THE FLATS – On the heels of his second collegiate victory last weekend, Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht has risen to the top spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking published Wednesday. He is the second Yellow Jacket to ascend to the No. 1 position and first since Ollie Schniederjans won the Mark H McCormack Medal in 2015.
The senior from George, South Africa, won the Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational last weekend with a tournament record score of 9-under-par 131 in the event, which was shortened to 36 holes because of weather. Lamprecht also won The Amateur Championship this summer and earned the Silver Medal as low amateur at The Open Championship.
He is on the pre-season watch list for the 2024 Fred Haskins Award, given annually to the nation’s top male United States collegiate golfer, and has been named a pre-season first-team All-American by both Golf Channel and Golfweek magazine. He is No. 2 in the most recent PGA Tour University ranking.
WAGR No 1 has the floor:
Let’s hear from Christo Lamprecht on becoming the first South African to reach the summit of world amateur golf…..
Congratulations Lampies – we are so proud!#golfrsa #itstartshere #squadgoals #proudlysouthafrican #no1fan@GTGolf @PingTour… pic.twitter.com/QKTAXqvqKh— GolfRSA (@GolfRSA) September 20, 2023
Christo Lamprecht won The Amateur Championship in June, won the Silver medal at The Open Championship. (photo courtesy of the R&A)
Ranked No. 6 nationally by Golfstat and No. 8 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index at the end of last spring, Lamprecht was a finalist for the 2023 Haskins Award and a first-team All-American by both the Golf Coaches Association of America and Golfweek magazine. The 6-foot-8 senior had a victory and three runner-up finishes in 2022-23, winning the Inverness Intercollegiate in the fall, and then finishing second at the Watersound Invitational, the Linger Longer Invitational and The Goodwin in the spring. Selected to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team for the second straight year, Lamprecht led the Yellow Jackets to the program’s 19th ACC Championship, the title at the NCAA Salem Regional and a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship. He was the team’s highest finisher in six of 12 stroke play events.
In the World Amateur Golf Ranking, golfers earn points for recognized collegiate and amateur events over the past 48-month period. Tech senior Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.) is No. 41 in the ranking published Wednesday, and sophomore Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) is No 68.
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Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 29th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, having won 72 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 19 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 33 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up five times. Connect with Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
