The likes of Pakistan and Vietnam may not exactly be hotbeds of golf in terms of producing players, but they are providing opportunities for a young Scot to try and make headway in the professional ranks. Edinburgh man Eric McIntosh, who won the Scottish Boys’ Championship at Murcar Links in 2016, is currently playing his competitive golf on the Asian Development Tour. In the ADT Pakistan Open last month, he finished joint-fourth behind home player Ahmad Baig, carding rounds of 70-67-71-71 for a nine-under-par total at Rumanza Golf & Country Club. On the back of that effort, McIntosh is now teeing up in this week’s Lexus Challenge at The Bluffs Grand Ho Tram, a Greg Norman-designed course, in Vietnam. “I think having the opportunity to play the majority of my golf in Asia last season was a great experience, filled with exposure to consistent high level performance on championship courses,” said the Scot. “On a whole, the 2024 season was a disappointment, but there were plenty of positives to take forward and develop to make 2025 a success. Although last year didn’t go as well as I would have hoped, there were still highlights and good performances in there. “Notably, I made my first cut on a major tour at the SJM Macau Open in October where I finished T34, a performance I look to lean on and build on this year.” McIntosh played his amateur golf at Bruntsfield Links and enjoyed a successful spell on the US college circuit at Northwestern University, having been recruited by fellow Scot David Inglis. “I have been pleased with how the year has started,” he added. “I was in Spain for three weeks at the end of January/start of February to develop areas of my game that needed to be improved on from last year. “At the end of my trip, I played in some mini tour events in Marbella and was happy to see improvements in my game. In the second event that I played I finished solo second, narrowly missing out on winning by two shots over the three-round event. “After my training trip in Spain, I headed to Pakistan to play the second ADT event of the year in Pakistan - my first event on ADT of the 2025 season. It was a continuation of my consistent play from Spain that helped me finish in the top five. “Now, for this week’s event, I am excited to return to a venue that I played well at last year, when I finished T11 in the same tournament, and see if I can get into contention again and push for the win.” Later in the season, McIntosh will turn his attention to the Tartan Pro Tour, which gets underway in mid-May and runs all the way through until a season-ending Tour Championship in October. “With that and the ADT schedule looking to be very back-loaded this year, it looks to be a busy season ahead and I’m eager to continue my good play to give myself the best chance to be playing on a higher leveled tour in 2026,” he said of two Hotel Planner Tour cards again being up for grabs on the Scottish circuit.