When you change your surname back to the traditional Scottish spelling, you might have a golf obsession.
“I come by my passion for golf naturally,” said actor Kyle MacLachlan, who is a USGA member. “My dad’s clanlands are in Linlithgow, Scotland. My mom, Catherine, had roots in Cornwall. I guess it was inevitable that we would be golfers.”
He was born into the Americanized name that his father, born Kent McLachlan, inherited from his father, but Kyle returned to the name of his Scottish forebears right before he struck it big in a series of projects with acclaimed director David Lynch, who saw him as the all-American guy who finds himself trying to navigate situations for which nobody could be prepared.
From MacLachlan’s first role in 1984’s “Dune” to playing opposite Dennis Hopper and Isabella Rossellini the classic “Blue Velvet,” MacLachlan hit it big as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper in the mythically quirky TV town of “Twin Peaks.” He went on to star in “Sex and the City,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Portlandia” and a variety of film and theater roles, but MacLachlan, Lynch and many of the original cast members have reunited for a new “Twin Peaks,” to air this spring on Showtime.
“What an experience,” said MacLachlan. “Getting back together with David, many friends from the original cast is a dream. All I can say is that it picks up 25 years later. You have to watch to see what happens. It was a joy to pick it right back up, all of us a little wiser. It’s going to be huge and as interesting and unexpected as the original. We’re sitting on a great secret and it’s going to be fun to watch it unfold.”
MacLachlan smoothly diverted any more attempts at gleaning any more “Twin Peaks” intel by talking about his love of the game.
“I grew up in Yakima, Wash. My dad, Kent, was a star athlete, but he was a golf stud,” said MacLachlan. “I think he even played in a U.S. Junior Amateur in the ‘50s. He played four years of varsity golf at the University of Washington and played pretty close to scratch when I was growing up. He was a feel player, really good around the green. Dad was a Jack Nicklaus guy, but I really liked Johnny Miller. Hey, it was the ’70s. I had the big reverse-C swing. My two younger brothers, Craig and Kent, also play. They’re still up in Seattle. We all have similar flaws, but I work harder on my game.”
“We played at [USGA Member Club] Yakima Country Club. I loved the game. I would play and practice all summer. I worked hard at it, shot in the 70s and earned my varsity letters at Eisenhower High School. I was good but never great.” MacLachlan shared more about his life on and off the course:
What happened after high school?
I went to Washington, too, but the theater thing took over and I started my own journey. I didn’t play much at all, but I looked forward to getting home because my dad and I would always play. We had a great time. But then something awesome happened… acting got me back into the game. I got invited to play in Michael Douglas’ event in Los Angeles. I hadn’t played in so long that my woods were still actually made from wood. There were lots of big stars there and a representative from the Dunhill Links [a PGA European Tour event featuring professionals and celebrities] was there to recruit for their event at St. Andrews. I guess they needed somebody so they asked me.
