THE FLATS – For the second straight year, Georgia Tech golfers Christo Lamprecht (South Africa), Benjamin Reuter (The Netherlands) and Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) are set to represent their home countries and compete this week in the World Amateur Team Championships in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The 72 holes of competition takes place Wednesday through Saturday at the National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Lamprecht, a senior for the Yellow Jackets, is the top-ranked amateur in the world, vaulting to the No. 1 spot after winning The Amateur Championship in June and earning low amateur honors at The Open Championship. A first-team All-American in 2023, the native of George, South Africa also is No. 1 in the current PGA Tour University Rankings and has earned a victory (Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational) and a runner-up finish (Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational) in Tech’s two fall events so far. He has two career collegiate tournament victories, including the Inverness Intercollegiate in the fall of 2022.
Reuter, a junior for the Jackets, played in five events for the Yellow Jackets in 2022-23 with a high finish of 12th at the Southern Highlands Collegiate. He went on to finish 44th at the European Amateur Championship and 54th at the European Amateur Team Championship during the summer. Reuter also finished eighth at the Dutch National Stroke Play Championship and 21st at the Dutch Amateur Championship, both in August.
Tai, a sophomore from Singapore, is currently No. 67 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, posting his highest finish of the summer at the Dogwood Invitational (19th). He is coming off a stellar freshman year in which he won two tournaments (Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational and the Maui Jim Individual Event) and was the runner-up for medalist honors at the ACC Championship.
Lamprecht and Tai traveled to Abu Dhabi Sunday night following their participation in Tech’s Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational. Reuter made the trip last week.
Conducted by the International Golf Federation (IGF), the World Amateur Team Championships are a biennial international amateur golf competition. The women compete for the Espirito Santo Trophy (Oct. 25-28) and the men compete for the Eisenhower Trophy. The Eisenhower Trophy men’s competition includes 36 teams, each with four players who each play 18 holes of stroke play over four days. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72-hole) total is the team’s score for the championship.
Lamprecht, Reuter and Tai are among nine Georgia Tech players who have competed in the World Amateur Team Championships. David Duval (1990, 1992), Matt Kuchar (1998) and Bryce Molder (2000) have represented the United States, while Mauricio Muniz (1994, 1996, 1998, 2008) played for Puerto Rico, and Minghao Wang (2010, 2012) competed for China.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
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ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
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.
