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The Amateur
Lamprecht wins The Amateur Championship in style at Hillside
24 Jun 23
3 mins
South African Christo Lamprecht defeated Ronan Kleu from Switzerland in a thrilling contest to win The 128th Amateur Championship at Hillside.
In front of large crowds on a glorious day, the 22-year-old claimed a 3&2 victory in an exciting 36-hole Final to lift one of the most prestigious trophies in the amateur game. From an international field of 288 players representing 38 countries, Lamprecht became the third South African winner in the last six years after Jovan Rebula in 2018 and Aldrich Potgieter last year. Lamprecht – the highest-ranked player in the field at sixth on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) and a prodigious ball striker from his 6ft 8in frame – squeezed into the top-64 and ties for the match play stages before excelling in the knock-out format.Overjoyed
“I'm over the moon,” he said. “I haven't won something big in a long time and it's one to definitely win for sure. I'm ecstatic. I cannot kind of comprehend my feelings right now. “I tried to stay in my zone the last couple of holes so much. Ronan was playing good and fighting back hard. It hasn’t sunk in yet but it feels good. I'm guessing South Africans like playing links golf. We kind of like being creative so I guess that flowed over into this Championship. It's always nice to be part of history with South Africa and enrich it.” By virtue of his victory, Lamprecht secured exemptions into The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool next month, the US Open, and, by tradition, an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament in 2024. He also joins a Championship roll of honour which includes Bobby Jones, Sir Michael Bonallack, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia. He added, “It's amazing to get into The Open. It's probably the biggest kind of milestone I put on myself this year before I turn pro is just to get myself in a major and get that experience. To get into three is pretty amazing. But right now I'm going to go and celebrate as much as I can.”
Christo Lamprecht - South Africa
“I'm over the moon. I haven't won something big in a long time and it's one to definitely win for sure. I'm ecstatic. I cannot kind of comprehend my feelings right now. "
Caddie double
It was also a notable day for his caddie and International Arnold Palmer Cup teammate, Christiaan Maas, who was on the bag for Potgieter when he won at Royal Lytham & St Annes 12 months ago. “He's an amazing golfer in his own right,” added Lamprecht. “He's going to do amazing things and he's probably going to win this Championship as well, in my opinion. Just having him on the bag and having a little bit of experience, we kind of play golf very similarly and approach the game the same way.” Kleu was aiming to become the first Swiss player to win The Amateur and the 23-year-old – who tied second in stroke play qualifying – made three late birdies to push Lamprecht to the 34th hole. In the morning action, Lamprecht’s opening birdie gave him the advantage. But Kleu, placed 376th in the world rankings, settled down and achieved three birdies in a row from the 6th to go one up. With his precision iron play, the Swiss national team member also birdied the 9th to move two ahead after nine holes.Fantastic final
In a see-saw contest, Kleu bogeyed the 10th and 11th – with Lamprecht also eagling the 11th – as the match returned to all square. Lamprecht, a first team All-American for Georgia Tech with eight top-10 finishes in the 2022-2023 season, then seized control. Aided by his long driving, he birdied five of the last seven holes – including four in a row from the 15th. However, Kleu closed with two birdies of his own to stay in touch at only two down at the halfway stage. Lamprecht, who was six-under-par for the morning’s 18 holes, had played 21 more match play holes this week than Kleu but he showed no signs of tiredness to take the 19th after Kleu’s bogey to go three up. It stayed that way until the 24th when the Swiss struck it close to reduce the deficit. A brilliant pitch from the dunes from Lamprecht restored his advantage at the 27th. The 2017 South African Amateur winner made another decisive move at the short 28th, holing from 15 feet for back-to-back birdies to go four up.
Ronan Kleu - Switzerland
“I'm pretty down unfortunately but, yeah, it's definitely a good week. I can take a lot of positives from it. Golf is growing in Switzerland. I hope that I manage to help out.”