Tag: Christo Lamprecht

6-foot-8 amateur Christo Lamprecht on Masters’ Crow’s Nest stay: ‘The best uncomfortable sleep’

“There’s very few places in America that have a bed big enough for me, but I’ve gotten used to that.”

It has been a good start to the week for Georgia Tech senior Christo Lamprecht.

The top-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking won the Georgia Cup on Sunday, a matchup against Nick Dunlap that pits the defending U.S. Amateur champ against the defending British Amateur winner. Lamprecht nailed a 14-foot eagle putt on the final hole at the Golf Club of Georgia to win 1 up.

Then, the duo headed to Augusta National Golf Club for the 2024 Masters. Although only Lamprecht remains an amateur, they both will make their debut at the 88th edition of the Masters.

“It’s my first time coming to the Masters,” Lamprecht said. “I promised myself the first time I come here is when I play, not come and watch. So this is so cool. It’s so fun. I have a bunch of friends from home that flew over. It’s fun to have some family and friends around. It’s pretty special.”

Lamprecht, at 6-foot-8, is one of five amateurs in the field. That means he has a couple special privileges this week others won’t be able to enjoy.

On Monday, it was the annual Amateur Dinner, where he and the other four ams got to enjoy a dinner with Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley. Then, Lamprecht got to partake in another tradition reserved for amateurs: staying a night in the Crow’s Nest.

It’s a room that is reserved for amateurs the week of the Masters. Measuring only 30 feet by 40 feet, the tight space is historic sitting above the Augusta National clubhouse.

“The Crow’s Nest is going to be fun,” Lamprecht said. “Only night I’ll be staying here, but I’m looking forward to it. Just sitting around with a bunch of amateurs and talking about our experiences and stuff, just being little kids in a toy store.”

Amateurs at the Masters usually spend one night, if not more, in the Crow’s Nest. But it’s not going to be comfy for Lamprecht, who looks like he belongs on a basketball court as much as he does a golf course.

“There’s very few places in America that have a bed big enough for me, but I’ve gotten used to that,” Lamprecht, from South Africa, said. “It’s probably the best uncomfortable sleep I’ll ever have in my life. Yeah, I’m just fortunate to be here.”

Fans may remember Lamprecht from the 2023 Open Championship when he held a share of the first-round lead after the opening day and finished as the low amateur.

Time will tell if he’s able to hoist the Silver Cup, given to the low amateur at the Masters, come Sunday.

Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen wins Cabo Collegiate, earns PGA Tour exemption

Thor is back.

Michael Thorbjornsen missed almost half a year because of a back injury, including not being able to compete in the U.S. Amateur and the Walker Cup last summer.

He returned this spring for Stanford, and it was a struggle in his first start, a T-71 at the Amer Ari. Then he looked more like the Thor college golf fans have come to know with a T-17 finish at The Prestige.

It’s his latest victory that’s proves he’s back.

Thorbjornsen won the Cabo Collegiate on Tuesday at Twin Dolphin Club in Mexico. He shot 10-under 203 for the victory, beating Ole Miss’ Michael La Sasso by a shot for the title. La Sasso shot 7 under in the final round, including a 5-under mark over his last five holes, to finish runner-up.

Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen at the 2024 Cabo Collegiate. (Photo: Stanford Athletics)

Meanwhile, for Thorbjornsen, the victory earned him a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s World Wide Technology Championship, set for Nov. 7-10 at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

It’s also an important win in terms of the PGA Tour University standings. Last week, for the first time since the Class of 2024 rankings were released, Thorbjornsen lost his top position to Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht. Now, it’s likely Thorbjornsen slides back into the top spot with only a couple of months left in the season.

The player atop the PGA Tour U standings at the end of the year will earn a PGA Tour card. Nos. 2-5 in the standings will get Korn Ferry Tour status.

Arizona State (19 under) won the team competition by nine shots, bouncing back from its 14th-place finish last week. Texas Tech (10 under) and Arkansas (2 under) were the only other teams to finish under par. Defending champion Vanderbilt placed fourth at 1 over.

ASU’s Preston Summerhays finished third at 8 under while Wenyi Ding and Josele Ballester tied for 10th at 3 under.

Florida’s stellar week, Vandy defends at Watersound among highlights from last week of college golf

It was a stellar week.

The best college golf week of the spring thus far has come and gone.

Most of the top men’s and women’s teams were in action from across the country, and there were multiple tournaments with loaded fields from Hawaii to Florida and everywhere in between.

Teams continue to jockey for position to get into NCAA Regional play, with some men’s teams having work to do to even make the postseason because of the .500 rule. Meanwhile, plenty of individuals are making strong cases as to why they should win the Haskins or Annika Awards.

All in all, it was a stellar week.

MORE: College golf practice facilities

Here’s what you need to know from the past week of college golf.

Players to watch: Predicting 10 first-time PGA Tour winners in 2024

Keep an eye on this mix of veterans and rising stars in 2024.

After taking a nearly two-month holiday hiatus, the PGA Tour will return to action the first week of January with the 2024 Sentry in Hawaii.

The last time we saw the boys in action, rookie Ludvig Aberg earned his first win on Tour at the RSM Classic in November. There were 13 first-time winners on Tour in 2023, up one from 12 the year prior. Golfweek predicted four of them.

So who do we have our eyes on for next year? From veterans to rising stars from the amateur ranks, here are 10 players who we predict will hoist a trophy on Tour for the first time in 2024.

6-foot-8 amateur Christo Lamprecht has a chance at history in South Africa

Lamprecht sits at 8 under heading to the weekend.

Remember Christo Lamprecht, the 6-foot-8 amateur who held a share of the first-round lead at the 151st Open Championship this summer?

Yeah, he’s still pretty good. And he has a chance at history this weekend in his native South Africa.

Lamprecht, a senior at Georgia Tech, sits at 8-under 136 after Friday’s second round at the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club in Malelane, South Africa. He’s two shots behind solo leader Casey Jarvis.

If Lamprecht were to find a way to win this weekend, he would be the first amateur to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the first amateur to win a DP World Tour event since Shane Lowry in 2009.

And he’s in this position without his A-game.

“Tee to green is probably not what I’ve wanted,” Lamprecht said. “I’ve hit a lot of good shots but I’ve hit some really bad ones and I’ve kind of got away with that a little bit. I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky on some holes for sure but I’ve used that luck, I’ve played really smart golf.

“My swing is not where I want it to be right now… but I’ve been scoring really good, making a lot of crucial putts and I’m just missing it in the right places fortunately.”

Lamprecht had six birdies and three bogeys in his second-round 69. During Thursday’s first round, he hit a 418-yard drive in a clip that went viral.

This summer, Lamprecht won the Amateur Championship and then earned low amateur honors at the Open Championship, his highlight that week coming after a 5-under opening round and holding a share of the lead.

This fall, he has two wins at Georgia Tech and sits No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

A win this weekend would be a big springboard into his final college semester. If he won, he would be only the fourth amateur to win a DP World Tour event.

“Last week at the (South African) Open I didn’t play too great, and I didn’t have a chance to play the weekend, so I’m looking forward to playing this weekend and putting a good showing in,” Lamprecht said.

Michael Thorbjornsen leads PGA Tour University preseason rankings for Class of 2024

The future is now.

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Fall is quickly approaching, which means college golf is right around the corner.

The 2023-24 season is almost upon us, as plenty of the best amateurs in the game will tee it up in search of a national championship. This season, the NCAA Championship moves to Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California, after three years in Scottsdale, Arizona.

With the new season also means new PGA Tour University rankings for the Class of 2024.

On Wednesday, PGA Tour U announced its preseason rankings for the Class of 2024. This will be the fourth year of PGA Tour U, with Ludvig Aberg finishing in the top spot last year and earning a PGA Tour card.

Stanford, Florida State and Vanderbilt each have three players in the top 25, and North Carolina has two. In all, the preseason top 25 includes players representing nine different countries: Australia, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Norway, South Africa and the United States.

In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking, PGA Tour U ranks players based on the last two years of their collegiate careers. Eligible tournaments include NCAA Division I men’s team competitions, official PGA Tour tournaments and select DP World Tour events. The ranking period for the Class of 2024 began Week 23/2022 and concludes May 27, 2024, following the final round of stroke play at the NCAA D-I men’s national championship.

The No. 1 player in the final PGA Tour U ranking next May will earn Tour membership, while Nos. 2-5 (fully exempt) and Nos. 6-10 (conditional) will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership. Additionally, players Nos. 6-20 will earn fully exempt membership for the North America Swing of PGA Tour Americas.

Here’s a look at the preseason rankings for the Class of 2024.

Christo Lamprecht follows 66 with 79 at British Open but will be low amateur

Lamprecht is the only amateur who will make the cut.

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Christo Lamprecht got the full British Open experience Friday.

The amateur, a rising senior at Georgia Tech who earned his way into the field via his victory at last month’s Amateur Championship, held the co-lead after an opening round 5-under 66.

Come the second round, it was the exact opposite from his incredible start. Lamprecht bogeyed five of his first seven holes, going out in 5-over 40, and he didn’t record any birdies in a 8-over 79 at Royal Liverpool, 13 shots worse than his Thursday score.

Lamprecht struggled off the tee Friday, his opening tee shot going nearly 50 yards right. From there, it was a battle for 18 holes as he went from T-1 to making the cut on the number.

However, for his first major start, Lamprecht will get invaluable major experience. And he’ll also get something else: a Silver Medal.

Open Championship 2023: Leaderboard, tee times, hole-by-hole

The 6-foot-8 Lamprecht is the only one of the six amateurs in the field who made the cut, so he will earn low amateur honors and the Silver Medal come Sunday evening in Hoylake.

On top of his senior year ahead at Georgia Tech, Lamprecht also has invitations waiting to the 2024 Masters and U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

We’ll see whether Lamprecht can find recreate some of his first-round magic over the weekend.

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Standing at 6-foot-8, Christo Lamprecht is using unique clubs at 2023 Open

Here’s Lamprecht’s golf equipment at the 2023 Open.

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South African amateur Christo Lamprecht carded seven birdies Thursday to take the early lead at the 151st British Open, which is being played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. The Georgia Tech standout who earned a spot in the field by winning last season’s British Amateur Championship truly stands out in the field because he is 6 feet, 8 inches tall.

The golf equipment you see on pro shop walls is designed to be ideally suited to a person of “average size,” but golfers who are taller or shorter often need clubs made at non-traditional sizes. Lamprecht, who is the tallest player to ever compete for Georgia Tech, falls into that category.

Lamprecht uses a 9-degree Ping G430 LST that has an actual loft of 7.5 degrees, and that is fitted with a Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XT 70 TX shaft. The club’s finished length is 46 inches, which is the maximum legal length for non-putters. The combination of Lamprecht’s long arms and that long driver helps him create enormous clubhead speed and distance, and on Thursday, his average tee shot went 325 yards, which was 33 yards longer than the average drive of the golfers in the morning wave of tee times. His longest drive of the day was 363 yards.

Open Championship 2023: Leaderboard, scores, news, tee times, more

Lamprecht’s fairway woods, irons and wedges are all 1½ inches longer than standard clubs, while his Ping 2021 Harwood Armlock putter is 43 inches long and has 4.5 degrees of loft.

Below is a list of the clubs he is using this week at Royal Liverpool:

DRIVER: G430 LST (9 degrees adjusted to 7.5 degrees), with Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XT 70 TX shaft

FAIRWAY WOOD: Titleist TSR2 (15 degrees), with Project X HZRDUS Black shaft

IRONS: Ping i230 (3), Blueprint (4-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts

WEDGES: Ping Glide Forged Pro (50, 54, 60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts

PUTTER: Ping 2021 Harwood Armlock

BALL: Titleist Pro V1

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Christo Lamprecht ‘the Lamp Post’ leads the way with 66 at 2023 British Open

Everyone in the field is looking up at the 6-foot-8 South African in more ways than one.

HOYLAKE, England — Christo Lamprecht stopped in the 18th fairway at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Thursday and took a mental photograph of his name on the famed yellow leaderboard at the 151st British Open.

Everyone in the field was looking up at the 6-foot-8 South African, who is believed to be the tallest player ever to compete in golf’s oldest championship, but not for the usual reason. Lamprecht, a 22-year-old ranked third in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and playing collegiately at Georgia Tech, carded seven birdies and shot an opening-round 5-under 66 to grab a share of the lead with Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo. Lamprecht, who is the first amateur to hold the lead or co-lead after any round on the PGA Tour since Paul Dunne in the third round at the 2015 Open Championship, smiled after the round as he described how the view from the top of the leaderboard suited him just fine.

“It’s nice to see a lot of work behind the scenes pay off,” he said. “It’s something I haven’t dreamt of yet, but it’s pretty cool.”

Open Championship 2023: Leaderboard, tee times, hole-by-hole

Lamprecht is hard to miss, and as he surged to the top of the leaderboard, his height became a topic of conversation in the gallery. Lamprecht is as lean as a 1-iron and as light as a lamp post, which might make for a good nickname (Lamprecht the Lamp Post or simply the Lamp Post has a good ring to it.)

He only sports a size 13 shoe, but he can certainly send it off the tee, noting that his stock driver carries 320-325 yards. Still, he can bust it 340 yards in the air if need be.

“But I don’t want to. Not in this weather. Not in links golf,” he said. “It rolls far enough, so I kind of keep it in front of me.”

Color long-bombing Bryson DeChambeau impressed. He stopped to take a look at Lamprecht’s action.

“He just wished he had my length, I guess,” Lamprecht cracked.

Don’t we all. Stewart Cink, the 2009 Open champion and a Georgia Tech alum, has hit balls next to Lamprecht on several occasions at the school’s practice facility in Atlanta and offered this assessment:

“As a 50-year-old golfer seeing a guy like him, he is pretty much like your basic nightmare, watching a guy like him coming up,” Cink said. “He’s got a lot of really good potential in front of him.”

At 6-foot-4, Lamprecht’s father, an accountant by trade, is shortest of the past five generations. His great grandpa measured an even 7 feet. Lamprecht played on South Africa’s junior national team but gave it up to pursue golf early in high school. That’s also about the time he went through a growth spurt.

“Everything golf-wise was everywhere,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I was changing clubs every six months.”

Almost as surprising as his gangly build is his lack of a South African accent.

“Apparently I’m a full-blown American now, which I don’t like,” he said. “Yeah, it’s bad. I don’t know why it’s changed. I can’t change it back. I don’t know what’s happening.”

As a junior golfer in South Africa, Lamprecht participated in Louis Oosthuizen’s golf academy for four years. After Lamprecht became the youngest winner of the South African Amateur in 2017, he said, “I hope Louis is really proud of me.”

Lamprecht earned a berth in the British Open field last month by winning the British Amateur, and got paired with Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion, for the first two rounds. He called Oosthuizen, who is nearly a foot shorter than him, “someone I’ve looked up to.”

“It was kind of a nice draw,” he said. “I thought they rigged it by some means, but no, I loved it.”

Yet Lamprecht said he still experienced a case of nerves at the first tee. On Wednesday afternoon, he had a lousy range session. Then he had another poor session before his first round and snap-hooked his drive at the first. That’s when his caddie, his assistant coach at Georgia Tech, Devin Stanton, told him, “Listen, you’re playing The Open as an amateur; no need to stress.”

From there, the birdies started falling, including three in a four-hole stretch on the front nine and a chip-in from about 40 yards at the difficult 14th hole.

“That was a big steal,” he said.

Oosthuizen, who shot, 74, was asked if Lamprecht had ever beaten him before when they played.

“Never by eight strokes,” Oosthuizen said.

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Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht captures 128th Amateur Championship, earns exemption into 151st Open Championship

Lamprecht’s victory secured him a spot at Royal Liverpool next month.

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Golf can be a tricky game.

Not even a month ago, Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht was struggling during the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Before his match play final against Florida’s Yuxin Lin, Lamprecht pounded balls on the range, but after nearly every swing he dropped his head and shoulders. He couldn’t figure out his swing, and ended up losing.

Fast forward a month, Lamprecht, the South African who will be a senior this fall, has secured one of the biggest amateur titles in the world. He captured the 128th Amateur Championship at Hillside Golf Club in Southport, England, beating Iowa’s Ronan Kleu 3 and 2 in the 36-hole final Saturday. He’s the second straight South African to win the cup, following in Aldrich Potgeiter’s steps from last year, and third in six years.

And for the second straight year, Christiaan Maas, an incoming sophomore at Texas, was on the bag for the winner.

2023 The Amateur Championship
Christo Lamprecht of South Africa holds the trophy with his caddie Christiaan Maas following his victory during the Final of Match Play on Day Four of The Amateur Championship at Hillside Golf Club on June 24, 2023 in Southport, United Kingdom. (Photo by Octavio Passos/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)

Standing at 6-foot-8, Lamprecht, 22, had some big moments Friday just to get into the Amateur Championship final. In his semifinal match, he was 2 down with three to play against England’s Frank Kennedy and won the final three holes to advance, including a pivotal eagle on the 17th.

The match was square after 14 holes, but Lamprecht birdied his final four holes of the morning wave, winning two of them, to take a 2-up lead into the break. He was 4 up with seven to play before Kleu won consecutive holes to make it a 2-up lead with five to play.

Then, Lamprecht nearly holed his pitch shot from the fairway on the par-4 15th and had a tap-in birdie. Kleu was unable to match him, and both made par on the par-3 16th to give Lamprecht, ranked sixth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, the title.

Lamprecht’s victory is also monumental for other reasons, including his exemptions into majors. He’ll be in the field next month for the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, and he also has a spot in the 2024 Masters and U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

Kleu, 23, was only the second player from Switzerland to ever advance to the Amateur Championship final. Twenty years ago at Royal Troon, Raphael De Souza advanced to the final before falling to Gary Wolstenholme of England.