Scottish golfer aims to follow in Bob MacIntyre's footsteps on MENA Tour

The 23-year-old from Dunblane produced an eye-catching performance in the relaunched circuit’s Q School in Portugal last week, finishing joint-second behind former Ryder Cup player Chris Wood.

It’s straight into competitive action for Sandin as the 2025/26 MENA Golf Tour season starts this week with the PGA Aroeira Challenge in the first leg of a double-header in Portugal.

The Rolear Algarve Classic at Amendoeira follows next week before the circuit heads to Egypt for a four-event swing in January and February. Tournaments are also scheduled to be played in Morocco and Jordan, with guaranteed $100,000 prize funds and Official World Golf Ranking points on offer throughout the season.

MacIntyre landed his breakthrough win as a professional on the MENA Tour in the Sahara Kuwait Championship in 2017 and still talks about how important that was, having gone on to play in two winning Ryder Cup teams and now sitting inside the world’s top ten.

“Absolutely,” said Sandin in reply to being asked if MacIntyre’s path can prove an inspiration while Matt Fitzpatrick, another member of those triumphant European teams in Rome and New York, also cut his professional teeth on the circuit.

Schedule involving travel is helpful

“It is great to follow in the footsteps of these great players and I think the reason why the MENA Tour has played a part in producing so many good players is to do with a schedule that involves travel and getting used to different grasses. So, when you get to a tour that involves travelling around the world, it’s not as big a jump as it probably is from most mini-tours.”

Sandin won on the Tartan Pro Tour as an amateur last year, pulling off a fairytale victory in the Cardrona Classic presented by Cala Homes after being a late addition to the field at the Borders venue.

He turned professional shortly afterwards and signed off his first full season on Paul Lawrie’s circuit this year by finishing joint-second behind Jack McDonald in the Trump International Tour Championship presented by Gym Rental.

“I played plenty of good golf this season to make lots of cuts on the Tartan Pro Tour, but I was missing the final piece of the jigsaw to have more high finishes,” he reflected.

“Finishing second in the Tour Championship, though, gave me a bit of confidence going into the Second Stage of the DP World Tour Q-School and, though, sadly, I didn’t make it through to the Final Stage, I was feeding off some good golf in finishing second last week.”

Sandin opened with rounds of 72-70 at Troia Golf Course to find himself playing in the final round alongside Wood, who underlined his class by recording a six-shot victory after signing off with a 72 as Sandin had to settle for a 74.

“Chris is obviously a great player with a really impressive CV and it is important to be playing against good players as it keeps your game sharp,” said Sandin. “He was leading going into the last round and I was trying to hunt him down.

“Unfortunately, I went into reverse a little bit but seeing how he navigated the round with the lead and kept the other players at arm’s length was great to see as he went about it very well. He produced a very solid round to shoot level par around that course as it is a tough track.”

Joining Sandin in flying the Saltire in this week’s season-opener are Michael Stewart, Scott Henry, Craig Ross, Aidan O’Hagan, Will Porter, Jamie Savage and David Rudd.

‘I am still learning the ropes’

“Yeah, absolutely,” said Sandin of the circuit providing a great opportunity for players to be facing competitive golf at this time of the year. “The winter options before this restarted have been getting going at the end of January and the purses weren’t too good.

“So it seems like the best option for playing tournaments over the winter. Obviously it is very expensive, but the guaranteed $100,000 prize funds really incentivises you to play the full schedule because one good week can fund the whole season, so that is the plan. This is my first full season as a pro, so I am still learning the ropes - but it has been positive so far.”

In an impressive start to the new campaign, Sandin opened with a six-under-par 66 to share the first-round lead in the PGA Aroeira Challenge with Italian Ludovico Addabbo.

“I just focused on getting the ball in play off the tee and trying to take advantage of the par-5s,” said Sandin of his bogey-free effort. “You can’t really complain when you hit a 66 and tomorrow is going to be the same strategy.”