I was back in the UK for some meetings and after arriving at Heathrow I headed to Oxford, where our meetings were to be held. I was also in the UK as there was a hope that I would be able to play in the original Sam Ryder Cup.
Oxford
The meetings in Oxford were great, but I had a little extra free time. So, we planned to play 18 holes at the nearby Witney Lakes Golf Course. We were told to expect rain but we wanted to see how many holes we could play.
Sam Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men’s golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. Starting in 1927 and contested every two years the venue alternates between courses in the US and Europe and is named after English businessman Samuel Ryder who donated the trophy.
However, very few people know that the Ryder Cup was the second golfing trophy commissioned by Samuel Ryder (an English Christian businessman). He supported many social causes and was known as a man ‘who believed in God and cared for his fellow men’.
In 1902, 25 years before the now more famous Ryder Cup Sam Ryder donated a trophy to the Free Church Ministers Golf Society. It has been contested in the UK every year since 1902 – apart from the war years – with two categories of 1) full-time clergy/Christian workers and 2) visitors/friends. The Sam Ryder Christian Cup highlights Ryder’s business acumen, love of golf, and his
Steve Parry, from Sam Ryder Golf Foundation, shared that, “American professionals were getting paid, but British professionals were not. That is why Sam Ryder started the Ryder Cup, to bring them closer together”.
Sam Ryder was a successful businessman (Ryders Seed packets), a strong Christian, and a golf lover. He was encouraged to take up golf for exercise and socialization. Back in the day the Americans were coming over and winning English competitions. So, in 1927, he launched the Sam Ryder Cup to promote international professional golfers.
A quick tour of Bath
Because we were in Western England, and we’re close to the city of Bath, we made a quick dash for a fast tour. Beware, “The individual giving us the tour is not a licensed guide”
ALSO — check out
https://www.sports-friends.org
