When Europe take on America on the Albatros golf course at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, southwest of Paris, at the end of this month (28-30 September), one thing will go largely unnoticed. Thousands of words will be spoken and written about the Ryder Cup, with hundreds of reporters commenting, but it will be hard to find anyone who talks about the man behind the competition – Samuel Ryder.
Even fewer will know of the strong faith and whole-life beliefs that formed him.
Samuel Ryder was an entrepreneur, working in a successful family gardening business. Early on, however, he noticed that the general public could not afford to take up an interest in gardening. So, he came up with idea of selling penny packets of seeds through mail order. This simple business idea became a huge financial and global success.
His love of golf came later as, aged 49, his health was suffering. Close to a breakdown, he visited his doctor who advised him to relax more. Sam Ryder then consulted his church minister who invited him out to the golf course and his love of the sport was born.
A few years later, his business success and his love for golf led to him donating a gold cup for the first official match between teams representing Great Britain and America. And so, in 1927, the Ryder Cup was born.
But what can we learn from the life of Samuel Ryder?
He believed his faith should influence his working life.
He was a pioneer for paying sick pay to his employees, believing that no one should be penniless or hungry because they were too unwell to work. Some of his peers warned him he would be exploited and his business would fail if he paid sick pay, but he proved them wrong.
He believed his faith should affect his role in the community.
He supported many local charities and regularly opened his home in St Albans for fund-raising events and fetes; he even became mayor at one point.
He believed faith should have an effect on his leisure time.
He promoted the idea, for others as well as himself, of having a healthy outdoor activity and relaxing time away from work. For Ryder himself, of course, this meant golf!
In our churches too, we believe being a Christian is far more than just a Sunday thing.
Every Sunday we are trying to equip people to live a life of faith in such a way that it positively affects every day and every aspect of our lives.
The story of Sam Ryder is largely untold. There are small sections mentioning him in a few of the many Ryder Cup history books, and a great biography of his life: Samuel Ryder – the man behind the Ryder Cup by Peter Fry. In our churches, however, there might just be an opportunity this month to mention Samuel Ryder’s whole-life approach to faith as a timely illustration, and to learn from his example.
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As a keen golfer and someone who has struggled to see how a round of golf can bring glory -or others- to God I found this article and the associated one – “Playing golf with the Gospel”- encouraging and has inspired me to play golf with a new sense of freedom to enjoy the game in the hope that God might open the door for discussion about my faith with those I play with. As to whether it will also help reduce my handicap remains a separate hope and prayer request !!
It also occurs to me that Nigel’s initial thought in this edition of “Seventy Two” that God hasn’t called us to build His Church but to introduce others to Christ and make disciples of them might be easier achieved, at least in part, on the golf course or in other sporting and relaxation pursuits than taking them into a Church building where both the atmosphere and common Church language may appear as strange, even off putting to the uninitiated – as would be the case if we handed a set of golf clubs to those who knew nothing about the game and told them to hit the ball in the hope of achieving a birdie or an eagle whilst fading or hooking the ball from the position of our stance and backswing!!!
Maybe we need to view Church through the eyes of the non believer or uninitiated before inviting them into a “club” they know nothing about and have no experience of or, up until that point, potentially no interest in – no matter how much their Christian friend might recognise their need for God in their lives?