When Christo Lamprecht, an amateur at the time, took the lead on Thursday at the 2023 British Open at Royal Liverpool, the entire golf world was in awe. And not just because he took the lead as an amateur at the British Open.

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No, it was much more due to the fact that Lamprecht is a legitimate giant. The 23-year-old South African stands at 6-foot-8, allowing him to create a preposterous amount of speed in his golf swing that often results in absolute NUKES like this 418-yard missile at the Alfred Dunhill Championship last December:

While Lamprecht’s Cinderella run ended quickly at the 2023 Open, he did still manage to finish with Low Amateur honors. He then returned to Georgia Tech in the fall for his senior year, earning ACC Player of the Year honors, winning the Byron Nelson Award and being named a finalist for the Fred Haskins Award, which is given to the country’s top male collegiate golfer. Auburn’s Jackson Koivun ultimately won it in 2024. 

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After graduation, Lamprecht turned pro and began his Korn Ferry Tour career in June at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open. He missed his first three cuts on the KFT but then tied for fifth at The Ascendant presented by Blue. This week, he joined us on The Loop podcast on behalf of Under Armour to chat about his whirlwind year since the 2023 Open. Lamprecht also tells us about family vacations with Ernie Els back home in South Africa, the hilarious reason he gets in trouble when he goes back to his home country and the one sport he was better at than golf growing up. Please, have a listen below, and like and subscribe to The Loop wherever you get your podcasts. 

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com