Take a look at JC Ritchie’s 2017 record, and you’d be forgiven for thinking his season was a bust: After his win in the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open in April, eight missed cuts, and a next-best of a share of 10th doesn’t suggest a career that’s going places.
He was so impressive after starting in Harare with a quintuple-bogey nine. He recovered, firing an eagle two on the ninth on his way to a two-over 74 opening round, and then was bogey-free in his final round on his way to a play-off 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. “Straight after Zimbabwe, which I played with bad tonsillitis, two weeks later I was in hospital for two weeks,” says Ritchie. “I had my tonsils out, and there were complications and further operations and stuff. I then played the first winter event on the Sunshine Tour straight out of the hospital. From then on, it’s just been rough. I’ve been on the back foot.”
You’d also be forgiven for thinking he might have learned from that somewhat failed approach. Not really. “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 the victory in the event got him a decent cheque, and, more importantly, precious time on the Sunshine Tour to work through whatever difficulties might come his way with the two-year exemption which came with the title.
“Playing on the tour is a lot different for me after the win,” he says. “The year obviously started off on a ridiculous high for me, and then I had a few rough patches throughout the year. I haven’t really 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 okay. You know that golf’s a tough game, and you take the difficulties on the chin and get on with it. You focus on the next year, and the next event and just keep grinding. It will get better.”
Interestingly, even with that self-awareness, things won’t change too much for him 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 tough 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 again and work on my fitness stuff. I was able to take two or three weeks off at the beginning of this year, get rested and get fit again.
“I’ll take every event as it comes. I took about 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 little bit. It’s just about keeping your feel.”
He’s also very aware of what he needs to work on. “I haven’t been scoring well the last while, although I’ve been playing well,” he says. “At the Joburg Open, I felt as if I was leading the event throughout the tournament. I just wasn’t making putts. I’m still hitting it well, so if the putts start going in, it could be good again.”
The rest of his game feels pretty good to him. “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. “I’ve always been pretty high up in greens in regulation. My only problem is I’ve been just too far away from the pin or the putts weren’t dropping.
“Putting always has been something that I’ve worked hard on. I had just changed to the Kramski putter at Zimbabwe, and the week after, the putter was bent during a flight. I just 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 just not scoring that’s been the problem.”
Putting is the story, as usual. And how he got his Kramski, and how he wants to keep it is an interesting tale. “I met Mr Kramski last year at the Dimension Data Pro-Am,” 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 and spent some time on the putting green. I spent an hour or two with him and he managed to get me a putter that worked from the day I got it.
“After the bending incident, I’ve got one now 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 him, 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 much more patient than I would have been 12 months ago. The win brings that patience. It’s okay if you miss a cut. It’s okay if 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 were able to choose, I’d like to go to the United States. I hit the golf ball high with lots of spin. I’ve just never liked the idea of Europe, so the US would be the way to go for me.
He’s going to try and go via Africa, though. “I don’t think there’s pressure on me ahead of this year’s Zimbabwe Open,” he says. “I love that course. I’ve always played well there. I love the greens – I always manage to 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 always a fun event. The locals always treat us nicely and it’s always a good vibe.
“I’d like to win again in 2018. I’d like to be in contention more often in the winter events. Obviously, the biggest goal is to win a co-sanctioned event. I want to try and get into 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 every year, but every year you are a better golfer. You hit fewer bad shots, you make more money. Even if you don’t feel like it, the stats say you’re improving.
“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.
