Dear Editor,
I was delighted by Gavin Calver’s lovely article on what golf’s European Ryder Cup team teaches the church about the importance of unity. It is true that this has been a wonderful trait of the team over many years and is sadly somewhat ironic in view of the political differences within Europe and the make-up of American teams almost always including vocal Christians.
I don’t suppose many golf fans know – and I only just found out myself courtesy of the evangelistic tabloid New Life – that Samuel Ryder, the man who donated the golden trophy back in 1927, was a passionate Christian. A wealthy man, who only took up the game in middle age on medical advice, made a fortune selling seeds in penny packets.
After relocating from Lancashire to St Alban’s, his life revolved around Trinity Church and the welfare of his workforce. Opposite the church, his tomb carries the inscription: “His body to the pleasant country’s earth and his pure soul unto his captain Christ under whose colours he had fought so long.”
Now that’s a prize worth having!
Yours sincerely, Charles Gardner Armthorpe, Doncaster
