Kenwick Park golfer Ashton Turner lands pro win in Portugal

The first trophy of the season. Turner after completing victory at the Dom Pedro Victoria Open in Portugal. Picture: Berto Granja EMN-200302-102637002

The Alford professional golfer is spending time on the Portugal Pro Golf Tour getting his game in order in readiness for another busy season.

And he stepped up his preparations with a morale-boosting one-shot win at the Dom Pedro Victoria Open.

“It feels fantastic to finally get a win under my belt and start the season strongly,” he said.

The early swing shapes up well. Picture: Berto Granja EMN-200302-102649002

“I have to say a big thanks to (coach) Paul Spence for heading out earlier in the week and getting the swing in a nice place!”

The 23-year-old is set to enter his fourth full year on the European circuit after turning pro late in 2016, and will be keen to build on a consistent improvement year-by-year.

Turner, who honed his game at Kenwick Park, has qualified for The Open in the last two seasons, and made the cut on his way to a fantastic tied-57th finish in the 2019 championship.

But it will be on the bread and butter of the EuroPro Tour where he will hoping to write the headlines in 2020 as he looks to build his game ultimately towards among the top tier on the European Tour.

At Vilamoura-Victoria, Turner opened in superb style, carding eight birdies, and just one dropped shot - at the last hole.

The seven-under par opening round of 65 earned him a share of the lead with Daniel Hebenstreit.

The second round was just as eventful, but more of a rollercoaster than Turner would have wanted, as he mixed in three birdies with three bogeys on the front nine, and then threw in another dropped shot at 11

But the Lincolnshire ace stormed back in style with eagle at the next hole, followed by three further birdies to card 68 and take a one-shot lead going into the final 18 holes.

Chasing an elusive win, Turner stayed composed and racked up birdies at three and five in an unblemished front nine to move to 13 under for the tournament.

With the chasing pack right on his tail, he dropped a shot at the par-three 13th, and after bouncing back with birdie at 15, dropped his second shot of the round at the next.

But Turner showed a good deal of nerve to hole his fourth birdie of the day at 17 and then par the 18th to seal a one-shot win.