Mitchell turns back the clock.

Mitchell Kierstenson will swap the seniors circuit for the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship when he lines up at De Vere Slaley Hall this month.

Kierstenson, of Hertfordshire’s Penfold Park Golf Course, has not played in the prestige final since the late 1990s when it was held at Royal St David’s but has booked a return after finishing in joint second place at the South Herts qualifier.

The 55-year-old  is no stranger to Slaley Hall having competed in the PGA Seniors Championship but will take on a much younger field in the £78,000 showpiece being held on June 11-14.

A good showing might also give him the chance to represent his country with the Peugeot-supported final also deciding who makes the Great Britain and Ireland PGA Cup team to face the United States in September, also at Slaley Hall.

“You might think I have an advantage after playing Slaley Hall as a Senior but that’s not the case as I rarely seem to do well there,” he admitted.

“But it will be nice to get back to the play the PGA Professional Championship again. I can barely remember the last time I qualified for it although I still have the crystal glass vase I won for winning the qualifying event.”

Like hundreds of PGA pros, Kierstenson spends much of the year encouraging people to take up the game, playing a pivotal role at grass roots level in promoting and growing the sport.

“At Penfold Park, where I work for Murray White, we want to make golf accessible,” he said.

“We’re not bothered about what colour socks you wear, we want to get you out on the course and playing.

“We get beginners coming along and that’s the idea, we hope we can get people to take up the game after trying it out.”

Other players from the east region in action at the Glenmuir final include Daniel Fickling (Bush Hill Park), Daniel Field (East Herts), Mark Hooper (Rayleigh Golf Range), Stuart Brown (Orton Meadows) and Michael Vandenberg (Wyke Green).