Dean Burmester, a 36-year-old by way of South Africa, comes from a wildly athletic family.
If his Wiki page can be counted on, Dean’s father, Mark, played for Zimbabwe’s national cricket team; one of his cousins, Ryan, is the best spearfisherman this side of Tiger Woods; and his mother, Michelle, holds the women’s course record at Royal Harare GC in northwest Zimbabwe. Or did as of 2022.
Dean got his talent from his mother. If you found your way to this article, you likely already know that he, too, is a golfer, and an exceptionally talented one. Burmester has won 15 times across the DP World Tour and Africa’s Sunshine Tour; he has played in 12 major championships (13 if you count this week) and made the cut in nine of them; he presently holds down a starting-four spot on Louis Oosthuzien’s LIV team, the Stingers.
If none of that impresses you, this will: Burmester also can hit a 1-iron. Like, really hit one. Now, in fairness, 1-irons aren’t the switch blades they used to be. They’ve grown meatier and more forgiving (you can read all about their evolution in this excellent piece from my colleague Jack Hirsh). But still. A 1-iron! With the eye-popping distances today’s pros can rip their long irons, like, why even bother with one?
Burmester, who is one of the longest hitters in the game, wasn’t asked this question directly after his opening-round even-par 71 in the Open Championship (three birdies, one eagle), but he was asked about the strength of his game, which spawned this answer:
“For me it’s long irons. I really enjoy hitting my 1- and 2-iron off the tee. When I get to links golf, I start rubbing my hands together. I get really excited. Yeah, that’s my big strength.”
This response caught the ear of my colleague Sean Zak (yes, another coworker shoutout, but warranted!), who asked a wonderful follow-up — “Why do you rub your hands together?” — and several more 1-iron-related queries after that.
“I just think it plays into my hands,” Burmester said. “I can hit a 1-iron out here crosswind over 300 yards, and other guys can’t do that. I feel like I have a big advantage here when the fairways firm up and it gets bouncy and windy. It comes out flat, pitches 260, and goes forever.”
Burmester estimated he hit “six or seven” 1-irons in the wet and windy first round, sprinkling in the occasional (also rare) 2-iron. The deuce was his club of choice on the daunting first hole, where Burmester laced his tee shot a few ticks under 250 yards up the left side of the fairway. In all, Burmester hit nine of 14 fairways in the first round — only seven players hit more — all while leading the field in driving distance at 328.2 yards.
Burmester, who plays Srixon Z-Forged II irons, said about five or six years ago he lost confidence in his 3-wood, which led him to start tinkering with a 1-iron. His clubmakers built him one at the Dunhill Links event in Scotland, where, he said, he finished seventh that week. He said he also enjoyed success with the club at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews — “the fairways were so baked out, I didn’t even hit driver” — and he hasn’t looked back since.
