Ashton holds a Master’s in Aerospace and Aviation Engineering, which means he understands exactly why a golf ball flies and precisely how to make it fly further. The same physics that keeps a jet in the air decides whether your drive finds the fairway or the neighbour’s begonias.

For the last five years he’s worked in compliance, the unglamorous corner of any industry where the rules live, breed, and occasionally bite. Golf is wonderfully overregulated. Every gram, groove, and dimple is policed by a governing body with strong opinions and stronger lawyers. Most engineers see a rulebook and reach for the kettle. Ashton sees a rulebook and reaches for a highlighter.

That’s the trick: one side builds innovation, the other reads the small print and quietly notes where potential improvements are possible. Where regulation ends, innovation tends to begin.

At Forward Golf Club’s R&D lab, he brings aerospace engineering to the tee box with a compliance officer’s eye for the gaps. Not to break the rules. To find the bits the rules haven’t quite caught up to yet.