Euan McIntosh in frame for Walker Cup but targeting pro game

The Turnhouse player has been re-energised in the amateur ranks over the past few seasons after a lengthy break away from the game.

But, at the same time, he continues to make no secret of the fact that he is desperate to try his luck again in the paid ranks as a senior.

McIntosh failed in his first attempt to secure cards for either the Champions Tour in the US or the Staysure Tour in Europe, but he’s set to give it a second crack.

“This has given me a little bit of a boost because what happened at both Tour Schools has taken me quite a while to get over it,” said the reigning Scottish Amateur champion of being one of six Scots named in an initial Great Britain & Ireland squad for the Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool in September. “Devastated doesn’t do it justice, to be honest.

“In America, I could have had the worst putter in the world putting for me and I could have got through stage one. I had it pretty much on a string for 72 holes but two drives clattering off cart paths cost me doubles both times.

“In the last round, I hit a sprinkleheader two yards right and it went flying into the crap, costing me a double.

“I was kind of scratching my head when I came back from that, thinking ‘what has just gone on there?’ I was playing well enough to have a right good go at getting my card.

“There wasn’t anyone out there that I saw and thought, ‘wow, he is markedly better than me’.

“In Europe, christ knows what happened there. I won the first stage but it was weird what happened in the first round of the final.

“I had a four-putt and four or five three-putts in the first ten holes, so you are kind of chasing your tail after that and I didn’t react very well to that.

“But you learn from all these things. I know next year I will have to do things slightly differently towards the end of the season. I will do it again 100 per cent.”

McIntosh, who would be one of the oldest players to compete in the event, joined his fellow GB&I squad members, including Liberton’s Kieran Cantley, for a get-together earlier this week at Royal Liverpool. The selectors will now be watching events like this weekend’s Lytham Trophy as they start whittling down the squad before deciding on a final ten in August.

“I’ve had such a good time playing amateur golf again and I really enjoy seeing the young lads doing well,” added McIntosh.

“In my position at 50, to watch the best guys coming through that are going to be getting Tour cards at some point is quite a privilege.

“You sit back and think, ‘I don’t think they realise how good they actually are’. To be in the same group as them is fantastic.

“Having another year or two years, who knows, I will keep doing the same things. But, at the same time, I am keen to give it a go as a senior professional.”