The young Sunshine Tour trio of Aldrich Potgieter, Dylan Naidoo and Luca Filippi were in awe of their first experience of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship as professionals as they walked the fairways of the fabled Old Course in wind and rain in St Andrews on Wednesday.

“It’s like a childhood dream come true. You achieve quite a bit of those dreams as a professional golfer, but this is truly special. I played Carnoustie for the first time earlier this week. I’m a golf nerd so Hogan’s Alley and all of that was so special for me. And at the pro-am function I sat with and chatted to the actress Kathryn Newton. Everyone is just so friendly here,” said Naidoo as the three young South Africans shared a practice round ahead of Thursday’s first round of this prestigious pro-am tournament on the DP World Tour.

The trio form part of a healthy Sunshine Tour contingent of 28 golfers who are at The Home of Golf this week.

“There are so many South Africans playing this week. I saw Louis Oosthuizen last night and he’s been so incredible in my career. I’m really looking forward to the week and can’t wait for the tournament to start. St Andrews is just such a special town,” said Potgieter.

Filippi has also been soaking up the experience.

“I’ve played the Old Course a few times as an amateur but this is my first Alfred Dunhill Links Championship as a professional. It’s been an unbelievable experience already. At the pro-am draw I had the actor Bill Murray sitting next to me, and then I also managed to get a selfie with the footballer Gareth Bale.”