European Tour player Andrew Marshall believes the hole-in-one he scored in the BMW International Open could be 'life changing'.

The 38-year-old from Dereham aced the par 3, 17th hole at the Golf Club Gut L�rchenhof in Colonge to win himself a �65,000 BMW 6 Series Gran Coup�.

The former Evening News columnist, ranked 507 in the world and who is 157th on the Race to Dubai order of merit, admits he's on cloud nine and plans to sell the car and use the money to put towards a deposit on a house in his home town.

'It was awesome. It's seventy grand's worth of car!' said Marshall.

'It was 219 yards into a howling wind so I got the rescue out. I had to hit a good one because that is quite a long shot for me with a rescue because if it goes up in the air it's not going to get there.

'I absolutely nailed it down the flag, I thought to myself 'Oh that's got a bit of a chance'. I didn't see it go in but it bounced and then disappeared. Apparently it hit the flag quite fast and then disappeared. Everyone has gone bananas including us on the tee.

'I just can't believe it, frightening, frightening,' said Marshall, who has had six holes-in-one including one at the European Tour Qualifying School Grand Final last year.

Marshall, who is resigned to selling his new motor, added: 'Yes it is (the shot of my life). It is life-changing. The car is worth about 70,000 Euros. I can miss every cut this year and I've made that car and that's a lot of money. And that's the worst case scenario. I'm playing well and I want to press on now making the cuts, finishing in the top 20s and top 10s.

'I'll probably sell it. I haven't got much money as it is, I need to think about buying a house with the money I make this year so I'll probably sell it. I'm not going to drive a car like that. It's a lovely car but the insurance would be a joke, running it would be a joke, taxing it.

'I'm going to treat myself though. It would be silly not to but I don't think I'll be buying a car for a while. I need to use that money and put it down on a house in Dereham.

'I've got my eye on a little place. London is murder, the wife's down there and obviously I want to be with her but I don't want to be in London.

'I was sweating on the cut mark, I'd just made a couple of birdies and to be honest they were better than the hole-in-one,' added Marshall, who said he is looking forward to having a drink to celebrate his feat in the bar at next week's Irish Open at Royal Portrush.

'I had to compose myself a little bit playing off the 18th tee. The conditions out there are brutal with the wind. I've just got to make sure I play nice and steady over the weekend and make it count.'