The 50-year-old experiences a bit of down time during the New Zealand winter for his course design business so joining the senior circuit means he can keep an eye on a few courses while he plays.
It's mixing business with business rather than business and pleasure, and he said a discussion with Australian veteran Peter Fowler last year made him believe he could play seriously again.
"Most of the work we are doing - almost all the work we are doing - is in New Zealand so it's pretty quiet through the winter. It's bulk construction rather than any fine work in the winter," Turner said.
"So looking at this winter I've got a bit of time to spend and I was thinking I really need to go and look at some golf courses and some new courses, and then Peter Fowler suggested to me last year that I was playing well enough and I hadn't really thought about the seniors so these things conspire and your 50th birthday - it gets you thinking."
The European Seniors Tour begins in May and runs through to December and Turner has pencilled in the prospect of heading over for two stints on the links.
"It's subordinate to the design business and how busy we are. So I'm pretty sure I can get there for four or five weeks in that May-June period and probably for another six or seven weeks in July-August and maybe in to September; we'll see. I don't have to make these commitments yet so I've got that in the back of my mind that it might work and if I play nicely and the demands aren't too great elsewhere then I'll try and do that."
Turner ended an eight-year hiatus from tournament golf when he played the Harewood Open on the Charles Tour last year and he also made the cut at the New Zealand Open at Clearwater in November but faded during the third and fourth rounds to finish 62nd.
He lined up in this week's NZ PGA Championship at The Hills in Arrowtown, near Queenstown for his first tournament since last year's Open and was in a share of seventh place at 10-under after three rounds last night.
Turner carded an impressive five-under 67 at Sir Michael Hill's private course yesterday, in a bogey-free round which included five birdies.
"I've been playing well," Turner said. "In fact I've been playing really nicely just in practice leading up. But you're never quite sure whether that's going to convert under tournament pressure. So I'm pleasantly surprised, I guess, that the form I had in practice is coming through on the course."
Turner is five shots back from leader Rohan Blizard who shot an impressive six-under 66 yesterday to head to 15-under the card.
Blizard is one stroke ahead of defending champion Michael Hendry, while Australia Scott Strange is in third at 13-under and Leigh Deagan is in fourth at 12-under.
New Zealander Gareth Paddison is the next best Kiwi in a share of fifth place at 11-under with Chinese 17-year-old Li Haotong, while there's a host of players at 10-under alongside Turner in seventh equal.
The tournament moved in to it's pro-am format yesterday and Kiwi Michael Long and amateur playing partner Chris Hunter lead the team standings at 11-under.
Australian professional Jason Norris and amateur Kevin Lewis are in a share of second place alongside Daniel Nisbet and Les Richardson (amateur) at 10-under.
Turner, who was a four-time winner on the European Tour between 1986 and 1997 and also won the NZ PGA Championship in 1984, said there was a low round in him today.
"I've hit a lot of good shots and if I can keep hitting the ball like that and make a few putts then I can shoot five, six, seven or eight under. So if I do that that'll be fun."
Winning the same tournament 29 years apart and banking a $99,000 winner's cheque might also be pretty fun for Turner.
