Staff WriterThe Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player has a new pace-setter, and he didn’t tiptoe into the spotlight. Kristoffer Reitan bulldozed his way to a nine-under-par 63 in Sun City, turning the opening round into his own personal highlight reel.
Norwegian Unknown Turns Headliner
Coming into the week, Reitan’s South African CV was about as intimidating as a three-putt bogey – a pair of ties for 42nd at the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Championship and the 2020 Limpopo Championship. This time, he decided he’d had enough of the supporting cast gig.
He started like a man who’d accidentally read Sunday’s script on Thursday morning. At the first, he clipped his approach to two feet. At the second, he poured in an eight-footer. Two holes, two birdies, and the Nedbank Golf Challenge had its early storyline.
From there, the round gathered pace. A brilliant approach from a fairway bunker at the sixth to six inches set up a third birdie, and four in succession followed around the turn, including putts from 12 feet at the eighth and 11 at the 11th. By the time he reached the 14th and 15th, he’d picked off two more birdies for good measure.
The only blemish came at the 17th after he found sand off the tee and dropped his lone shot of the day. He responded the way leaders should: by holing from the fringe at the last to drag the round back to nine under and walk off with a 63 that made everyone else’s card look a shade underdressed.
Reitan knew exactly how good it was. “It was a brilliant day, very, very happy the way I played. Off the tee, in towards the greens, I was happy, and a couple of wedge shots that were really good, so that was nice to see, and I was rolling the putter well. So it was a great start and I’m very, very pleased.
I’ve been working hard on (approach play) recently and it’s good to have those days where you see that it’s improved, and I’m hoping I continue that.
Comfortable, yeah, but I haven’t had any particularly good results in South Africa so I’m hoping to change that this week. But I am playing better overall right now than I was when I played here previously so hoping that counts for something.”
On this evidence, it counts for quite a lot.
Armitage Fires – Then Blows A Fuse
For much of the day, the clubhouse lead at the Gary Player Country Club looked like it would belong to Marcus Armitage or Jesper Svensson, who both reached six under before Reitan turned their hot starts into warm-up acts.
Armitage, starting on the 10th, flew out in 31 and promptly added a sixth birdie at the first. He then moved to eight under with further gains at the first and sixth, looking every bit like he might be the one to dominate the early Nedbank Golf Challenge headlines.
Then came the par-five ninth – and the kind of closing seven that makes you stare at your card as if someone else has written on it. The triple bogey dumped him back into a share of second at six under alongside Svensson and Adrien Saddier.
Still, Armitage took plenty of positives from the day, in his own straight-talking way. “I made a lot of birdies and just had a lot of fun out there and yeah, just been a cool day.
I spent three days in Dubai with Liam James, my swing coach, and we started to work on a new thing on the downswing. It’s great to come here and test it on a golf course like this, it’s really tricky and a good golf course. It worked for 17 holes! So back to the range and iron that out, but yeah, great day.
I haven’t had a club sponsor for a year, so I’ve been using the spider putter for a year now, a slightly different one this week, different face but everything (set up) the same. New driver but everything the same really, just trying to keep everything simple.”
Seventeen holes of top-drawer golf and one car-crash finish – classic tour reality. No fluff, no excuses, just back to the range.
Svensson’s Tap-In Thunderbolts
Svensson, who began on the back nine, took a steadier approach. He went out in one under before his inward nine lit up with two eagles, and not the scruffy, get-away-with-it kind either.
“It was good, two eagles with tap-ins so that’s always fun. Both great tee shots, both (approaches) were within two feet, so it was two very nice ones.
Ball striking was great, hit some really great approaches, tee-shots. It’s all managing the way you miss out here, it’s very easy to make mistakes, so I’m quite happy with how I navigated my round today. It seemed to work today so I think I’ll stick to the same plan.
It’s always very nice to get out of the cold and darkness in Sweden and come down here and enjoy the sun a little bit. And the golf course is great.”
Two tap-in eagles and a tidy card on a course that punishes anything lazy – that’s how you keep yourself in touch when someone like Reitan is trying to sprint away over 18 holes.
Saddier, Home Hopes And A Crowded Chase Pack
Saddier’s route to six under was far less dramatic, but no less efficient: six birdies in a bogey-free round, the kind of quiet excellence that tends to age well over four days at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Behind the leading trio, a logjam at four under kept things honest. Garrick Higgo and Shaun Norris led the South African challenge, joined by Tom McKibbin, Julien Guerrier, Thomas Detry and Haotong Li in a group of six tied for fourth.
It’s exactly the sort of leaderboard Gary Player would approve of – a mix of global accents, big-hitting youngsters, seasoned campaigners and a few players who know this stretch of South African turf all too well.
Reitan’s Chance To Rewrite His South African Story
For Reitan, this isn’t just about a pretty number on Thursday. It’s about finally turning “comfortable in South Africa” into something that shows up in the record books. He’s tried this part of the world before, left with little more than air miles and experience, and he knows it.
Now he’s top of the board at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, holding off a chasing pack heavy on birdies, eagles and local knowledge. The fairways are still lined with trouble, and the Gary Player Country Club doesn’t stay friendly for four days straight, but he’s given himself exactly what every pro wants here: a head start and a reason for everyone else to look up at the leaderboard and think, “Right, we’ve got work to do.”
No hype, no guarantees – just a brutally good opening 63 and a man who looks ready, finally, to make South Africa more than just a comfortable stop on the schedule.
