When the Golf’s Ryder Cup came to Leeds…(the first ever tournament on British soil held in 1929!)

I’m not a golfer or particularly a huge fan of the sport, but every two years I find myself glued to the television cheering on Team Europe against the United States in the Ryder Cup. There is something about the tournament being about teams rather than individuals that draws me in and there have been some memorable competitions over the years. As a student I even worked in catering making prawn sandwiches at one of the Ryder Cups held at the Belfry in the Midlands.

This biennial golf competition was founded in 1927, and the venue alternates between the USA and Europe. The competition is named after the English businessman Samuel Ryder wo donated the trophy and the Ryder Cup was initially a competition just between Great Britain and the United States (European players didn’t join in until 1979).

Whilst there were some earlier iterations of the tournament, the first ever “official” event was held in Massachusetts at Worcester Country Club in 1927. The organising of the British leg the following year became impractical, so it was decided to run the event every 2 years.

The 2nd Ryder Cup came to Yorkshire and was held at Moortown Golf Club in Leeds. This legacy has meant that Moortown Golf Club still has a top reputation to this day based on hosting the original event and Americans still come over in their numbers wanting to play the historic course.

At the time in 1929, holding the Ryder Cup in Moortown generated the largest crowd that had ever attended a golf competition in the UK. Over 15,000 people were apparently on the course to watch the teams on the Saturday afternoon of the tournament.

The teams were:

The British Ryder Cup Team

Stewart Burns, Abe Mitchell, C. A. Whitcombe, Fred Robson. Ernie Whitcombe, Percy Alliss, George Duncan (Captain) and Henry Cotton, Archie Compston and Aubrey Boomer

The U.S. Ryder Cup Team

Joe Turnesa, Al Watrous, Horton Smith, Ed. Dudley, Jonny Farrell and Bob Harlow (Manager), Johnny Golden, Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen, Al Espinossa and Leo Diegel

The British won in a close match, eventually getting on top in the singles on the final day to finish 7-5 up.

Below is a picture of Samuel Ryder presenting the Ryder Cup to the Great Britain and Ireland Captain George Duncan.

Moortown Golf Club are still very proud to have hosted the event, you just have to look at the top of the lane which you drive down to the club, to see the sign which proudly states “Venue of the 1929 Ryder Cup”.

Around the clubhouse there exists reminders of the day, such as photos of the day and memorabilia such as copies of the post-match dinner menu held at The Queens Hotel in Leeds centre. Written on the bottom it says “England won 7-5” which apparently didn’t impress the Captain of the British team, the proud Scotsman called George Duncan.

Moortown in North Leeds was selected by the PGA to host the second Ryder Cup just 20 years afterthe clubs formation and was only given 4 month’s notice to prepare for the 2 day event. This preparation involved extending the course by 300 yards to make the holes length longer.

As well as being located in beautiful North Leeds heathland, the course had been laid out by probably golf’s most famous golf course designer Dr Alister MacKenzie, who wrote the famous book “Golf Architecture” about golf course design as well as designing the famous Augusta Golf Course in the United States.

In 1929, before the tournament the American team sailed to England having 10 days to practice and get used to British conditions. But on the Wednesday before the competition started the Yorkshire winter came early and snow covered the course where both teams were practicing separately. Apparently the Americans continued to practice with two extra pullovers and mittens!

The tournament itself was played in cold, windy conditions with some snow on the greens.

It is amazing now the Ryder Cup has become such a huge global event to think it was once held at this relatively small club in Yorkshire.

The 1929 event's legacy continues to this day with the Ladies’ section playing annually for their own “Ryder Cup”, donated by the same Samuel Ryder who donated the original Men’s trophy. The Moortown ladies Ryder Cup was donated by Ryder to the ladies of the Club as a thank you for all their help and support during the event.

To find out more or to book a round at this Alister Makenzie course visit https://www.moortown-golf-club.co.uk

Thanks to Peter Rishworth and Moortown Golf Club for their use of images with this blog.