1931 Ryder Cup

The 3rd Ryder Cup Matches were held June 26–27, 1931 at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. The United States team won the competition by a score of 9 to 3 points.

3rd Ryder Cup Matches
DatesJune 26–27, 1931
VenueScioto Country Club
LocationColumbus, Ohio
Captains
9 3
United States wins the Ryder Cup
Scioto CC
Location in the United States
Scioto CC
Location in Ohio

The course was the venue for U.S. Open in 1926, won by amateur Bobby Jones, the second of his four titles. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1950. Scioto is also noteworthy as the club where Jack Nicklaus learned to play as a youth in the 1950s.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. From 1927 through 1959, the format consisted of 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches on the first day and 8 singles matches on the second day, for a total of 12 points. Therefore, 6½ points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 36 holes.

Teams

Source:[1]

Prior to the match, there was some controversy about the qualification rules for the Great Britain team. In 1927 and 1929 the American PGA had decided to only select American born and resident players but the original Ryder Cup Deed of Trust made no such provision. All members of the Professional Golfers' Association were eligible. In late 1929 the Deed of Trust was revised requiring players to be born in and resident in their respective countries.[2] This rule disqualified Percy Alliss and Aubrey Boomer, two of Great Britain's best players, as they had both taken jobs as club professionals in mainland Europe.

 Team USA
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Walter Hagen – captain 38243–1–075.00
Billy Burke 280Rookie
Wiffy Cox 340Rookie
Leo Diegel 32243–1–075.00
Al Espinosa 40221–0–175.00
Johnny Farrell 30242–1–162.50
Gene Sarazen 29241–2–137.50
Denny Shute 260Rookie
Horton Smith 23111–0–0100.00
Craig Wood 290Rookie

In early 1931, it was announced that a selection committee of five would choose the Great Britain team for the 1931 Ryder Cup. This committee consisted of George Oke, Charles Whitcombe, Charles Corlett, Dick Wheildon and Albert Haskins. Charles Whitcombe was announced as the captain.[3] An initial squad of 24 was announced.[4]

Henry Cotton objected to a team rule requiring all players to travel out together and return together.[5] Cotton wished to remain in the United States after the match.[6] As a consequence Cotton was withdrawn from the squad.

Four trial matches were played in which the new American sized ball was used, and in early May a further six players were selected: Compston, Davies, Jolly, Mitchell, Robson and Ernest Whitcombe.[7] Duncan and Easterbrook were later added.[8] During the final day of The Open Championship, Cotton was again asked whether he would play under the original conditions but again declined[9] and the following day Hodson was announced as the final selection. In a further statement the same day it was announced that Herbert Jolly had withdrawn because of a lack of form and had been replaced by Havers.[10] Jolly had scored 84 and 78 in the Open Championship qualifying the previous week.

The British team sailed on June 10 following a farewell dinner the previous evening.[11]

 Team Great Britain
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Charles Whitcombe – captain 35242–0–275.00
Archie Compston 38241–2–137.50
Bill Davies 390Rookie
George Duncan 47242–2–050.00
Syd Easterbrook 260Rookie
Arthur Havers 33120–2–00.00
Bert Hodson 250Rookie
Abe Mitchell 44121–1–050.00
Fred Robson 46241–3–025.00
Ernest Whitcombe 40120–1–125.00

Friday's foursome matches
Results
Compston/Davies 8 & 7 Sarazen/Farrell
Duncan/Havers 10 & 9 Hagen/Shute
Mitchell/Robson 3 & 1 Diegel/Espinosa
Easterbrook/E. Whitcombe 3 & 2 Burke/Cox
1 Session 3
1 Overall 3

Saturday's singles matches
Results
Archie Compston 7 & 6 Billy Burke
Fred Robson 7 & 6 Gene Sarazen
Bill Davies 4 & 3 Johnny Farrell
Abe Mitchell 3 & 1 Wiffy Cox
Charles Whitcombe 4 & 3 Walter Hagen
Bert Hodson 8 & 6 Denny Shute
Ernest Whitcombe 2 & 1 Al Espinosa
Arthur Havers 4 & 3 Craig Wood
2 Session 6
3 Overall 9

Individual player records

Each entry refers to the Win–Loss–Half record of the player.

Source:[1]

United States
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomes
Billy Burke22–0–01–0–01–0–0
Wiffy Cox22–0–01–0–01–0–0
Leo Diegel00–1–00–0–00–1–0
Al Espinosa11–1–01–0–00–1–0
Johnny Farrell11–1–00–1–01–0–0
Walter Hagen22–0–01–0–01–0–0
Gene Sarazen22–0–01–0–01–0–0
Denny Shute22–0–01–0–01–0–0
Craig Wood00–1–00–1–00–0–0

Horton Smith did not play in any matches.

Great Britain
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomes
Archie Compston00–2–00–1–00–1–0
Bill Davies11–1–01–0–00–1–0
George Duncan00–1–00–0–00–1–0
Syd Easterbrook00–1–00–0–00–1–0
Arthur Havers11–1–01–0–00–1–0
Bert Hodson00–1–00–1–00–0–0
Abe Mitchell11–1–00–1–01–0–0
Fred Robson11–1–00–1–01–0–0
Charles Whitcombe00–1–00–1–00–0–0
Ernest Whitcombe00–2–00–1–00–1–0

References
  1. "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  2. Fry, Peter (July 2000). Samuel Ryder: The Man Behind the Ryder Cup. Wright Press. ISBN 978-0-9539087-0-7.
  3. "The Ryder Cup". The Times, Tuesday, January 13, 1931; pg. 7; Issue 45719; col D.
  4. "The Ryder Cup". The Times, Wednesday, January 21, 1931; pg. 6; Issue 45726; col B.
  5. "The Ryder Cup Team". The Times, Tuesday, February 10, 1931; pg. 6; Issue 45743; col E.
  6. "Cotton and The Ryder Cup Team". The Times, Tuesday, February 17, 1931; pg. 6; Issue 45749; col F.
  7. "The Ryder Cup Team". The Times, Wednesday, May 6, 1931; pg. 6; Issue 45815; col E.
  8. "The Ryder Cup Team". The Times, The Times, Saturday, May 16, 1931; pg. 6; Issue 45824; col C.
  9. "The Ryder Cup Team". The Times, The Times, Saturday, June 6, 1931; pg. 6; Issue 45842.
  10. "The Ryder Cup Team". The Times, The Times, Monday, June 8, 1931; pg. 7; Issue 45843.
  11. "Ryder Cup Team - The Duke of York at farewell dinner". The Times, The Times, Wednesday, June 10, 1931; pg. 14; Issue 45845.

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