Christo Lamprecht (Georgia Tech Athletics Photo)
The GCAA, in cooperation with the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, announced that
Christo Lamprecht of Georgia Tech,
Maxwell Moldovan of Ohio State, and
Sam Tandy of Harding are the finalists for the 2024 Byron Nelson Award. The winner will be announced on May 1 at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson Luncheon at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
Lamprecht will graduate with Honors next month with a bachelor’s degree in finance and one of the highest GPAs during head coach Bruce Heppler’s 29 years at Georgia Tech. The two-time GCAA All-America Scholar from George, South Africa, has volunteered in multiple Michael Isenhour Toy Drives with Georgia Tech Athletics, where over 2,000 toys and $8,000 donated on average assist with providing Christmas gifts for children in downtown Atlanta shelters.
During the six weeks he was home in South Africa for spring break last year, Lamprecht assisted his mother with planning and preparing all spring activities, including academic, athletic, and social functions, for his high school. An already-decorated amateur and collegiate career has summited ever since. Lamprecht, along with assisting his department’s nutrition staff, stocks, prepares and delivers snack bags for road trips across various programs. He is also the Yellow Jackets’ representative in the 2023 East Lake Cup Junior Clinic.
He has been the top-ranked men’s amateur golfer in the world for numerous weeks, The Amateur champion, the low amateur at The Open, competed in The Masters, a first-team All-American, and a competitor in both the Arnold Palmer Cup (his second straight appearance) and World Team Amateur Championship, to name a few.
He was named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2024 Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank for the second year in a row on Wednesday, which annually awards the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA, or NJCAA college golfer on all collegiate, amateur, and professional events over the last 12 months.
Lamprecht is currently ranked No. 5 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
Moldovan graduates in May with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a 3.49 GPA. Through Ohio State Men’s Golf and the Team Impact program, Moldovan has established a connection with Nolan Wince and his family since 2021 by trick-or-treating with Wince or hosting gatherings and a birthday party for him at the Buckeyes’ team facility.
Moldovan, a Uniontown, Ohio native, has been an active participant in seminars and gatherings with the Eugene D. Smith Leadership Institute and Lead Like A Buckeye, which are designed to improve leadership, character, and personal growth within Ohio State Athletics, since the 2021-22 season. He participated in Webb Simpson’s College Golf Fellowship retreat during the same season, volunteering at Oakhurst Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, helping them clean, move equipment, and reorganize.
In 2022-23 and through the Cohesion and Family Mentor Foundations, Moldovan packed “Buddy Boxes” filled with nonperishable foods and snacks that are given to children in need. As a participant in three Patriot All-America Invitationals, Moldovan took part in filling care packages through the Packages From Home program and mentoring local junior golfers during the invitational’s Junior Clinic.
He has also spoken on several podcasts and a college golf panel at the Northern Ohio PGA section to help inspire junior golfers about recruiting, communicating with coaches, and what to expect in college golf. On the course, Moldovan has rewritten the Ohio State’s record books. He owns the three lowest single-season scoring averages in program history, breaking the record each year, and has the most career rounds in the 60s and at par or better.
The two-time PING All-America and First-Team All-Big Ten performer has recorded 30 top-20 finishes in 41 career events, over 10 top-five finishes, including becoming the first Buckeye in 32 years to record seven in one season last year, and four victories entering this week’s Robert Kepler Invitational.
Tandy will graduate next month with a bachelor’s degree in finance and a 3.98 GPA. The Fayetteville, Arkansas native was given the Elite 90 Award at last year’s NCAA Division II National Championship for having the highest GPA in the field and has been a College Sports Communicators Academic All-American and two-time GCAA All-America Scholar.
Tandy has been a member of Harding’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the last three years as an officer, including being its president in 2022-23. As president, he organized the Great American Conference SAAC retreat in 2022, gaining valuable insights and experiences to further improve the committee’s effectiveness in supporting student-athletes. He also organized a clothing drive that provided clothes for 100 families in their community of Searcy, Arkansas, and a food drive where members of each athletic team on campus provided items to be shared throughout Searcy.
Between the two drives, 1,100 items were collected. Tandy is also a member of Mission 431, a student-athlete discipleship group dedicated to spiritual growth and community outreach that fosters a sense of unity and support among Harding’s athletic teams. Improving his scoring average each year in Searcy, Tandy was First-Team All-GAC and PING Third-Team All-American last year and has already finished inside the top 10 in eight of the Bison’s nine tournaments with a win in the NCAA Regional Preview, where he became the first Harding golfer to ever shoot under 200 in a 54-hole tournament.
He was named NCAA Division II SwingU College Player of the Month for October and has earned GAC Golfer of the Week honors twice so far this season.