British Holidaymaker Thomas Ross 'Drowned While Retrieving Golf Ball From Lake' In Spain

Briton Drowns On Golfing Holiday
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Spanish emergency services were unable to help Mr Ross
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A British holidaymaker is believed to have drowned in a Spanish lake as he tried to retrieve a golf ball.

Thomas Ross, 73, slipped into the water on Sunday morning while playing the fifth hole at the Dunas de Donana course in Almonte, southern Spain.

The pensioner could not swim and despite being pulled from the water alive, emergency services aided by a helicopter ambulance were unable to save him, according to local reports.

Mr Ross, believed to have been from Scotland, was staying at the four-star Carabela Beach and Golf Hotel as part of a group of six tourists.

A worker at the hotel said staff and guests were shocked by the news, adding: "It is upsetting because this sort of thing doesn't usually happen here."

Local authorities took Mr Ross's body to Huelva for a post-mortem examination.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the death of a British national in the Huelva area of Andalusia and have offered consular assistance to the family."

The area around Matalascanas beach, on Spain's Costa de la Luz (Coast of Light), is a popular destination for British tourists.

Boasting an 18-hole course with a driving range, putting green and tennis school, Dunas de Donana is billed as the "first ecological golf course in Europe".