James Nitties Breaks European Tour Birdie Record
The Aussie set a new European Tour record at the Vic Open with nine straight birdies


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The Aussie set a new European Tour record at the Vic Open with nine straight birdies
James Nitties Breaks European Tour Birdie Record
James Nitties broke a record in the opening round of the Vic Open, becoming the first player in European Tour history to officially make nine birdies in a row.
The Aussie played the back nine first and after a birdie and three pars he then double-bogeyed the 14th hole to drop to one over, although it was all about to change.
He would go on to birdie the next four holes to go out in three under and then began the front nine with five straight birdies.
"I'm pumped," said Nitties. "I don't hold any other world records that I know of, so to be a part of one is pretty cool.
"I had a good chance for that tenth birdie but I didn't want to break it. It's such a longstanding record, I wouldn't do that to Mark, so it's good to hold it with him."
'Mark' who he is referring to is 1989 Open Champion Mark Calcavecchia who also made nine birdies in a row, at the 2009 Canadian Open.
O'Meara birdied holes 12 to two at Glen Abbey and that record on the PGA Tour still stands.
Bernd Wiesberger did also once make nine birdies in a row on the European Tour at the 2017 Maybank Championship, however that goes down as unofficial due to preferred lies.
England's Bronte Law also recently made nine birdies in a row during a Ladies European Tour Q-School event.
Nitties eventually signed for a 64 around the Beach Course at 13th Beach Links, shooting eight under after his double on the 14th.
"I definitely have the world record for best bounce-back stat because I holed the nine birdies and I preceded it with a double-bogey," he said. "It was a good way to turn around a double-bogey.
"I was a little peeved off that I made double from the middle of the fairway and followed up with a couple of birdies and then rattled off about seven or eight more - it's pretty special."
Nitties is two back of the lead after day one behind Nick Flanagan who shot a 10 under par 62.
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Elliott Heath is our Senior Staff Writer and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016. He graduated in Sports Journalism in 2016 and currently manages the Golf Monthly news, courses and travel sections as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Elliott has interviewed some huge names in the golf world including Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn, Bernd Wiesberger and Scotty Cameron as well as a number of professionals on the DP World and PGA Tours. He has also covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as three Open Championships including at Carnoustie in 2018 when he was inside the ropes with Tiger Woods. He has played 31 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Old Head and Alwoodley. He currently plays at West Byfleet Golf Club in Surrey, where his handicap index floats anywhere between 4-6. His golfing highlight is making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, and he has made one hole-in-one.
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Honma TR20
3 wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Max
2 iron: Mizuno MP-18 MMC Fli-Hi
Irons: Mizuno MP5 4-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
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