CARLSBAD, Calif. – Remember the Mayan Codices? What about Confucius’ Sixth Classic, or Ernest Hemingway’s World War I manuscripts?
No? Well, nobody does because they were lost over time.
Same goes for the complete NCAA golf record books, which means Malan Potgieter has probably yet unofficially done something that no college golfer has accomplished before him.
The Louisiana senior, who hails from Kirkwood, South Africa, but is not related to the PGA Tour’s Aldrich Potgieter, carded his second straight 4-under 68 Saturday at the NCAA Championship to run his bogey-free streak to 91 holes.
Potgieter, whose streak began on his final hole of the Sun Belt Championship and continued through a flawless NCAA Athens Regional, broke what was believed to be the NCAA record of 74 holes, set by Alabama’s Bobby Wyatt at the 2014 Mason Rudolph Championship, SEC Championship and one hole of his regional. Tiger Woods holds the men’s professional record with 110 straight while Jin Young Ko went 114 consecutive without dropping a shot in 2019.
Coincidentally, Potgieter played these past two days at Omni La Costa alongside Alabama’s William Jennings, a fellow competing individual who had head coach Jay Seawell, Wyatt’s college coach, walking with him. Seawell and several other top coaches sought out Potgieter, who pronounces his first name Ma-LAWN, afterward to give the mid-major standout some kudos.
Saturday’s four interviews, including one with Golf Channel, were easily the most Potgieter has done in his career.
“This all just reinforces that I’m a good ball-striker and my golf IQ is pretty good,” said Potgieter, who sits at 8 under for the championship, just two shots off the lead held by Arizona’s Filip Jakubcik. “I have a strong mind to when I am under pressure, I can stay calm and patient. It’s nice to not make bogeys. Even like today, I feel like I didn’t play that great, didn’t make that many putts, but I’m still in contention because I didn’t make any bogeys.”
The closest Potgieter came to a bogey all Saturday was on the par-4 first hole, his 10th of the round, where he drove his ball right into the fescue, hacked out short of the green and got up and down by rolling in a 5-footer. He barely sweated out the other 17 holes.
“When I’m over a putt I think about it, but I think it helps me focus more,” Potgieter said.
Scorecards haven’t always been this clean for Potgieter, who grew up in Kirkwood, a farm town of about 10,000 people where there are no stoplights and it takes about a minute and a half to drive the entire main street at 35 kmph. Big news recently was the opening of the city’s first paddle course. Potgieter’s home course, Kirkwood Golf Club, is nine holes with bumpy greens that, on a good day, are running 6 on the Stimpmeter. There is no range picker, so if you want to hit balls, you must go find them and hit them back.
“It was an absolute goat track,” Potgieter said, “but if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t be here.”
Potgieter wasn’t good enough to bypass college and go straight to the pros like the other Potgieter. (Malan is usually asked about Aldrich in interviews and has now started responding, “No, he’s related to me.”)
“I was a terrible putter in high school,” said Potgieter, who didn’t see drastic improvement on the greens until he switched to the broomstick after his sophomore year with the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Louisiana head coach Theo Sliman says between the ears, Potgieter is better than any player he’s ever been around. When Potgieter arrived as a freshman, he did so with mature expectations. Instead of proclaiming he wanted to win conference and postseason championships right away, Potgieter had the simple of goal of improving from a 73 shooter to a 69 stroke average – and by a half shot each semester.
“And he’s done it,” said Sliman, referencing Potgieter’s 68.7 adjusted scoring average entering nationals.
“Coming from a small town, mid-major, being an underdog, he’s educating a lot of 15-, 16-year-olds right now who have the dreams to just go to these big schools,” Sliman added. “You can do it here. Look at the year he’s had at a mid-major and what he’s done – and he’s not finished. He’s got two great rounds ahead of him.”