well as professional golf.
Together with his brother, he was also a pioneer of the use of golf sponsorship as a marketing tool. Between 1923 and 1925, as partners in Heath & Heather, a herbal remedy business, the Ryder brothers organised and sponsored a series of match play tournaments for professional golfers.
Ryder first decided to present a cup “to foster warm relations and goodwill” between representative teams of professional golfers from Britain and the United States in 1926. Although the match was played – at Wentworth – the trophy wasn’t presented. It was felt the contest didn’t fully match Ryder’s vision since the US team had been selected by Walter Hagan from Americans in Britain for the Open, rather than by the US PGA. The first official Ryder Cup was played at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts the following year.
The other fascinating thing about Ryder’s story is that virtually every significant landmark connecting his life with St Albans – homes, business premises etc – are still standing. They are also concentrated in a remarkably small area which only serves to remind us just how much British towns and cities have expanded during the 20th century.
Take a virtual walk around St Albans with my Flickr photo set of Ryder-related landmarks.
One thought on “Samuel Ryder sews the seeds of the Ryder Cup in St Albans”
Hi Ian,
I would like to thank you very much not only for giving me due reference for my biography of Samuel Ryder but also for the complimentary remarks you made about it. Regrettably a lot of people have made use of my numerous hours of painstaking research (especially with the Ryder family and reviewing The Herts Advertiser) and yet have not given me due credit. I applaud you. One idea for you please to consider – On your map of sporting venues, can you please include The National Sailing Academy at Portland where the sailing events for the 2012 Olympics will be held. Thanks again.
Yours in sport, Peter Fry.