Cruise control

Poulton Park Golf Club captain Wayne Turner heads to Italy next week looking to claim his second victory there in a fortnight – but this time on dry land.

The 57-year-old (above right)  won a nearest the pin competition on a cruise ship when it was moored near Rome a couple of weeks ago.

That earned him a spa break worth £500 but he his sights are set on winning a more prestigious tournament when he returns to Italy with the Cheshire club’s head PGA Professional, Alex Pritchard (above left).

The pair will contest the final of the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge at Argentario Golf Resort and Spa - the home of The PGA National, Italy.

They will be joined by nine other pairs in the final of the competition which is supporting Prostate Cancer UK and carries a £22,000 prize fund.

The teams qualified for the final by each winning a regional qualifier and Turner and Pritchard booked their place in the showpiece event at Pleasington near Blackburn by amassing 41 Stableford points.

That left them a point clear of the field and Turner said: “We dovetailed really well. We never had a bogey. When Alex slipped up, I stepped in; when I slipped up Alex stepped in.”

Turner, who plays off eight, describes playing in the final of the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge as the highlight of his golfing career. But it’s a close run thing.

“I won the Colonel in Chief Cup at Worplesdon in 1988 when I was in the army,” he recalled.

“I was a Grenadier Guardsman and playing for my regiment. The Queen is the army’s Colonel in Chief so the competition is a big event. But playing in the final of the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge just pips it.”