‘My holiday is getting home’
Robert MacIntyre rests before being back in the spotlight
Robert MacIntyre sat down with The Oban Times when he was home for the holidays to discuss his whirlwind year.
In the first of a two-part series, Bob talks about the support he receives from the town and we reveal the impact his success has had on Glencruitten Golf Club.
Next week, the 23-year-old golfer outlines his plans for the future and takes a look back at his 2019 highlights – of which there were many.
When Robert MacIntyre succeeds, Oban succeeds.
The town is fully behind the 23-year-old golfer, who has catapulted his way onto the world stage.
In his first season on the European Tour, Robert ‘Bob’ MacIntyre played 30 events, making 25 cuts, with seven top 10 finishes and he ended the year ranked 64th in the world.
But the cherry on the cake for Bob was when he was crowned the European Tour Rookie of the Year.
‘You can only challenge for that once in your life, so to be crowned, that is something I will remember forever and something that will never be taken away from me,’ he told The Oban Times.
Bob has now become a tourist attraction in his own right, with people flying out from Oban to watch him play abroad.
But the town has supported him since his days as an amateur.
In 2015, Oban rallied behind Bob to to raise more than £3,500 to help the young golfer with his travelling expenses.
Gareth Evans helped organise the golf scramble, which attracted 45 teams, made up of three and four people.
And when he came home for the holidays, Bob said that kind of support is needed.
Speaking to The Oban
Times, he said: ‘The whole town is pretty much behind me and I think that is what you need. For someone to achieve what they want to achieve, there needs to be support, whether it is financial, emotional, whatever, you need it all.’
None have supported him more than his very own Glencruitten Golf Club, who boast a large banner of Bob at the entrance to the club.
‘The club has been great,’ he said. ‘The whole town has been great, but it is not just the town. It is the whole country.
‘My social media, Twitter especially, it has been crazy.
‘The messages I get. I have letters sent to the golf course.
‘I never thought playing a sport that I love, doing what I love, would have an impact on other people the way it has. I try to reply to everyone, whether it is kids or older people, it is just the way I am. If someone says hello to me on the street, I will say hello back. It is just who I am.’
The Oban golfer is home until January 7, before his season restarts, and he has been nursing a bruised hand.
‘I have needed time off,’ he told The Oban Times. ‘If most people take a week off work, or two weeks off work, they might go on holiday at certain times of the year, my holiday is getting home.
‘I just love spending time at home with the two boys seeing my sister and the wee one. Things are busy, but it is the way I like it. When you come home you can chill out, but they still keep you on your toes.’
Speaking about his achievements, Neil Armour, a junior golf coach at Glencruitten Golf Club said: ‘I just think it is absolutely fantastic.
‘I look back and I think of the wee junior boy who could hardly cross two burns here and now he is playing golf at the top table in the world. It is just amazing and what he has done for the club and ourselves for that matter.
‘He has made me interested in golf again.
‘I watch golf now that I did not used to before. I just think he has given the whole town and the whole area a wee lift.
‘On a Sunday when Bob is in contention the atmosphere in here [Glencruitten Golf Club] is amazing. I have been here for years and we have not had that feeling.
‘A Sunday in here with Bob in contention is unbelievable. Shouts from all over the club, both TVs on.
‘People you have not seen
GOLF
for ages up watching it. It has just been amazing for the club and amazing for the town.’
He added: ‘You don’t change Bob. Bob is Bob.’
He attributes Bob’s success to a surge of people taking up the sport.
‘We had junior golf and we had 20 kids turning up in all weather. Whereas before Bob’s success we had maybe one, two. The difference he has made – kids want to play golf now. Where is the next Bob MacIntyre coming from?’
‘I look back and I think of the wee junior boy who could hardly cross two burns here and now he is playing golf at the top table in the world’