Ritchie brews up a victory in Stella Artois Players Championship

JC Ritchie continued his rich vein of form by winning the Stella Artois Players Championship on the Sunshine Tour by two shots on 17 under par, after a marathon day at Randpark Golf Club on Saturday.

In order to avoid the predicted adverse weather on Sunday, it was decided to play both the third and fourth rounds in a single day on Saturday which led to a marathon of 36 holes for the Sunshine Tour professionals.

Ritchie finished the third round tied for the lead with Bryce Easton on 15 under par following his round of 65 and Easton’s incredible 63.

And then Ritchie added a final round of 69 to claim victory in what has been an incredible season for him.

The moment JC Ritchie won his 11th Sunshine Tour title. 🏆 #StellaArtoisPlayersChamps pic.twitter.com/rilCURvJhg — Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) November 15, 2025

He won three times on the HotelPlanner Tour this season on his way to taking the overall Road to Mallorca rankings.

But this win was especially sweet as it was his first on home fairways since 2022.

“It’s been a while, especially back home. I’ve been winning elsewhere, so it’s really good to be taking a trophy home again,” he said.

“It was really tough because 36 holes for us is unlikely as we don’t normally do that. I had to do a lot of mental preparation yesterday – plenty of food and fluids and just try and stay calm with the rain and bad weather. The second 18 was really brutal – it was tougher than what most people think.”

Christiaan Burke (67) and Oliver Bekker (70) shared second place on 15 under par.

Hennie die Plessis continued his impressive return from injury and finished tied fourth on 14 under par after claiming a victory in his first tournament back a few weeks ago.

SCORES

267 - JC Ritchie 65 68 65 69

269 - Christiaan Burke 66 69 67 67, Oliver Bekker 67 65 67 70

270 - Hennie du Plessis 69 67 66 68, Bryce Easton 67 68 63 72

271 - Kyle Barker 66 67 67 71, Deon Germishuys 64 66 73 68

272 - Kieron van Wyk 67 70 68 67, Estiaan Conradie 66 67 69 70, Pieter Moolman 67 65 70 70

273 - Jaco Prinsloo 68 68 69 68, Nikhil Rama 64 74 67 68, Ryan Van Velzen 68 70 67 68, Herman Loubser 66 68 71 68

274 - Luke Brown 69 67 72 66, Ethan Smith 64 72 69 69, Stuart Krog 64 70 71 69, Karabo Mokoena 62 69 71 72

275 - Stals Swart 66 70 71 68, Luis Carrera 66 70 70 69, Ockie Strydom 65 72 69 69, Jordan Burnand 64 70 69 72, Jacques Blaauw 71 68 69 67, Simon du Plooy 66 67 70 72

276 - Keanu Pestana 67 69 69 71, Ulrich van den Berg 68 70 67 71, Xander Basson 69 69 68 70, Neil Schietekat 71 64 68 73, Tomas Gana 71 68 65 72

277 - Stephen Ferreira 67 68 69 73, Lyle Rowe 67 71 73 66, Daniel van Tonder 68 70 71 68, Graham van der Merwe 68 66 69 74, Samuel Simpson 71 68 68 70, Ricky Hendler 69 70 64 74

278 - Hayden Griffiths 67 70 69 72, Ruan Korb 67 69 68 74, Matthew Spacey 65 73 71 69, Peter Karmis 67 71 71 69

279 - Quintin Wilsnach 66 69 73 71, Pierre Viallaneix 65 68 72 74, Liam Grehan 71 68 70 70

280 - JJ Senekal 67 72 73 68

281 - Luke Jerling 69 68 70 74, Michael Hollick 66 71 71 73, Louis de Jager 69 68 73 71, Keagan Thomas 67 71 71 72, Christian Kriek 72 66 72 71, Carter Rowe 68 68 73 72, CJ du Plessis 66 72 70 73, Gerhard Pepler 66 72 68 75, Benjamin Van Wyk 73 66 71 71

282 - Marcel Steyn Scholtz 69 67 69 77

283 - Keenan Davidse 69 70 69 75, Ruan Groenewald 69 70 72 72, Keegan Mclachlan 68 71 73 71

284 - David Amm 69 67 72 76, Lwazi Gqira 69 70 73 72, Jean-Paul Strydom 68 71 72 73

286 - Joe Long 67 72 73 74

Missed the cut:

140 - Jason Broomhead 69 71, Mikkel Antonsen 70 70, Kyle De Beer 69 71, Jason Roets 69 71, Jean Hugo 71 69, Rupert Kaminski 67 73, Tyrone Ryan 67 73, Kyle McClatchie 70 70, Rhys West 70 70, Ryan van der Klis 69 71, Rowan Lester 69 71, Albert Venter 71 69

141 - James Pennington 72 69, Hennie Otto 69 72, Otto Van Buynder 69 72, Anthony Michael 66 75, MJ Viljoen 71 70, Tyran Snyders 68 73, Trevor Mahoney 68 73

142 - Danie Van Niekerk 73 69, Louis Albertse 73 69, Heinrich Bruiners 72 70, Jacquin Hess 71 71, Nyasha Muyambo 72 70, Makhetha Mazibuko 71 71, Hunter Epson 68 74

143 - Slade Pickering 72 71, Conner Mackenzie 69 74, Tristen Strydom 73 70, Thabiso Ngcobo 67 76, Toto Thimba Jnr 76 67, Altin van der Merwe 73 70, Paul Boshoff 71 72, Joe Knox 73 70

144 - Eric Wowor 71 73, Leon Vorster 69 75, Jovan Rebula 73 71, Jake Redman 72 72, Rourke van der Spuy 71 73, Tyron Davidowitz 72 72, Daniel Cronje 71 73, Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa 76 68, Warwick Purchase 71 73, Thomas Spreadborough 74 70

145 - Keelan van Wyk 70 75, Haydn Porteous 74 71, Jacques P de Villiers 74 71, James Mack 69 76, Ruan Conradie 71 74, Robson Chinhoi 71 74, Ronald Rugumayo 73 72

146 - Keelan Africa 73 73, Bradley De Beer 73 73, Werner Deyzel 74 72, Sentanio Minnie 73 73, Tumelo Molloyi 74 72, Carl Mwale 70 76

147 - Kael Strydom 72 75, Zachary Chegwidden 71 76, Ruan de Smidt 75 72, Marcus Sandile Taylor 74 73

148 - Ryan Tipping 73 75, Franklin Manchest 77 71, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 72 76, Dylan Mostert 74 74, Gregory Mckay 75 73

149 - Brandon Meads 75 74

150 - Mandla Dlamini Jnr 76 74, Umar Davids 73 77

151 - Merrick Bremner 77 74, Nick Cunningham 75 76

154 - Tristin Galant 77 77

156 - Jastice Mashego 76 80

158 - Pierre Pellegrin 77 81

159 - Jarryd Govender 82 77

WDN - Trevor Fisher Jnr 74 WDN, Wynand Dingle 76 WDN