4 June 1926: Samuel Ryder’s first US v GB golf match

On this day in 1926 businessman and golf fanatic Samuel Ryder organised a match between British and American golfers - the precursor to the Ryder Cup.

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Participants in the precursor to the Ryder Cup

Preston-born Samuel Ryder made his fortune from selling seeds via mail order for a penny a packet. He rose to become a prominent local figure, serving as a magistrate and mayor of his adopted home of St Albans.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

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