Big-Hitting Amateur Christo Lamprecht Hits First Two Masters Drive Over 700 Yards

Christo Lamprecht made an eye-catching start to his debut Masters appearance as the big-hitting amateur drove a combined 719 yards with his first two tee shots.

Lamprecht, who earned his spot in this week's field after winning the 2023 Amateur Championship, is renowned for his distance off the tee, in part due to his lofty six-foot-eight frame.

Earlier in the year, he made headlines with a monster 418-yard drive at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the 23-year-old's driving prowess was on show again right from the off at Augusta National as he sent his first two drives a mammoth 353 and 366 yards respectively.

Despite having just 89 yards into the pin on the first, Lamprecht was unable to make birdie but made no mistake at the par-five second to get up and running for the tournament.

While the South African is making his first Masters appearance, he will be able to draw on major championship experience following his impressive showing at the Open last summer which saw Lamprecht take a share of the first-round lead and go on to earn the Silver Medal as the week's low amateur. 

The Georgia Tech collegiate golfer is one of five amateurs in this week's Masters field along with Neal Shipley, Stewart Hagestad, Jasper Stubbs and Santiago de la Fuente. 

The remarkable distance of Lamprecht's drives also perhaps highlights why the R&A and USGA - golf's governing bodies - have announced plans to rollback the golf ball in a bid to curb ever-increasing driving distances.

The Masters has been far from immune from the trend of longer driving distances and, speaking earlier in the week, Augusta chairman Fred Ridley threw his full support behind the plans.

"For almost 70 years, the Masters was played at just over 6,900 yards. Today the course measures 7,550 yards from the markers, and we may well play one of the tournament rounds this year at more than 7,600 yards," he said.

"I've said in the past that I hope we will not play the Masters at 8,000 yards. But that is likely to happen in the not-too-distant future under current standards. Accordingly, we support the decisions that have been made by The R&A and the USGA as they have addressed the impact of distance at all levels of the game."