When Aldrich "Rocket Man" Potgieter hits a golf ball it stays hit.
And the fans at this week's Alfred Dunhill Championship at Royal Johannesburg’s superbly manicured East Course starting on Thursday can expect this 21-year-old phenomenon to be regularly unleashing those mammoth 400-yard drives that have stunned the golf world.
"Last week at Sun City in the Nedbank I didn't use driver much because on that golf course if you hit driver you can run out of fairway, end up in the bush and lose a golf ball,” said Potgieter during a practice round on Wednesday.
“But here at Royal Joburg there’s not much rough so even if you miss the fairway you’re unlikely to be in any trouble. So my plan is to use my driver a lot because you can really let it rip,” smiled the powerfully built young pro who won the Rocket Classic on the PGA Tour this year, leading to speculation that he may well be the next South African super star.
Potgieter is drawn in Thursday morning’s first round with compatriot Branden Grace and England’s John Parry. And in the group immediately behind them is Dean Burmester – no slouch off the tee himself, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and France’s Martin Couvra.
Burmester, who has made a fortune on the LIV breakaway tour, agrees with Potgieter that this DP World Tour event is going to be about big hitting.
“The strategy how I see it is to use driver a lot and try and get as close to the par-4s as you can. No holding back.”
Bezuidenhout reckons it’s going to be a low-scoring week.
“With the rough not much of a problem, and the course soft after all the rain – which means you can attack the pins and play target golf, I foresee a bunch of birdies being made out there."
Marquee threeballs in the afternoon line-up on Thursday sees Louis Oosthuizen alongside fellow South African Jaden Schaper and Spain's Angel Ayora, and defending champion Shaun Norris bracketed with compatriot Thriston Lawrence and Joost Luiten from the Netherlands.
The East Course measures 7656 yards (7001 metres) off the back markers, which is pretty long by world standards.
But today’s top players hit the ball so far that fans can expect to see plenty of powerhouse drive-wedge action even on the long par-4s.