The 6th Ryder Cup Matches were held 29–30 June 1937 at the

Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club is an 18-hole championship golf course in North West England, situated near the Merseyside (formerly Lancashire) towns of Southport and Ainsdale, north of Liverpool. The course is near the coast of the Irish Sea, ...

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

team won the competition by a score of 8 to 4 points. It was the first time that the host team lost the competition and the second of seven consecutive wins for the U.S. side. The course had hosted the event four years earlier in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

, Britain's last win until

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

. Due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, this was the final Ryder Cup for a full decade; the series resumed in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

in the U.S. at

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

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 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

through

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

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

Teams

Source: From the start of 1937, Henry Cotton became professional to the

Ashridge Golf Club Ashridge Golf Club, also Ashridge Artisans Golf Club, is a golf club in Little Gaddesden, on the border of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, England, 2.5 miles south along the B4506 road from Dagnall, Buckinghamshire, and five miles northwest of ...

and hence became eligible for selection for the British team. He had missed the

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

edition because of a dispute and was not eligible in

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

because he was employed in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. In April 1937, it was announced that, as in 1935, a selection committee of six would choose the Great Britain team for the 1937 Ryder Cup. In July, the team of ten was selected (as below). Charles Whitcombe was again chosen as the captain.

Tuesday's foursome matches

18 hole scores: Padgham/Cotton v Dudley/Nelson: all square, Lacey/Cox: 1 up, Whitcombe/Rees v Sarazen/Shute: all square, Alliss/Burton: 3 up.

Wednesday's singles matches

18 hole scores: Guldahl: 6 up, King v Shute: all square, Rees: 1 up, Cotton: 2 up, Alliss: 1 up, Snead: 2 up, Dudley: 1 up, Picard: 1 up."Golf - US Win the Ryder Cup". ''The Times'', Thursday, July 1, 1937; pg. 6; Issue 47725.

Individual player records

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

Great Britain

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.

References

External links

* *
PGA of America: 1937 Ryder Cup
{{coord, 53.605, -3.035, type:event, display=title Ryder Cup Golf tournaments in England Sport in Southport

20th century in Lancashire