For 15 holes, James Nitties picked up where he left off last week.

With memories of his Australian Masters near-miss fresh in his mind – Nitties finished in a share of second behind Nick Cullen at The Metropolitan Golf Club – the Novocastrian stormed to three under through nine holes at The Australian.

At that stage, he was dicing for the lead with good friend Aron Price.

Two dropped shots in his final three holes put paid to Nitties’ hopes of finishing the opening day atop the leaderboard, but the opening round helped him move on from the disappointment of losing his opportunity to win the gold jacket.

"There was a little bit (of disappointment)," Nitties said of the days following the Masters.

"After it, I was like ‘ah, those last five holes I had so many opportunities’. If I am allowed to do that, so is Nick Cullen. To be honest, he had a putt to go 11 under on one hole, on 14."

"It’s still a good week. It’s done. I have been pretty good at moving on.  I hit like a four iron to six feet on the first hole – that helped me get a bit of confidence. I hit not a bad shot on the next, made a birdie and got that momentum from next week."

"I am playing great golf."

Not that the scoreboard necessarily reflected it.

On a day when anything under par was a good score, Nitties – boasting a new cap sponsor after BetEasy jumped on board during the Masters – had his round under control through nine holes.

Having started on the 10th, his day began to unravel when he reached the front nine.

Bogeys at the 1st, 7th and 9th eroded his early good work. His cause wasn’t helped by the inordinate delays at some holes.

"It’s really tough," Nitties said.

"I felt like I left a lot of shots out there. We had a two-group wait on two par threes. It shows how tough they are. It is tough. Everyone is having a tough go of it. It sucks when you get some momentum going and then you have to stop."

"Usually the holes you’re waiting on are difficult holes. So then it allows you to think about it more, which is not fun."
 
"Everyone has to do it."

The good news he still has time on his side as he pursues the Stonehaven Cup and the other prizes on offer at The Australian, most notably a place in The Open Championship field.

There’s also the benefits that come with a good finish on the Order of Merit – Nitties is in 10th place heading into the Emirates Australian Open.

"A good week this week would be nice – start in the British Open," he said.

"That’s pretty much the goal at the moment."