Sharma battles brutal La Réserve as Jarvis and Jamieson set Mauritius Open pace

Shubhankar Sharma opened with a two-over 74 to sit tied-71st after a turbulent first round at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on the demanding La Réserve Golf Links. The recent DP World Tour Qualifying School runner-up, who earned back his card only weeks after losing it, mixed three birdies with three bogeys and a double on a weather‑hit day.

Sharma was one under through 13 holes and handling the wind and rain well before a bogey–double stretch dropped him three shots in two holes. All three bogeys came on par‑5s, and the double at the 16th followed a failed escape from the rough, turning a promising card into a fight to limit damage. He still drew on positive island memories, having finished tied-27th in Mauritius in 2017 before winning his maiden DP World Tour title at the Joburg Open the following week.

La Réserve, co‑designed by Louis Oosthuizen and Peter Matkovich, again showed its teeth, with only 33 players breaking par despite some scoring chances on the front nine. South Africa’s Casey Jarvis and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson set the early target with matching five-under 67s, Jarvis compiling two eagles and four birdies and Jamieson posting eight birdies against one bogey and one double. They led by one over a six‑man group at four under that included former Mauritius champion Dylan Frittelli, Frenchman Alexander Levy, South Africans Brandon Stone and Herman Loubser, American Ryan Gerard and Spain’s Manuel Elvira.

Frittelli’s 68 came via a big back‑nine rally: after dropping to one over with bogeys at the first and third, he reeled off three straight birdies from the fourth and added an eagle at the par‑5 eighth. Levy matched him with a similar surge, making three birdies in a row from the fourth and another at the eighth before a closing bogey at the ninth. Loubser, second on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, joined them at four under, further underlining the depth of South African golf on a day when La Réserve asked for — and often demanded — the very best from the field.

Photo & Story – V Krishnaswamy in Mauritius