One-time Sunshine Tour winner JC Ritchie hasn’t had an easy time but his positive showing at the SA Open signals a healthy change, writes MIKE GREEN in Compleat Golfer.
Take a look at JC Ritchie’s 2017 record, and you’d be forgiven for thinking his season was a bust. After his win at the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open in April, his eight missed cuts and a next-best of a share of 10th don’t suggest a career that’s going places.
Starting in Harare with a quintuple-bogey nine, he was able to recover, firing an eagle-two in his two-over 74 opening round. He was then bogey-free in his final round of 64 on his way to a playoff win over the experienced Trevor Fisher Jnr.
As is so often the case, there’s a back story for the youngster, who seemed to slip away after that maiden win.
‘I played the Zimbabwe Open with bad tonsillitis and a fortnight later I was in hospital for two weeks,’ says Ritchie. ‘I had my tonsils out, but there were complications, so I had to have more operations. I then played the first winter event on the Sunshine Tour straight after coming out of hospital. From then on, it’s just been rough and I feel like I’ve been on the back foot.’
You’d be forgiven for thinking he might have learned from that somewhat risky approach, but that’s not the case. ‘Looking back, I wouldn’t have done it differently,’ he laughs. ‘I’m impulsive. I don’t really think too much about things. If you want to do something, do it!’
But part of that back story is that he benefited greatly from the victory at the Zimbabwe Open. He received a decent cheque and, more importantly, the two-year exemption that came with the title earned him precious time on the Sunshine Tour to work through whatever difficulties he may encounter.
‘Playing on the Tour is a lot different for me after the win,’ he says. ‘The season obviously started off on a ridiculous high, and then I had a few rough patches throughout the year. I haven’t been playing well, but the win has changed everything. It’s changed the way I look at the big events – not having to qualify, not having to worry about my position on the Order of Merit, and things like that.
‘So having a rough year is OK. You know golf is a tough game, and you take the difficulties on the chin and get on with it. You focus on the next event and the next year and keep grinding. It will get better.’
Even with that self-awareness, things won’t change too much for Ritchie this year. ‘I’m not sure I’ll approach 2018 any differently,’ he says. ‘Because I had the rough patch last year, it’s been difficult to take the time to work on things. I wasn’t able to take two months off just to get better, get the swing ready and work on my fitness stuff. Luckily, I could take a couple of weeks off at the beginning of this year to rest and get fit again.
‘I’ll take every event as it comes. I took a week and a half off after the Joburg Open in December last year. But I kept working throughout Christmas. It’s tough when the big events are so far apart with nothing in between. Everyone always gives me grief because I don’t take time off during December, but I’d rather work and play badly than not work and play badly.
‘Training in the off-season means going to the range at 9am instead of 7am; hitting a bucket or two instead of four, five, six; playing 18 holes twice a week instead of five times a week. Things just slow down a bit. It’s about keeping your feel.’
Ritchie is also aware of what he needs to work on. ‘At the Joburg Open, I didn’t make the putts. I’m still hitting it well, so if the putts start going in, it could be good again.’
And how good it proved to be at the SA Open in mid-January. Ritchie stormed up the leaderboard, with rounds of 72, 70, 65 and 65 for a 16-under-par total of 272. In the final round he made two eagles, six birdies and three bogeys, showing it could have been even better than his wildest dreams.
‘I’ve never been that long, but I’ve also never been short. I’m probably a little bit longer than average on the Tour,’ he says. At the SA Open he averaged 279m off the tee, which was 42nd out of the 75 who made the cut.
‘I’ve always been pretty high up in greens in regulation. My only problem is I’ve been too far away from the pin, or the putts weren’t dropping.
‘Putting has always been something I’ve worked hard on. I had changed to the Kramski putter in Zimbabwe, and the week after, the putter got bent during a flight. I haven’t managed to get the putter right again. I also haven’t been hitting 18 greens in a round – it’s been kind of 15 and not getting up and down. It’s not scoring that’s been the problem.’
Putting is the story, as usual. And how Ritchie got his Kramski, and how he wants to keep it, is an interesting tale.
‘I met Mr [Wiestaw] Kramski at the Dimension Data Pro-Am last year,’ he says. ‘I managed to find him after one of my rounds. I was actually walking with Jaco Prinsloo in the final round. He wasn’t playing too well and I left after nine holes and went to spend some time on the putting green. I spent an hour or two with Mr Kramski and he managed to get me a putter that worked from the day I got it.
‘After my putter got bent, I got one with a hard insert which is tough on the quick greens, and I’ve got one with a soft insert, so we’ll see how it goes.’
The year stretches ahead of Ritchie, and he’s got a lot on his plate to get back to the place he was when he won in Zimbabwe. ‘I’ll just keep working,’ he says. ‘I’m more patient than I was 12 months ago. The win brings that patience. It’s OK if you miss a cut and you don’t make money. You’ve got two more years on the Tour, two more years to win a co-sanctioned event, or get to the European Tour School, or whatever you want to do.
‘If I was able to choose, I’d go to the US. I hit the golf ball high with lots of spin. I’ve never liked the idea of Europe, so the US would be the way to go for me.’
He’s going to try to go via Africa, though. ‘I don’t think there’s pressure on me before this year’s Zimbabwe Open,’ he says. ‘I love that course. I’ve always played well there. I love the greens – I putt well there, and that plays into the strengths of my game. I’ve always been a good striker of the ball. I hit lots of fairways, so if the putts go in, that’s great. It’s a fun event. The locals treat us very well and there’s a good vibe.
‘Obviously, I’d like to win again in 2018. I’d like to be in contention more often in the winter events. My biggest goal is to win a co-sanctioned event. I want to stay in the top five in the Order of Merit.
‘Every year since my first year on Tour, I’ve climbed in the Order of Merit. It will be tough to keep that trend going this year. It doesn’t always feel like you’re playing better every year, but each year you are a better golfer. You hit fewer bad shots and you make more money. Even if you don’t feel it, the stats show that you’re improving.
At the SA Open Ritchie had the week of his life, closing with two 65s to finish alone in third spot behind Chris Paisley and Branden Grace. He also took home R1.1m in earnings, his best return yet as a pro.
‘It’s way better than being in an office. What becomes tough is that you love the game so much, but it can also hurt you badly.’
That passion, allied with his ‘just do it’ approach to life in general and golf in particular, should be enough to see him keep the hurt at bay.
– This article first appeared in the February issue of Compleat Golfer
