Albert Penfold stuck out on his own in 1927, leaving Dunlop (and the Maxfli ball he developed) to start his own company. Legend has it that he and son Dickie did most of the work on the factory themselves, everything from pipefitting to machine-building. As it was self-financed, family history says money was so tight that Christmas that Albert had to sell his last gold sovereign to finance Christmas dinner. 

Earlier that year, however, another form of golf history was being made in Worcester, Massachusetts, the host city for the very first Ryder Cup. 

You may not know much about Worcester, but at the time, it was an affluent manufacturing center in New England. Factories were churning out everything from textiles and heavy machinery to industrial abrasives and wire. Candlepin bowling, a favorite of every New Englander, was invented in Worcester, as was the Valentine’s Day card, the monkey wrench and the first envelope folding machine. Today, Worcester is the second largest city in New England and the 113th largest in the U.S. 

None of that mattered on June 3-4 back in 1927, as all eyes were on the Worcester Country Club and the Ryder Cup. 

A Donald Ross design, the Worcester Country Club opened in 1914 with former president and golf fanatic William Howard Taft striking the ceremonial first drive. Worcester hosted the 1925 U.S. Open, won by Willie MacFarlane in a 36-hole playoff over Bobby Jones. In 1960, it would host the Women’s U.S. Open (won by Betsy Rawls, her fourth U.S. Open title), making it only one of three clubs (Hazeltine and Pinehurst the others) to host the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens and the Ryder Cup. 

The seeds of this first Ryder Cup had been planted as early as 1921. Informal exhibition matches between the U.S. and Great Britain were played as a prelude to the Open Championship. To make it a formal event, however, it needed an organizer, a trophy and a name. 

British businessman Samuel Ryder made his fortune by developing something we still use today. You know those little packets you buy seeds in? Ryder came up with that. He made millions from what would become known as “Penny Packets,” a small envelope of seeds sold for a penny. 

Ryder was also an avid golfer and sponsored golf tournaments and exhibitions throughout England. His dream, however, was a professional version of the amateur Walker Cup. Upon securing commitments from both sides, Ryder commissioned and paid for the familiar trophy, which would bear his name. The first unofficial “Ryder Cup” match between the US and Great Britain was held at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1926, just before the Open Championship. The only reason it wasn’t official, according to legend, is that the Ryder Cup trophy wasn’t finished yet. 

The 1926 match was a rout. Great Britain, captained by Ted Ray, whipped Walter Hagen’s American team by a 13-1score. Several players on that first U.S. team, specifically Tommy Armour, Jim Barnes and Fred McLeod, were not native born Americans. After the event, the team captains decided that all participants must be native to the country they represent. 

For the inaugural match in Worcester, Ted Ray and Walter Hagen returned as captains. 

The British team was selected by a panel of the U.K.’s golfing legends: Harry Vardon, James Braid and JH Taylor. Ray, who won the Open Championship in 1912 and the U.S. Open in 1920, was a late substitute. Abe Mitchell was originally appointed captain, but he fell ill just before the team was to sail and was unfit to travel. Ray was 50 years old at the time. He’d remain the oldest person ever to play in the Ryder Cup until 1993, when Raymond Floyd teed it up at the age of 51. 

The rest of the team was a who’s who of 1920s British golf. Archie Compton was a formidable match-play golfer (he’d defeat Hagen in a 72-hole exhibition in 1928, 18 and 17) with 11 professional victories. Aubrey Boomer was a 12-time winner (including five French Opens and four Dutch Opens), while George Duncan’s 22 professional wins included the 1920 Open Championship. 

Arthur Havers was another Open Championship winner (1923), while Herbert Jolly, Fred Robson and George Gadd were all solid pros. Charles Whitcombe never won a major, but he would be the player-captain for the British team in 1931, 1935 and 1937. In 1939, he would tie Henry Cotton to win the very first Penfold Professional Golf League title. 

The average age of the British team was a mature 36. 

The U.S. team was chosen using stats from each player’s past three years of play. Hagen, the 34-year-old captain, was already one of the game’s legends. By June of 1927, he’d already won two U.S. Opens, three of his five PGA Championships and two of his four Open Championships. 

Al Diegel played on the first four Ryder Cup teams and would win 28 times on Tour, including four Canadian Opens. He’d finish runner-up to Bobby Jones at the 1930 Open Championship. Al Espinosa would be a three-time Ryder Cupper. He, too, would fall victim to Jones in a major, losing by 23 strokes in a 36-hole playoff in the 1929 U.S. Open. 

You’ve probably heard of Gene Sarazen. The Squire would win seven majors, including the first Career Grand Slam. Joe Turnesa of New York City was one of seven brothers who’d play professional golf. Turnesa was a 14-time winner on Tour, and he, too, finished runner-up to Jones, this time at the 1926 U.S. Open. 

Al Watrous also knew what it was like to lose to Jones. He was actually tied with Jones going into the 71st hole of the 1926 Open Championship. Watrous was safely on the green in two while Jones yanked his tee shot into the tall grass and dunes on the left. Jones then hit the recovery shot of a lifetime, landing inside Watrous on the green. Watrous would go on to three-putt. Jones would go on the win. 

Johnny Farrell was one of the few pros at the time who could say he actually beat Bobby Jones in a major. He bested Jones by a single stroke in a 36-hole playoff to win the 1928 U.S. Open. 

19-time winner Bill Mehlhorn and 10-time winner Johnny Golden rounded out the American squad.

The match kicked off on Friday, June 3rd. The younger U.S. team (average age 29) wasted no time seizing the advantage in the four 36-hole team matches. Hagen and Golden edged the duo of Ray and Robson, 2 and 1, while Sarazen and Watrous defeated Havers and Jolly, 3 and 2. The mismatch of the day saw Farrell and Turnesa wipe out Duncan and Compston, 8 and 6. 

The only bright spot for the Brits was a lopsided victory for Bommer and Whitcombe, 7 and 5 over Diegel and Mehlhorn. 

The U.S. team took its 3-1 lead into Saturday’s 36-hole singles matches, and the Americans wasted little time in putting the contest to rest. Mehlhorn edged Compston 1-up, while Farrel beat Boomer 5 and 4 and Golden walloped Jolly 8 and 7.  With the U.S. up 6-1, the deciding point came quickly, as Diegel whipped Ted Ray 7 and 5. 

The rest of the matches were a formality, with Hagen edging Havers 2 and 1 and Watrous beating Robson 3 and 2. Whitcombe and Sarazen would halve their match while Duncan would keep the British end up by beating Turnesa 1-up. 

The final score: U.S. 9½, Great Britain 2½.

Al Espinosa for the U.S. and George Gadd for Great Britain did not play. 

Ted Ray summed up the American victory succinctly. 

“One of the chief reasons for our failure was the superior putting of the American team. They holed out much better than we did.”

It was only two weeks later that Armour would win the U.S. Open in Oakmont. Ryder Cup combatants Hagen, Sarazen, Mehlhorn, Diegel and Compston were all among the leaders. Barely a month later, that man Jones would win the 1927 Open Championship at St Andrews, this time besting British Ryder Cup teammates Boomer and Robson by six strokes.

In November, Hagen would win his fourth consecutive PGA Championship, beating Ryder Cup teammate Joe Turnesa 1-up in the finals at the Cedar Crest Country Club in Dallas. Within weeks, the Holland Tunnel linking New York to New Jersey opened, the patent for the very first snowmobile was issued and Henry Ford introduced his next great car, the Model A. 

The Brits would avenge their Ryder Cup loss in 1929 at the Moortown Golf Club in Leeds. Captain George Duncan’s squad edged Hagen’s Americans, 7-5. The Brits trailed by a single point after Day 1 but came roaring out of the gate on Day 2, winning five of the eight singles matches. Duncan’s 10 and 8 shellacking of Hagen remains the largest margin of victory in Ryder Cup history. That record will likely remain unbroken as matches in those days were 36 holes, compared to the 18-hole matches played today. 

The U.S. would take back the Cup in 1931. The Brits, led by non-playing captain J.H. Taylor, returned the favor in 1933, edging returned the favor in 1933, Hagen’s Americans 6½ to 5½. 

1933 was noteworthy on three counts. That year, the R&A, concerned that golfers were hitting the ball too bloody far, devised a ball specification to restrict flight. All U.K. manufacturers were invited to develop prototypes. Albert Penfold jumped at the opportunity. On the Sunday before the Open at St Andrews, the R&A tested everyone’s prototype, and Penfold’s ball soared well beyond his competitors. We’re not sure, but that may have been the birth of the slogan: Penfold, further by design.

1933 was also the year Penfold opened a second factory, this one at the Bush Terminal in Brooklyn, New York. The new plant made Penfold the first golf ball company to have factories in the U.K. and the U.S. 

Lastly, the 1933 Ryder Cup would be the last victory for Great Britain over the Americans until 1957. That’s when the British team, led by captain and lifelong Penfold staffer Dai Reese, beat the U.S. 7½ to 4½ at the Lindrick Golf Club near Worksop, England. 

Great Britain would never win another Ryder Cup. The combined Great Britain-Ireland teams that competed in the 1970s wouldn’t beat the Americans, either. In 1979, Great Britain and Ireland joined the continent to form Team Europe. The U.S. would continue to dominate until 1985, when the Tony Jacklin-captained Europeans would beat the U.S., 16½ to 11½ at The Belfry in Warwickshire, England. Four of the stars of that team were former Penfold staffers Nick Faldo, Manual Pinero, Howard Clark, and Seve Ballesteros.