Tag: Leopard Creek Country Club

Altin Van der Merwe captures inaugural African Amateur Championship in playoff, earns spot in Open Championship

Talk about coming up clutch.

Sometimes scorecards don’t paint the full picture of how spectacular a shot or hole was for a certain player during a round of golf.

Altin Van der Merwe has a story he can tell the rest of his life after his triumph Saturday at Leopard Creek in Malelane, South Africa.

In the 2024 African Amateur Championship, Van der Merwe birdied the par-5 18th to earn his way into a playoff, then he birdied it again in said playoff to claim the inaugural title of the latest major amateur event and punch his ticket to the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon. He bested Texas sophomore Christiaan Maas and Ivan Verster, both fellow South Africans, to claim the trophy and win a historic championship in his home country.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Van der Merwe said. “I think it’ll kick in later. Right through the day, the two competitors I played with, two great friends actually, we went back and forth, back and forth. I think all three of us had the lead at one stage, then there was three holes, they didn’t go in, they didn’t go in, and then the last hole I just pulled a blinder out, and in the playoff I made a good two-putt. I can’t describe the feeling.”

Needing a birdie to tie Maas and Verster, Van der Merwe, 27, hit a spectacular second shot into the par-5 18th hole, giving him a chance at eagle and the win in regulation. It’s a putt he said he has hit many time before, but he couldn’t get it to fall. Nevertheless, he made birdie while Maas and Verster carded pars, and it was on to a playoff.

On the extra hole, it was again Van der Merwe carding a birdie while Maas, who a day before set the course record with a blazing 9-under 63, made par and Verster made bogey, sealing the victory.

Just last week, Van der Merwe won the Golf RSA International Amateur in a playoff. A week later with higher stakes, he did it again and punched his ticket to the Open Championship in July.

“I can’t wait,” Van der Merwe said. “Honestly, I can’t wait. It’s links golf, as well, so I’m going to be licking my chops out there with just a little sting 2-iron all day, and I just can’t wait until the time comes.”

On the women’s side, South African Kyra van Kan won the 54-hole event by nine shots over compatriot Bobbi Brown to clinch the title on a 1-under 215.

The 18-year-old earned places in the Women’s Amateur Championship, final qualifying for the AIG Women’s Open and The Investec South African Women’s Open in 2024, and the Lalla Meryem Cup and Magical Kenya Ladies Open in 2025.

Pair of LIV golfers tied for lead on DP World Tour, looking for three-peat in South Africa

The former major champions have opened up a five-shot lead.

It has been a few good weeks on and off the course for LIV Golf.

Dean Burmester has won consecutive DP World Tour events in South Africa. Additionally, last week, Joaquin Niemann won on the DP World Tour in Australia.

This week, the Jon Rahm-to-LIV news shook the golf world and has given the league plenty of momentum in its second offseason.

And it seems as if LIV golfers aren’t done winning on the course, either.

Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel are tied for the lead at 15-under 201 after three rounds at the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa. Oosthuizen tied a course record with a 9-under 63 in the third round while Schwartzel, a four-time winner of the event, shot 65. The duo are five shots in front of the field with 18 holes to play.

Oosthuizen’s round included an eagle and seven birdies. Schwartzel had six birdies, an eagle and one bogey.

Andy Sullivan and Christiaan Bezuidenhout are the closest chasers at 10-under 206. Outside of Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, no other golfer shot better than 67 on Saturday.

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.