The 3rd Ryder Cup Matches were held June 26–27, 1931 at

Scioto Country Club Scioto Country Club, is a private country club and golf course in the central United States, located in Upper Arlington, Ohio, a suburb northwest of Columbus. It hosted the U.S. Senior Open in August 2016. History Designed by Donald Ross, the ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. The United States team won the competition by a score of 9 to 3 points. The course was the venue for U.S. Open in

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

, won by amateur Bobby Jones, the second of his four titles. It later hosted the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

. Scioto is also noteworthy as the club where

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

learned to play as a youth in the 1950s.

Format

The

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

is a

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

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, 6 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 36 holes.

Teams

Source: 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. This rule disqualified

Percy Alliss Percy Alliss (8 January 1897 – 31 March 1975) was one of the leading English professional golfers in the 1920s and 1930s, winning many tournaments in Britain and Continental Europe. He was the father of commentator and former golfer Peter Allis ...

and

Aubrey Boomer Aubrey Basil Boomer (1 November 1897 – 2 October 1989) was a professional golfer who played in the early 20th century. Boomer had three top-10 finishes in the Open Championship. He was a frequent competitor in the French Open and won the event ...

, two of Great Britain's best players, as they had both taken jobs as club professionals in mainland Europe. 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 George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, Charles Whitcombe, Charles Corlett,

Dick Wheildon Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

and

Albert Haskins Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

. Charles Whitcombe was announced as the captain. An initial squad of 24 was announced. Henry Cotton objected to a team rule requiring all players to travel out together and return together. Cotton wished to remain in the United States after the match. 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. Duncan and Easterbrook were later added. During the final day of The Open Championship, Cotton was again asked whether he would play under the original conditions but again declined and the following day Hodson was announced as the final selection. In a further statement the same day it was announced that

Herbert Jolly Herbert Charles Jolly (15 February 1895 – 16 April 1983) was a professional golfer. He is best known for being a member of the first British Ryder Cup team in 1927. He also played for Britain in the international match against America at Went ...

had withdrawn because of a lack of form and had been replaced by Havers. Jolly had scored 84 and 78 in the

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

qualifying the previous week. The British team sailed on June 10 following a farewell dinner the previous evening."Ryder Cup Team - The Duke of York at farewell dinner". ''The Times'', The Times, Wednesday, June 10, 1931; pg. 14; Issue 45845.

Friday's foursome matches

Saturday's singles matches

Individual player records

Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player. Source:

United States

Horton Smith Horton Smith (May 22, 1908 – October 15, 1963) was an American professional golfer, best known as the winner of the first and third Masters Tournaments. Tournament career Born in Springfield, Missouri, Smith turned professional in 1926 and w ...

did not play in any matches.

Great Britain

References

External links

* * *
PGA of America: 1931 Ryder Cup

Scioto Country Club description of the event
{{coord, 40.002, -83.075, type:event, display=title Ryder Cup Golf in Ohio Sports competitions in Ohio Sports competitions in Columbus, Ohio