Visiting Scottish golfers for the Friendship Cup enjoy Utah experience, camaraderie of the sport
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- David Mackay of the St. Andrews team in the Friendship Cup tees off at Gladstan golf course in Payson on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025.
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- Andrew Kyle (left) and David Mackay (right) of the St. Andrews team in the Friendship Cup pose for a photo with Santaquin mayor Dan Olson (center) at Gladstan golf course in Payson on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025.
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- Andrew Kyle (left) and David Mackay of the St. Andrews team in the Friendship Cup watch Kyle’s putt at Gladstan golf course in Payson on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025.
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- Andrew Kyle of the St. Andrews team in the Friendship Cup tees off at Gladstan golf course in Payson on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025.
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- David Mackay (right) of the St. Andrews team in the Friendship Cup watches his putt at Gladstan golf course in Payson on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025.
Prior to this week, David Mackay had never visited Utah.
“This is not a part of the world I’ve ever been to before,” Mackay said in an interview at Gladstan golf course in Payson on Friday. “I’ve been to the East Coast and West Coast, to Atlanta and Chicago, but I’d never been here. You get a great sense of Salt Lake City. What I love is the geography and that everyone has been really friendly. It’s been great.”
Mackay is a native of Crail, Scotland, and had a very specific reason to make his first visit to the Beehive State this week. He’s part of the 32-man Scottish group (16 from St. Andrews and 16 from Carnoustie) participating in the annual Friendship Cup, an event that features Utah golfers going to Scotland (they made their trip in the spring) and Scottish golfers coming to Utah for some friendly competition.
“I’ve only been doing it for two years,” Mackay said. “It started with one of our colleagues, Rod Sturrock, who was a starter on the Old Course at St. Andrews. He met some of the guys from Salt Lake City and they decided this was a really good idea to create a union of friendship between the two countries. It’s been a really successful thing. It also has charitable objectives as well, which is good. We just had some charitable events in Scotland, helping to raise funds for underprivileged kids.”
Andrew Kyle is the captain for the St. Andrews team and has been participating for a few years now. This is his second trip to Utah for the event and he has another personal trip planned to come to the state with his wife in few weeks.
“I was here two years ago for the equivalent trip and I was just absolutely blown away by not just the golf but the friendliness and hospitality shown by the Americans towards us Scots,” Kyle said. “When the opportunity came to come back here again as captain, I just thought, ‘wow, that’s a definite yes.’ So far it’s lived up to expectations.”
The Utah contingent hosting their Scottish counterparts prepared a week of activities, including trips to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks as well as a host of other events.
“(Thursday), I got to sing with the Tabernacle Choir for the second time, which not many people can say they’ve done,” Kyle said with a grin. “Now I’m just waiting for them to offer me an honorary membership — although I think it’ll be a long wait.”
Of course, a big part of the trip involves golf.
On Friday, Mackay and Kyle were part of the contingent that joined some Utahns to play 18 holes at Gladstan, while another group played at Hobble Creek golf course in Springville.
“I wonder who created (the Gladstan golf course),” Mackay said. “It’s sort of amazing. They must have had a really big truck to gouge their way through the mountains because the back nine is incredible. It’s quite different from the front nine. It’s a real joy to play, really lovely. I love being high up and hitting the ball at this altitude.”
Kyle explained that there are a number of differences between the courses he plays in Scotland and playing in Utah.
“The texture is different here,” Kyle said. “The grass is different, especially compared to the links courses back home. It’s much shorter grass and you get tighter lies here. It’s a bit more forgiving, but you still have got to hit the ball properly.
“Obviously, the greens are much more receptive in holding here but I found them very, very fast today, much faster than we’re used to playing. On one Par 5, I putted from six inches off the green and ended up 15 feet away, because it just kept going and going and going and going and going.”
He is a member at Pitlochry golf course in Pitlochry, Scotland, which he described as also being a “very hilly course” like Gladstan is, but said it’s certainly a very different experience than playing at flatter Scottish coastal courses like St. Andrews and Crail.
St. Andrews is one of the most famous golf courses in the world and Mackay said he feels fortunate to have it be his home.
“It’s a very lucky thing,” Mackay said. “I get to play seven courses in St Andrews and being a resident it’s not especially expensive. We’re very fortunate to to be members. But it’s a home of golf. It’s a place where thousands and thousands of people come. I think they’ll probably have 50,000 visitors to all those courses in a year who come from all over. Everybody loves it, the Old Course especially, but they are all a really good standard.”
The bottom line, though, is that Kyle and Mackay are passionate about golf, just like their Utah friends.
“It’s a great game,” Mackay said. “I’m retired now but it’s a sport I can play and meet new people, meet friends. It’s always quite nice to meet new folk and exchange stories whilst battling against the golf course. Sometimes you do well, sometimes you don’t. It doesn’t really matter. You just keep trying.”
Kyle said golf has been a special part of his life for a long time and he appreciates how many ways it can benefit those who participate.
“My father taught me to play golf,” Kyle said. “He lived till he was 87 and he played golf till he was 85. But golf is great because you’re part of a big family.
“You make friends, you socialize, you go out in the fresh air, you exercise, you bend, you stretch. You don’t really do much strength stuff, but you can be as competitive as you want to be. And it’s thought-provoking. It just exercises every aspect of you.”