ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Getting the chance to play at St. Andrews Links is a bucket-list opportunity for many golfers, a once-in-a lifetime chance for many who play the game.
But on a good week for Ethan Mangum, he’ll play four times. A slow week? Maybe once. And those special opportunities have given Mangum, who is a graduate student at St. Andrews University and a member of the men’s golf team, a unique insight into what it takes to navigate the Jubilee and Old courses, where he’s competing this week in the St. Andrews Links Collegiate tournament.
“It caters to a lower ball flight,” Mangum said about what these venues demand. “Learning how to chase the ball up the fairway and then chase the ball into the green has been the most beneficial on each course.”
Although it’s the “complete opposite” of how the Mississippi transplant likes to play – he prefers a high ball flight that lands softly – he described the chance to adapt his game as “beautiful.”
It’s one of several changes and adjustments that Mangum has made since moving from the United States to Scotland to attend business school at St. Andrews University. Deciphering some of the thick Scottish accents he’s encountered has been a challenge at times, as well as getting accustomed to the dry sense of humor that runs among those in the United Kingdom. “Taking the mick,” or learning to take a joke, was one of several phrases he had to figure out.
“Instead of playing a golf tournament or a golf match, it’s a golf game over here,” Mangum said about the different turn of phrase in Scotland. “Immersing yourself where golf was created, I feel like learning the lingo is exactly what I wanted to do.”
Mangum has taken a winding path from his home in Jackson, Mississippi, to his current residence at the Home of Golf. He began his college career at Drexel University and then transferred to Florida A&M, where he finished the final three years of his undergraduate studies. He began his post-graduate work at William & Mary before making the move to St. Andrews. Mangum was captain of the men’s team during his time at The Tribe, which took him to St. Andrews for a collegiate tournament when he fulfilled his dream of playing the Old Course for the first time. Mangum says his strong showing in that tournament led St. Andrews to recruit him to join their program.
“It’s been amazing. I have a really strong friend group. We all love to play golf and the academics are going really well,” said Mangum, who was student chairman during the last school year. “I was able to immerse myself in the community as well as the golf. It’s been a blast.”
Mangum isn’t interested in pursuing a career in the professional golf ranks, instead he’d like to put his business acumen into practice within the industry. He wants to develop and expand the game, particularly in Africa.
“There’s a lot of opportunity and there’s a want for new golf programs and new Olympic programs as well within African nations,” Mangum said about his aspirations. “I’ve been in the game since I was 2 years old, and I think it only makes sense to continue to do what I love to do.”
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