Ritchie holds on for Sun Carnival City victory

He held on grimly down the stretch, and when JC Ritchie made birdie on the 18^th, it was enough for a tense one-stroke victory in the R800,000 Sun Carnival City Challenge at Ebotse Links.

He carded a final-round level-par 72 to edge clear of what was looking like a three-way tie between himself, Toto Thimba and Alex Haindl. That final birdie was too much for Thimba, his playing partner, who had mounted a late charge with three birdies in the final six holes.

“Today was very stressful,” said a relieved Ritchie after winning his second Sunshine Tour title after his maiden win in last year’s Zimbabwe Open. “It started off a lot calmer than I thought it would be, when I was two-under after eight holes, and then I just managed to keep it together after that.”

When he reached the ninth tee, he was five clear of the nearest opposition, and it seemed he would romp home. But a double-bogey six on the ninth saw the first signs of a crack in his serene façade, and Timba, Haindl, Pieter Moolman and Michael Palmer were all poised to take advantage should he have slipped further.

When Ritchie made birdie on 12, equilibrium seemed to have been restored, but bogeys on 14 and 16 soon brought all the pressure back.

“Toto was playing brilliant golf today, but he just wasn’t making putts,” said Ritchie. “But when he made birdie on 17, that really put the pressure on. When I holed my putt on 18, that was just brilliant for me, because I had a feeling that Toto would miss his birdie putt.”

It was a tough putt for Ritchie – possibly much tougher than Thimba’s little nine-footer which slid away downhill and right. “Even Stanley my caddie came into help,” laughed Ritchie. “I told him all I could do was try and feel it. It was downwind, down off the slope from the right – everything was just running away from me. I can’t tell you where I hit it – I just know it went in the middle.”

Thimba is still looking for his first Sunshine Tour win, and this was oh so close, suggesting his time is near. His second round in tough conditions catapulted him into contention, and then he rode out a succession of 11 birdies and a bogey before he was able to mount his charge. Had he found some birdies earlier, he could have been the one holding the trophy.

For Ritchie, it was experience in losing which he felt helped him deal with the pressure, rather than memories of his victory. “I think I learnt more from this year’s Zimbabwe Open, where I wasn’t able to defend my title,” he said. “I was able to keep things together under pressure, just to control my emotions, to control what I was doing, keeping the ball in play, and trying to finish.”

Scores:

208 - JC Ritchie 64 72 72

209 - Alex Haindl 69 74 66, Toto Thimba 72 67 70

210 - Pieter Moolman 73 71 66

211 - Michael Palmer 70 73 68

212 - Daniel van Tonder 73 70 69, Aubrey Beckley 72 68 72

213 - Jake Redman 68 75 70, Theunis Bezuidenhout 69 74 70, Hennie Otto 72 71 70

214 - Neil Schietekat 74 72 68, Breyten Meyer 72 71 71, Ockie Strydom 69 72 73

215 - Andre De Decker 70 75 70, Anthony Michael 73 72 70, Peter Karmis 71 73 71

216 - Herman Loubser 72 73 71, Jean Hugo 71 74 71, Louis de Jager 67 78 71, Martin Rohwer 72 72 72, Wallie Coetsee 74 69 73

217 - Colin Nel 70 77 70, Stephen Ferreira 72 74 71, Jonathan Agren 70 75 72, Estiaan Conradie 70 75 72, Rhys West 69 71 77

218 - CJ du Plessis 74 73 71, JJ Senekal 72 75 71, Derick Petersen 70 76 72, Jean-Paul Strydom 71 74 73

219 - Kyle McClatchie 73 74 72, Jacquin Hess 72 73 74

220 - Wynand Dingle 73 74 73, Tyrone Ferreira 68 77 75

221 - MJ Viljoen 74 73 74, Titch Moore 71 75 75, Ulrich van den Berg 69 76 76, Keith Horne 70 74 77

222 - Andrew Curlewis 72 75 75, Teaghan Gauche 68 79 75, Scott Campbell 73 73 76

223 - Luke Jerling 71 76 76

224 - Tyrone Ryan 70 75 79

226 - Mark Williams 73 74 79, Trevor Fisher Jnr 72 75 79

Credit: The Sunshine Tour

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