THE cream of the country’s amateur golfers head for Hampshire this weekend for the county’s now traditional ‘spring double’ of the Selborne Salver and Hampshire Hog.

As ever, Blackmoor and North Hants golf clubs play host on Saturday and Sunday, with the winner of the combined 72-hole competition taking home the Hampshire Salver, a world-ranking event in its own right.

And while the cast might have changed, with a whole raft of young hopefuls joining the pro ranks, the standards remain as high as ever, with the handicap bar going down at +2.

A handful of +4 men will surely fancy their chances, not least the defending champion, Simon Richardson (Spalding), who took the 2015 Salver with rounds of 68, 69 to win by three clear shots. Already this season, he has been runner-up in the Berkhamsted Trophy, so is clearly running into form.

The only man to beat him that day was Josh Hilleard (Farrington Park). The England international and 2015 Midlands Open champion shot a four-round total of 280, four under the card, so will certainly be a warm favourite to add some more silverware to his sideboard.

England ‘A’ squad member Scott Gregory (Corhampton) is another off a heady +4 handicap and will be eager to make his mark on two courses he knows well. A few weeks ago, he was beaten finalist in the Spanish Amateur Championship, losing to 2015 British Amateur champion, Romain Langasque, who played all four rounds in last week’s Masters at Augusta.

Adam Chapman (Windermere), off +3.7, is an England Elite squad member and recently spent five weeks playing and practicing in Australia. A member of England’s European Nations Championship team and current North of England champion, he certainly has the pedigree.

Sam Whitaker (Blankney) is another of a fine crop of young players from Lincolnshire. Playing off +3.5, he won the 2015 Hampshire Hog with rounds of 71, 67 and was third in the Hampshire Salver with a 283 aggregate.

Jamie Li (Bath), also off +3.5, got into golf at Millfield School and showed his undoubted class last autumn when he won the Daily Telegraph Championship at Quinta do Lago, Portugal, birdieing four of the last seven holes to annex the trophy won two decades ago by Justin Rose.

Matthew Jordan (Royal Liverpool) and Oliver Carr (Heswall), off +3.4 and +4, will be eager to justify the long journey south, as will young Oliver Clarke (Hillside), an England Boys international and reigning Irish U17 champion.

Ben Amor (Marlborough), another England A squad man, took the West of England Matchplay title last year, while Celtic Manor’s Joshua Davies, a Welsh international, won the 2015 Duncan Putter.

Making a late return to the lists is James Crampton (Spalding), a full international and now Director of Championships with England Golf. In 2006, he took the Hampshire Hog and Hampshire Salver with a superb display and will be keen to rekindle old glories.

Two other +3 players who cannot be discounted are Jack Yule (Middleton Hall), first in the 2015 Faldo Golf Foundation series, and Mark Collins (Chart Hills), Tillman Trophy winner in 2014.

There will be no shortage of home county interest. The 2015 Hampshire Open champion, Billy Watson (North Hants), relishes a challenge, as does fellow +2 man Richard Harris (Hayling), winner of the 2015 Wishart Trophy and League to Dubai.

Darren Walkley, also from Hayling, will be keen to impress, as will Thomas Robson (Rowlands Castle), winner of the 2009 Hampshire title when he was a student in Alabama.

Conspicuous by his absence will be county captain Martin Young (Brokenhurst Manor) who will be representing GB & Ireland in the Concession Cup in Florida, alongside another Salver/Hog stalwart, John Kemp of Woburn.

* The older Hampshire Hog celebrates its 50th year on Sunday. Many former winners will attend a special anniversary dinner, but not, alas, Justin Rose, the club’s most famous son.