He found himself in a very tough spot in his quarterfinal match of the 2023 Utah State Amateur Championships against Layton’s David Liechty, trailing by two holes with just three left to play.

Turner had won the previous hole to cut into Liechty’s lead, but disaster struck on his ensuing tee shot. The ball sailed right into a patch of heavy rough and despite having a dozen people scouring the area, no one could find his ball.

That meant Turner had to tee up his third shot, while Liechty was safely in the fairway preparing for his second shot.

But Turner wasn’t done. He aggressively attacked the short par 4, landing his ball on the green off the tee and having it bounce just off the back edge.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

Liechty’s shot dropped onto the green but in a position where it would’ve taken a great putt to get a birdie.

That meant Turner still had a sliver of a chance to prolong the match and he nearly made it happen.

He popped up his chip shot and watched it roll right toward the hole — until it rattle the cup but refused to go in, settling a couple of feet away.

That was when the wedge went spinning in the air, since the shot had come so close.

“If that had gone in, there were still two holes to play,” Turner said. “It changes things a little bit. If it had fallen in, it would’ve been nice to play at least one more.”

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

Liechty rolled his putt in close and Turner conceded the hole and the match, giving Liechty the 3-and-2 win and a spot in the afternoon quarterfinals.

“It’s no fun losing,” Turner said. “It was brutal today. David is a great player but I had my chances. I just didn’t capitalize.”

While the loss ended Turner’s run, he said he was pleased overall with what he accomplished at the tournament.

“It’s always great to go deep at the State Amateur,” Turner said. “My goal every year is to win it. But what I take from this is that I still have it, I can still play. It’s cool to see guys like Cameron Crawford (a quarterfinalist) and Dan Horner (a semifinalist) still playing and that’s what I see myself doing in the future.”

Turner had to make a choice this year. He had college eligibility left and could’ve continued playing at BYU or he could’ve looked at going pro — but he also had graduated and is married to his wife Emma, so all of those factors came into play.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

“I decided to start working,” Turner said. “I’m kind of sad to move on but I’m excited to see my wife a little bit more. I plan to play in the State Amateur every year as well as some other amateur events because I like to golf.”

He said that he has seen the costs that going pro take on golfers he knows and decided he didn’t want to go that route.

“It’s hard to see your peers who were really good in college struggle,” Turner said. “Golf costs a lot of money and as a pro you are grinding away. I like to keep golf really fun and it didn’t sound fun to go out and grind away at one of these tours. But if an opportunity arises or the spark strikes again, I’ll be back. I’ll keep my game sharp.”

He took a moment to look back on his golf career and said he feels very fortunate to have had so many great experiences during his time in junior golf, at Lone Peak High and at BYU.

“It’s been awesome,” Turner said. “Moving forward, you can always look back at what you’ve done and take that with you. There are a lot of lessons that golf teaches.”

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

He said his biggest advice to young golfers is to never give up.

“Keep going, no matter what,” Turner said. “There are always good things. You can be in a dark phase and then something amazing can happen. I’ve had the lowest points of my career and then the next week I’ve played my best golf and won a tournament. No matter how bad things are going, you can see things turn around in a split second.”

Liechty continued his hot performance by defeating former Utah Ute golfer Martin Leon in the semifinals, setting up a matchup with Cal golfer Simon Kwon in Saturday’s 36-hole finals.

For complete details from the 2023 Utah State Amateur Championship, go to http://UGA.org.