Members of Ross Golf Club can look back on their 2018 golfing season with some satisfaction reflecting on the considerable successes achieved by all sections. Teenagers Cam Haines and Harry Griffiths recently took the standing of the Ross Juniors Academy to an unprecedented level.

The annual Gloucestershire Golfing Union’s Scratch County men’s foursomes is something of a blue ribbon event attracting the top low handicap players from far and wide and the semi-final and finals matches took place on the same day recently at Knowle Golf Club in Bristol. Amidst much excitement and anticipation, 3 handicapper Cam Haines and 4 handicapper, Harry Griffiths reached the final with a 1 up win against Forest of Dean GC opponents but ultimately had to settle for the runners-up spot when they were defeated 1 down by a highly experienced pairing who play at Puckrup Hall GC near Tewkesbury. This was still a marvellous achievement by Cam and Harry and provided valuable learning experiences in their respective golfing ambitions, with both players having enjoyed another fine season. It started with Cam and Harry being joined by Ross Juniors Captain 5 handicapper Liam Greig and winning the Gloucestershire County Junior Team Championships to represent the Ross Club in the National Junior Team Championships in which they finished in a highly creditable 10th place.

Having won the County Golfing Union’s prestigious Jeff Hall Trophy at under 14 level in 2017, Harry shone again in 2018 when winning by a considerable margin the Trophy at Under 16 level. With 80 players taking part, Harry also excelled in his 3rd place finish in the Under 18 category, with Liam Greig finishing in 7th place to emphasise the high standing of young players being produced at the Ross Club.

The catalyst in all this success undoubtedly lies with the ’continuous improvement’ culture instigated at the Ross Club six years ago by Head Professional Tim Hall and his ’School of Golf’ team.

In the cases of Cam and Harry, they can recall being helped when they started hitting their first ever golf shots, with Harry coming on board four years ago as a newcomer with a 28 handicap.See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.