After overnight storms, men members of Ross-on-Wye Golf Club found their tree-lined course especially demanding when 119 entrants took part in the Annual Spring Scratch and Handicap medal. Indicative of the difficulties faced, the standard scratch score for the day of 74 was two shots higher than its normal par.

The conditions failed to deter 26 handicapper, Charles Reeve-Tucker. He was able to maintain his consistent play to card a gross 94, nett 68 score to win the handicap prize and suffer a two shots handicap reduction in the process. Another in form player, Phil Midwinter, was again prominent and his nett 69 score made him runner-up and move his handicap to 11 followed by Adrian Hope with nett 71 and nett 72’s by Stephen Gregory and Peter Lawrence.

This competition has always got the best out of 23-year-old Harvey Hancock since he moved to the Ross Club two years ago. In 2015, as a six handicapper, Harvey won this event along with other honours board events that year, including reaching the final stages of the National Competition sponsored by the Old Mutual Wealth Group. In 2016 as a four handicapper he was runner-up and his gross 73 in the 2017 event with 4 birdies and nine pars made him the top scratch performer and reduce his handicap to 1.7 and a step closer to a coveted scratch status. Harvey was followed by Ross Juniors Captain, 17 year old Cam Haines and veteran performer, Steve Wallbank, who are both four handicappers, and carded gross 74 each with Colin Gladwyn and Nick Ellis scoring gross 76s.