Mutual respect ... JC Ritchie happy to accept Durban Country Club’s hospitality

By Michael Vlismas

Durban – JC Ritchie will take a 10-stroke lead into the final round of the Jonsson Workwear Open after another magnificent performance on the fairways of Durban Country Club on Saturday that broke a Challenge Tour record and which could still reach a few Sunshine Tour milestones as well.

With a bogey-free third round of 65, Ritchie pulled away from the field and to a distant 25 under par that eclipses the Challenge Tour’s previous 54-hole scoring record of 23 under par set by Kristoffer Broberg in the 2012 Rolex Trophy.

“It was another brilliant day. This golf course has been very generous to me. I keep trying to respect this golf course as much as I can and it keeps giving. I’m just very pleased,” said Ritchie.

Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin is Ritchie’s nearest challenger on 15 under par following a third round of 66 and is once again chasing a title of his own after also being in contention in last week’s Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open. Ritchie won on that occasion, and the feeling amongst his fellow professionals is that there is again very little that can stop one of the finest displays of golf seen on the Sunshine Tour.

At his current 25 under par, Ritchie is closing in on the 72-hole total of 28-under-par 260 that Louis Oosthuizen reached when he won the 2008 Telkom PGA Championship at Country Club Johannesburg. And with his current 10-shot lead, he’s also in line to match or better Oosthuizen’s 14-shot margin of victory in that 2008 tournament.

Ritchie’s current lead over 54 holes is just one short of Nico van Rensburg’s 11-stroke victory in the 2000 Vodacom Series: Gauteng played at Silver Lakes Golf Estate, over 54 holes.

And judged on pure numbers alone, it provides some perspective to the