Nitties makes history on #VicOpen

James Nitties feared the worst on 13th Beach.

He had just been one of two pairings through four holes of the ISPS Handa Vic Open and had missed short bird chances on three consecutive holes after an opening bird on the 10th hole of the Beach Course.

Then, from the middle of the fairway with a relatively short second to the par-four 14th, the New South Welshman made its way to the left, fuzzed its third in a bunker, took a nasty double bogeyman and found himself – perhaps incorrectly – on someone who is likely to stay behind on a day with low scoring.

But instead of complaining and worrying about what might have been possible, Nitties turned it around.

In a hurry.

Great time.

In fact, he reacted in a way that only three other people in the history of the tournament golf have.

Nine birds. In a row.

After three years, the other players knew something was wrong.

After five years they do not even call it audible to Nitties.

After seven years, even his caddy Steven Potts was too nervous to take the lead, otherwise he would be blamed for ending the magic.

At the fifth hole, Nitties had reduced the gap to good size Nick Flanagan from 11 shots two hours earlier to just two after his ninth consecutive one-putt.

He was within 4m on the sixth for his chances of glory – the elusive 10th consecutive birdie that would have separated him from Mark Calcavecchia, Amy Yang and Bronte Law as those who had nine on the bounce.

But unfortunately, the putt slipped by and he took a quarter of the sign.

"I have no other world records that I know, so being part of one is pretty cool," Nitties said.

"I had a good chance for that 10th bird, but I did not want to break it, it's such an old record.

"I certainly have the world record for the best bouncing stat, because if I hid the nine birdies and I went with a double bogeyman.

"I was a little peeved that I doubled from the middle of the fairway and followed with a few birdies and then rattled about seven or eight more is pretty special."