Twelve years after Brandon Stone and Dylan Frittelli left the University of Texas to pursue their professional golf dreams, a new pair from the same South African region is taking the college golf world by storm. 

Junior Christiaan Maas and freshman Daniel Bennett are two of the top golfers on the collegiate scene from Pretoria, South Africa, with both ranked in the top 20 of the Scoreboard individual rankings. But while the two might be from the same country, their paths to Texas couldn’t be more different.

While Maas lived in South Africa for all of his childhood, Bennett lived in Botswana and Canada before his family moved to South Africa in 2020.

Living in much different climates from the United States, Bennett and Maas picked up hobbies that aren’t seen frequently in the U.S. With rugby being a huge sport in South Africa, Maas became a big fan, playing during his free time and showing his pride when South Africa was playing on the international stage.

On the other hand, Bennett grew up with huge aspirations to play cricket professionally. If it wasn’t for his family moving to British Columbia, golf might have never entered the picture.

“Growing up, I never wanted to play golf,” Bennett said. “I wanted to play cricket. It was probably a good thing we moved to Canada, otherwise, I wouldn’t be playing golf.”

Both of their games took off in South Africa, and eventually, top colleges in the U.S. were recruiting them. When Texas called Maas, there was no looking back for him.

“The Longhorn brand is known across the world,” Maas said. “It was pretty much a no-brainer.”

Bennett had a familiar connection with Maas and head coach John Fields, which helped land him in Austin. Bennett’s coach, Nico van Rensburg, was also Maas’s instructor in South Africa. While it wasn’t the only factor, Bennett was intrigued by the idea of playing with his fellow countryman and committed to Texas.

Professional golf is almost certainly in the future for this star South African duo, and they have their eyes set on representing their country in the Olympics one day. They’ve represented South Africa in the Spirit Cup together, and doing it on the biggest international stage would be a full-circle moment.

“Every time you wear the green and gold, it’s very special,” Bennett said. “It’s definitely not an easy task, but it would be great if I were able to do that at some point down the road.”

As Bennett and Maas continue to chase their dreams in the U.S., they’re carrying the pride and tradition of South Africa along with them.