Born and raised in the small coastal town of Oban, Scotland -- which is on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands; his family's home overlooked the 12th hole at Glencruitten Golf Club, the par-62 course where he learned the game and his father, Dougie, served as the head greenskeeper.

Learned the game as he played a loop of four holes (Nos. 12-15) at Glencruitten Golf Club with his father, Dougie, with Robert recalling, "We used to go out every night in the summer, no matter the weather, we would play four holes every night. He taught me the game of golf."

Did not start to focus on golf until he was 17 years old, prior to which he was more invested in his favorite sport, shinty.

Shinty is a Scottish contact sport similar to field hockey and the Irish game known as hurling. Shinty features teams of 12 players with curved sticks and a leather-covered cork ball. As a teenager, Robert played for his hometown club, Oban Camanachd, one of the game's oldest clubs (founded in 1889). His late grandfather, Dougie MacIntyre Sr., is considered one of the best to ever play. His father (Dougie) and uncle (Gordon, who lost an eye in a match) combined for all three goals when Oban Camanachd won its last league title in 1996, the year Robert was born.

Attributes some of his success in golf to his playing shinty, saying, "The hand-eye coordination in my golf has come from my shinty. I played up front a lot, so had a flat stick. Sometimes you had to play a ball about 20 yards in the air, so you had to open the stick up. It was just instinctive and the majority of my golf game is like that." Known to play shinty when he's in Oban between tournaments.

Won the 2015 Scottish Amateur at Muirfield, rallying from a 4-down deficit to defeat Daniel Young in the 36-hole final. Colin Montgomerie (1987) is a notable past champion of the Scottish Amateur.

Played at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana for one and a half seasons (2014-15). Led the team with a 71.81 scoring average en route to being named 2015 All-Southland Conference First Team and 2015 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year. Earned his first collegiate win at the Sam Hill Intercollegiate at the start of his sophomore season, but elected to return to Scotland in November 2015.

Represented Great Britain and Ireland in the 2017 Walker Cup at Los Angeles Country Club. Notably faced Cameron Champ in two singles matches, winning the first and halving the second.

Helped Scotland win the 2016 European Amateur Team Championship, marking Scotland's second consecutive victory at the event. Also represented Scotland at the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship (Eisenhower Trophy) and 2017 European Amateur Team Championship.

Represented Scotland at the 2013 and 2014 European Boys Team Championships. Helped Scotland finish third in 2014, notably defeating a Norway team headlined by Viktor Hovland and Kristoffer Reitan.