Juan Carlo "J. C." Ritchie (born 24 February 1994) is a South African professional golfer. He plays on the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour where he has won 11 times.
Professional career Ritchie's first win on the Sunshine Tour was at Royal Harare Golf Club in the 2017 Zimbabwe Open where he beat Trevor Fisher Jnr at the second hole of a playoff. He was third in the 2018 BMW SA Open and also finished third in the 2017–18 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. In August 2018 he won the Sun Carnival City Challenge. In March 2019, partnered with Jaco Prinsloo, he won the Sunshine Tour Team Championship and the following week won the Limpopo Championship at the first hole of a playoff with Steve Surry. The following month he won the Zanaco Masters in Zambia, again at the first hole of a playoff against Rhys Enoch. He had two further wins in early 2020, retaining the Team Championship and the Limpopo Championship in successive weeks.
In May 2021, Ritchie won the Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open, beating Jacques Blaauw in a sudden-death playoff. He successfully defended this title in February 2022, winning by one shot ahead of Christopher Mivis. The following week, he won the Jonsson Workwear Open, winning by six shots, again ahead of Mivis.
Ritchie won three times on the Challenge Tour in 2025, earning him an automatic promotion to the European Tour for the remainder of 2025 and all of 2026. He went on to finish season as the rankings winner.
Professional wins (16) Sunshine Tour wins (11) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up123 Apr 2017Zimbabwe Open74-67-67-64=272−16Playoff Trevor Fisher Jnr210 Aug 2018Sun Carnival City Challenge64-72-72=208−81 stroke Alex Haindl, Toto Thimba Jnr32 Mar 2019Team Championship(with Jaco Prinsloo)61-66-62=189−271 stroke Jacques Blaauw and Merrick Bremner410 Mar 2019Limpopo Championship66-69-70-65=270−18Playoff Steve Surry57 Apr 2019Zanaco Masters70-68-66-70=274−18Playoff Rhys Enoch625 Jan 2020Gauteng Team Championship (2)(with Jaco Prinsloo)61-68-62=191−252 strokes Jaco Ahlers and Vaughn Groenewald72 Feb 2020Limpopo Championship1 (2)66-69-67-67=269−192 strokes Wilco Nienaber82 May 2021Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open171-69-68-66=274−14Playoff Jacques Blaauw920 Feb 2022Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open1 (2)69-66-67-68=270−181 stroke Christopher Mivis1027 Feb 2022Jonsson Workwear Open161-63-65-71=260−266 strokes Christopher Mivis1115 Nov 2025Stella Artois Players Championship65-68-65-69=267−172 strokes Oliver Bekker, Christiaan Burke 1Co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour
Sunshine Tour playoff record (4–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12017Zimbabwe Open Trevor Fisher JnrWon with birdie on second extra hole22019Limpopo Championship Steve SurryWon with birdie on first extra hole32019Zanaco Masters Rhys EnochWon with birdie on first extra hole42021Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open Jacques BlaauwWon with birdie on first extra hole
Challenge Tour wins (7) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up12 Feb 2020Limpopo Championship166-69-67-67=269−192 strokes Wilco Nienaber22 May 2021Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open171-69-68-66=274−14Playoff Jacques Blaauw320 Feb 2022Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open1 (2)69-66-67-68=270−181 stroke Christopher Mivis427 Feb 2022Jonsson Workwear Open161-63-65-71=260−266 strokes Christopher Mivis520 Jul 2025German Challenge66-66-66-66=264−248 strokes Joshua Berry, Tom Lewis614 Sep 2025Open de Portugal70-66-67-66=269−151 stroke David Law721 Sep 2025Italian Challenge Open69-63-68-68=268−202 strokes Robin Petersson, Christofer Rahm 1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour
Challenge Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12021Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open Jacques BlaauwWon with birdie on first extra hole
IGT Pro Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up17 Aug 2013IGT Winter Challenge State Mines CC−8 (72-65-71=208)2 strokes Rhys West213 Aug 2014Race to Asian Q-School Irene Country Club−17 (65-67-67=199)5 strokes Jason Smith (a)
Results in major championships Results not in chronological order in 2020. Tournament20202021Masters TournamentPGA ChampionshipU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipNTT40
CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament2018201920202021ChampionshipT68Match PlayNT1InvitationalChampions76NT1NT1 1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
NT = No tournament "T" = Tied
See also 2022 Challenge Tour graduates 2025 Challenge Tour graduates List of golfers with most Challenge Tour wins List of golfers to achieve a three-win promotion from the Challenge Tour
References
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