Ryder Cup Team Member Plaque

George Jacobus, president of the PGA of America, announced on March 18, 1939 that the Ponte Vedra Golf Club had been chosen to host the Ryder Cup sometime that fall. The course, 22 miles south of Jacksonville, lay near the Atlantic Ocean. In trying to be a gracious host, Jacobus said the location might be to the liking of the British team, with windswept golf holes and weather that was not extremely hot. The PGA of America was the holder of the Cup having won at Sandwich in 1937. That was the first time either side had won on foreign soil. It was going to be the first time a major golf tournament would be held in Florida.

The PGA scheduled November 18 and 19 for the Ryder Cup and the British team was announced on August 23. On September 5, before the US team was finalized, British captain Henry Cotton wired Ed Dudley, the tournament chairman for the U.S. PGA Tour, that due to war in Europe the British PGA would not be sending a team to the states.

Even with the cancellation of the Ryder Cup, a ten-man U.S. team was selected and announced at the PGA’s national meeting on November 13.

Dick Metz (1908 – 1993) was an American professional golfer. Metz won 10 times on the PGA Tour in the 1930s and 1940s. He had continued success as a senior golfer winning the Senior PGA Championship and World Seniors Championship in 1960. Metz was selected for the 1939 U.S. Ryder Cup Team.

This incredible plaque from the PGA of America has a relief of the Ryder Cup trophy and a plate noting Dick Metz's 1939 selection to the U.S. Ryder Cup Team.

Dimensions: 8 1/2" x 15"