The Amateur

Top-ranked Lamprecht progresses to last-32 at The Amateur Championship

The R&A

21 Jun 23

3 mins

South African Christo Lamprecht, the highest-ranked player in the field, came through two match play ties to progress to the last-32 of The 128th Amateur Championship at Hillside.

The 22-year-old, sixth on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), is among the contenders to win the trophy lifted by his compatriot, Aldrich Potgieter, at Royal Lytham & St Annes 12 months ago. After a record 85 players qualified for the knock-out stage at Hillside, Lamprecht came through the preliminary round with a narrow one-hole win over Jack Ingham from the Netherlands. Making his third appearance in the Championship, Lamprecht then claimed a 3&2 victory over American George Duangmanee to keep his hopes alive.

Aldrich aim

“This morning was probably one of the best match play matches I've played in a long time,” said Lamprecht. “I think I was about seven-under-par. Jack was about six-under. I won on 18 for a one-up win. I was very pleased the way I was playing, and win or lose, I would have been happy with how I played that round. “Since The Amateur last year I’ve spent a lot of time with Aldrich (Potgieter) and he's a great golfer. I would love to do exactly what he did last year.” It was a disappointing day for leading qualifier Ben Van Wyk of South Africa lost out by two holes to Wales’ Caolan Burford, who reached the quarter-finals of last year’s R&A Boys’ Amateur at Carnoustie. England’s John Gough, a semi-finalist a year ago and a renowned match play specialist, also progressed to the last-32 after a 2&1 triumph against Oliver Mukherjee, the reigning Scottish Amateur champion. Gough has won both the Australian Master of the Amateurs and the Irish Amateur Open this year and closed out his win with a battling half at the par-5 17th.

Christo Lamprecht - South Africa

“This morning was probably one of the best match play matches I've played in a long time. I was very pleased the way I was playing, and win or lose, I would have been happy with how I played that round."

Match play star

Gough, 24, said, “I enjoy match play. I just find when you play stroke play you don't have to play everyone in the championship. So you might only be one of 288 players, but you're also playing the golf course. “When you're playing match play, there's just one other score you have to worry about. I find it almost, in a sense, easier because you don't have to sign a scorecard at the end or anything. It's just how the day went.” Another semi-finalist from last year, Ireland’s Alex Maguire, recovered from three down after nine holes to defeat Jakob Melin from Sweden with a birdie on the 18th. “I've had a nice few events over the last few weeks,” said Maguire. “Form is a nice thing to say but when you get out on the golf course, you can't rely on form. You have to commit to the shots. You can't go out on form and freewheel it. You have to commit to the process and I did a good job doing that. I did make a nice run at it last year and would love to see how far I can go this year.”

Kennedy progresses

Fellow Irishman and former Walker Cup player Caolan Rafferty was also a victor, ousting Thom Linssen from the Netherlands 4&3, while Frank Kennedy continued the form that saw the 17-year-old win the Lytham Trophy earlier this season as he beat Mark Stockdale 4&2 in an all-English tie. Richard Teder from Estonia, who finished joint-second in stroke play qualifying, also reached the last-32 after his 2&1 win against England’s Charlie Crockett. American Tommy Morrison was a winner too, beating Swede Gustav Andersson 5&4. “It's my first time out of the country (USA) and my first time in England,” said Morrison, who hails from Texas. “But I've enjoyed playing the bump-and-runs and enjoying the links golf short game. It's definitely a different look from back home playing in the States but I feel that I've got some nice touch around the greens right now and that definitely worked to my favour.” The winner of Saturday’s 36-hole Final will secure exemptions into The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool next month, the US Open, and, by tradition, an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament.

John Gough - England

“When you're playing match play, there's just one other score you have to worry about. I find it almost, in a sense, easier because you don't have to sign a scorecard at the end or anything. It's just how the day went.”

Spectators welcome

Sweden’s Albert Hansson, the reigning Boys’ Amateur Champion, also bowed out losing 5&4 to England’s James Claridge, as did Ireland’s Mark Power in the morning action after a 3&2 defeat to Welshman James Ashfield. Late in the day, an epic match unfolded as Mats Ege from Norway won at the 27th against Nicola Gerhardsen of Switzerland. Spectators are welcome to attend The Amateur Championship with tickets available to purchase at www.randa.org. Adult tickets are available from £10. To encourage children and young people to attend The Amateur, The R&A will continue the successful ‘Kids go Free’ programme which provides children under-16-years-old free entry to the Championship when accompanied by a paying adult. Half-price youth tickets are also available for 16-24-year-olds. View match play scoring from The Amateur Championship here.

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The Amateur

Field reduced to 32 at Hillside | The 128th Amateur Championship

After a day of match play, we have our last-32 in The 128th Amateur Championship.