Teder secured a spot at the Final Qualifier for The Open. Lamprecht outplayed Teder and earned the tournament trophy

Thanks to reaching the quarterfinals at The Amateur Championship, Richard Teder received an invitation to the Final Qualifier of The Open where the last of this year’s spots for The Open are being filled. The four tournaments will be held on the 4^th of July on four different courses and the 36-hole competitions will decide who will get the last 16 passes to the oldest major golf tournament.

Christo Lamprecht from the Republic of South Africa was crowned winner of the 128^th Amateur Championship. The highest-ranked player of the WAGR beat the Swiss Ronan Kleu in the final with the result 3&2. Therefore, the currently sixth-ranked amateur golf player became the third South African golfer who has won the tournament in the last six years. Six years ago, Jovan Rebula was crowned winner and last year it was Aldrich Potgieter’s turn to win. The 2.03 metres tall giant used to play tennis on a good level in his youth, but still chose golf and is a member of the Georgia Tech university golf team that made it to the NCAA division I finals, where they had to admit defeat by Florida. With this victory, the 22-year-old Lamprecht earned a spot at this year’s Open and also at next year’s Masters and U.S. Open. The 23-year-old Swiss Kleu who lost the 36-hole final held only the 376^th WAGR position before the tournament, that is, he placed lower than, for instance, Teder. We will see the Swiss play already next week in Pärnu where, on Wednesday, the European Individual Championships will begin.

288 players from 38 different countries took part in this year’s competition which is one of the two most important amateur golf tournaments and has been held since 1885. The starting list included five Estonians, out of whom four made it to match play. After stroke play, Richard Teder was placed second. Teder’s wonderful journey continued until the quarterfinals where he had to admit defeat by the later champion. Amongst the players who finished on lower positions, there was also John Gough, Europe’s current best amateur golf player who was the second-placed participant according to the world ranking. The tournament that has been won by Bobby Jones, Sir Michael Bonallack, José María Olazábal and Sergio García in the past will be held in Ireland in the Ballyliffin Golf Club next year.