The toweringly tall pine trees are a common sight at Augusta National, the 150-year-old giants shape the course, mesmerising to those on foot when they sway in the wind, creaking between moments of silence as a player hits a shot.
They flank the fairways on every hole, situated on a bed of rusty coloured pine needles underneath the canopy, named the ‘rough’, which all competitors aim to stay away from.
Patrons are used to tilting their head back to be able to gaze at the panoramic structures, but this year it is not the trees that have been catching their eye, instead a six-foot, eight-inch South African amateur making his debut at the Masters.
Christo Lamprecht, born in George, South Africa, aged 23, slender build, brown hair, great manners, he is quite literally ‘tall, dark and handsome’.
He has sparked many murmurs of hype inside the golfing world after he won ‘The Amateur Championship’ in 2023, gaining him an invite to the Masters.
But his world presence was yet to be unearthed, evident at his first tee shot at Augusta.
A few whispers of “Oh, wow he’s huge” or “Who is this giant?” were said as he crouched over his driver – which still looks too small for him despite it being lengthened – and crunched his ball down the fairway.
That ball, his first official shot in the tournament, went 353-yards.
Those whispers broke into “ooo’s” and “ahh’s”, as the enjoyment of seeing a two-metre lanky ‘kid’ hit a ball so far, started to catch the imagination, and in that moment a new fan favourite was born.
News caught wind that this amateur was something to behold, and at every tee box the crowds got bigger, the drives got longer, and the cheers grew louder.
As he was relatively unknown to the patrons, or maybe the fact they couldn’t pronounce his last name (Lam-Prekt), they were spreading the word as, “That’s the tall guy that hit’s it a long way.”
Yes, yes he did.
He topped the longest drive charts on day one, with an average distance of 327.9 yards, in relation, a well-known long driver Rory McIlroy only averaged 316.8 yards.
His best?
A monstrous drive at the eighth hole… 367 yards!
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Yards | 445 | 585 | 350 | 240 | 495 | 180 | 450 | 570 | 460 | 495 | 520 | 155 | 545 | 440 | 550 | 170 | 440 | 465 |
| Lamprecht Round 1 Tee Shots | 353 | 366 | 335 | 181 | 314 | 195 | 330 | 367 | 318 | 306 | 333 | 155 | 271 | 327 | 341 | 180 | 309 | 337 |
The wind was aiding the excitement, but he knows that he has the ability to go long:
“The wind helped on a couple of downwind holes like 1 and 8 and a couple others. Yeah, it’s normal for me. I guess it’s not normal for a lot of people out here.”
Christo Lamprecht speaking about his drives at the first round of the Masters.
He amassed 13 drives off the tee shot that went over 300 yards, which at Augusta can really put you in good areas:
“I think if I hit it straight, it really gives an advantage on this golf course. I think your approach shots and leaving yourself in the right positions is so crucial.”
He added:
“That’s kind of how I play my game, so I knew kind of what spots I was going to hit them to.”
Christo Lamprecht speaking about his drives at the first round of the Masters.
Despite his long game being so strong, his chipping and putting fell short in the two rounds at Augusta, eventually ending his tournament at eight-over par and missing the cut.
He left the Masters with a lot of lessons learned and certainly many new fans hoping to see the ‘tall guy’ do well in the near future.
