Going from the windy coast of Scotland’s east side and the famed Carnoustie Golf Links to Sand Hollow Resort in Hurricane is akin to landing on the moon for some of the Scottish golfers playing in the Friendship Cup this week in Utah.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Peter Wood, an Englishman born in the walled city of York but now a resident of Montross, Scotland. He’s a member of the Carnoustie Friendship Cup team that tied with the Red Rocks (USA) 32-32 after a Ryder Cup-type competition in both countries.
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This year’s matches started in Scotland in May and finished in Utah this week. The Utah USA-based Team Roadrunners ran over Team St. Andrews 46.5 to 17.5 in the international competition that concluded Tuesday at Sand Hollow.
“This has been the joy of my life,” said Rhett Long, Friendship Cup secretary in charge of logistics. The event is in its seventh year, an idea hatched by co-founder Dave Wilkey, former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt and his brother, Friendship Cup Chairman Mark Leavitt, in connection with retired starter at St. Andrews and co-chairman Rod Sturrock
The event has forged lifetime connections and friendships between USA players and the Scots, who are so full of stories, jokes and wisecracks that one could write a book about their remarkable culture, the home of golf.
Take retired Glasgow detective inspector Alan Brown. He’s got that Scottish brogue but can switch to an American twang at the drop of a hat. Why? He grew up loving the famous TV shows “NYPD Blue” and “Kojak” with Telly Savalas. Coincidentally, “NYPD Blue” was also my all-time favorite.
Alan Brown, retired Glasgow detective inspector, is a member of St. Andrews Friendship Cup team. | Courtesy Dick Harmon
Brown loved the American detective series because he could relate. He walked in their shoes, experienced their lives. He witnessed and took notes in two dozen autopsies of homicides or suspicious deaths in Glasgow.
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I couldn’t resist asking Brown how in the world police in Scotland and England do not carry guns. They are not allowed to carry. If there’s a great need for deadly force, they have to call an armed unit, a specially trained police force.
U.K. police go into dangerous situations with nothing but an expandable stick. To my wife and I, who love to watch U.K. detective shows on BritBox, this seems insane. But to this detective from Scotland, it is a matter of safety for all.
“I’ve been talking to you for almost an hour,” Brown said. “You can talk to people, resolve things. You don’t need a gun. If it gets touchy, you can take a pen out of your pocket and stuff it in the suspect’s right nostril. That’ll do the trick. You don’t need to shoot them with a gun.”
Well … I guess that works. Would go over well against cartel gangs with Uzis and semis.
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Brown was surprised I have a 9 millimeter Braretta, an Italian military police pistol. In Scotland, it is against the law for a regular citizen to own a gun.
“I absolutely have loved this trip, to see this desert, these rock formations and this beautiful golf course at Sand Hollow. I’ve never played anywhere like this and it’s so different from what we have in Scotland.”
There, a golfer can get blown off the course. The winds from the North Sea near Carnoustie make that course one of the toughest in the world, and it often hosts the Open Championship, the latest in 2018, won by Francesco Molinari.
Peter Wood of Montrosse, Scotland, sits in his golf cart during a round at Gladstan Golf Course iin Payson, Utah, before his Friendship Cup match at Sand Hollow. | Courtesy Dick Harmon
“The wind kicked up here today during our round, and it felt just like home,” said Wood. “Only this wasn’t wind; this was a breeze. All of us played better when the wind came.”
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Wood called Sand Hollow “absolutely fantastic,” with its lush fairways and good greens set against a backdrop of rock and desert. “Really, not very much like Montrose in any way whatsoever. I found it a privilege to be able to play a course like this. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and as I say, I enjoyed it probably slightly more today having played yesterday and getting to understand the layout.”
Remind him of anywhere he’s played golf before?
“Absolutely not. Nothing like you’d play anywhere in the U.K., not in Scotland or England. Not at all.”
“This Friendship Cup has really grown,” said Carnoustie team captain Alistair Batchen, a retired banker.
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What would Batchen tell Americans who want to play Carnoustie?
Alistair Batchen, captain of Carnoustie Friendship Cup team. | Courtesy Dick Harmon
“Um, get some therapy after playing the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th,” said Batchen. “The first nine will lull you into a false sense of security. They’ll come back and bite you. It’s a fantastic golf course, a fantastic finish, a joy to play.”
On the U.S. side, the Leavitts, Wilkey, Long and former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert have taken the Scots to Bryce Canyon and the Leavitt Ranch outside Loa. A few members of the Scottish traveling party were invited to sing with the The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. On Monday, almost all of them took in “Les Miserables” at Tuacahn. They’ll be heading back across the Atlantic after a quick stay in Las Vegas.
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This event has justified its purpose over seven years. Players from Utah, Nevada and California have gone to Scotland and made lasting friendships. Many players meet up during the year in the U.S. or Scotland and continue their relationships.
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