La Réserve Golf Links asks the questions and golfers answer them: Jamieson and Jarvis share clubhouse lead
There were plenty of opportunities on the front side of the alluring La Réserve Golf Links, which is hosting the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open for the second time. But there was also plenty to worry about at the breathtakingly beautiful golf course co-designed by Louis Oosthuizen and Pete Matkovich. The pretty course kept extracting a price for even the slightest lapses, resulting in bogeys or worse on the card.
La Réserve Golf Links lived up to its reputation as a stern challenge, with every kind of weather making an appearance at this mesmeric layout on Thursday. The course kept asking questions and demanding skilful play, and the golfers, for their part, tried to provide answers as best as they could.
The difficulty of the conditions on day one was reflected in the fact that, of the 155 golfers in the field, only 33 were under par.
Players experienced strong winds, heavy rain for some time, and then a hint of sun as they went about the first round. Though the sun made only a very brief appearance, it was cloudy for most of the day.
On a tough opening day marked by wind and rain, South Africa’s Casey Jarvis and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson rose to the top of the leaderboard, sharing the clubhouse lead with rounds of five-under-par 67.
Jamieson carded eight birdies against one bogey and one double bogey, while Jarvis produced an action-packed round featuring two eagles, four birdies, one bogey, and one double bogey.
The round could not be completed due to fading light and will resume on Friday morning.
A dramatic scenery combined with skilful golf...
They are one stroke clear of six players, including 2017 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open champion Dylan Frittelli; Herman Loubser, currently second on the Sunshine Tour Courier Guy Order of Merit; multiple DP World Tour winner Frenchman Alexander Levy; and South African Brandon Stone. American Ryan Gerard and Spaniard Manuel Elvira complete the six-man group at four-under-par 68.
Last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links winner Jayden Schaper, Swede Joakim Lagergren, Norwegian Andreas Halvorsen, and South African MJ Daffue finished their opening rounds with 69 each. The leaderboard is likely to undergo a makeover as the round progresses to its conclusion.
The breeze was pleasant for those who came to enjoy dramatic scenery combined with skilful golf. But the theatre was warming up despite the cool ocean winds, as golfers took on Mother Nature, which was doing its best to test them.
India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who lost his card and later regained his playing rights by finishing second at the DP World Tour Qualifying School, appeared to be going well and showing his fondness for the region—his first career win came in South Africa in 2017—as he stood at one-under through 13 holes. Then came a crippling bogey–double bogey combination on the 15th and 16th, where he found thick rough and slipped to two-over for the day. That left him needing a solid second round to make the cut and continue into the weekend.
Frittelli, who won the event in 2017 by beating India’s Arjun Atwal in a playoff, showed he is back in contention with a strong rally on his second nine. Starting from the tenth, he made two birdies and a bogey to turn at one-under. He then dropped two shots on the first and third holes to fall to one-over before mounting a fightback with three consecutive birdies from the fourth and an eagle on the par-five eighth to reach four-under.
Levy, playing alongside Frittelli, had three birdies against a bogey on the back nine of La Réserve Golf Links. Like Frittelli, he dropped a shot on the third, but again like the South African, Levy picked up three birdies in a row from the fourth to the sixth. He added another birdie on the eighth to move to five-under before a bogey on his closing hole, the ninth, brought him back to four-under.
South African Herman Loubser, who has multiple wins on the Sunshine Tour and is currently second on the 2025–26 Order of Merit, joined them at four-under, underlining the depth of South African talent.
Loubser, who started half an hour after Levy and Frittelli, birdied the 10th and 12th but bogeyed the challenging 15th to turn in one-under. On his second nine, he was unstoppable, recording five birdies in eight holes to briefly lead the field at six-under. A double bogey to close his round dropped him back to four-under, tying him with Levy and Frittelli.
It was still early days, but even as past champion Frittelli was making his presence felt strongly, two others—George Coetzee (2015 winner) and defending champion John Parry—experienced contrasting fortunes. Parry eventually finished at two-under, while Coetzee ended the day at five-over.
A treat awaits all those planning a visit to La Réserve Golf Links over the coming days.
By V Krishnaswamy
