The world’s top-ranked amateur golfer, Christo Lamprecht, is living the dream ahead of the opening round of the Masters at the Augusta National.

The 6 ft 8 tall South African will be teeing it up at the major for the first time after qualifying for the tournament by winning the amateur Open Championship last year.

The world took notice of Lamprecht during the opening round at Royal Liverpool after leading the after the first round on five-under-par along with England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina.

He is one of only three South Africans that will be in action this week at the only major that gets played at the same venue each year.

As an amateur, Lamprecht gets to stay in the famous Crow’s Nest at Augusta, which is a tiny loft that gets shared by all the non-professional golfers at the major. The lanky South Africa conceded that it is a tight squeeze, but added that with height, most beds in America are too small for him.

While Lamprecht is a senior at Georgia Tech in the USA, it is his first ever trip to Augusta and he wants to soak it all in.

“It's about just having fun and this is the biggest learning curve that I could get,” said 23-year-old who hails from George on the Garden Route.

“Hopefully in a couple of years I can be in a position where I'm not the amateur number one, but I'm world number one and I've got a chance to win out here.

“The more I can learn now, the better that situation will be down the line - hopefully it is this week.

“No, it's just a learning curve and I'm taking it as such.”

Lamprecht will get his first round underway this afternoon at 14:36 and he will play alongside the 2011 champion and fellow South African, Charl Schwartzel, and Luke List of the USA.

The other South African playing this week is the in-form Erik van Rooyen who will tee-off at 14:00 along with Jake Knapp of the USA in the first group.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport