There’s a queer old difference between Oban and Aqaba in Jordan but when you’re a professional golfer you’ve got to explore new horizons. Have clubs, will travel and all that.
Robert MacIntyre, the Glencruitten left-hander, is the latest Scottish amateur to make the professional plunge and joins the likes of Connor Syme and Liam Johnston in the paid ranks.
The 21-year-old Walker Cup player, who won the national matchplay title at Muirfield in 2015 and was beaten in the final of the Amateur Championship at Porthcawl last season, will contest a couple of events on the MENA Tour in the Middle East before making an assault on stage two of the European Tour’s qualifying school next month. MacIntyre is clearly looking forward to putting in the hard yards.
“This trip will allow me to practise as long as I want each day, which isn’t the case back home at this time of the year due to the weather,” said MacIntyre.
“You’ve got to start somewhere when you turn pro and I don’t mind at all going from the top of the amateur game to working my way up through the professional ranks. It’s about building things up again and I think the biggest challenge when you go from amateur to pro is getting the right mindset.”
The professional leap was always on the horizon for MacIntyre but he could have competed in the qualifying school as an amateur. There’s no time like the present.
"Turning pro was going to happen at some point but the big question was ‘when?’ he said.
“Now is as good a time as ever. I’m sure I could have explored playing in a few bigger European Tour events at the start of my professional career, but the route I’m taking is geared towards the qualifying school. That’s my goal.”
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