Chris Gotterup voted college player of year
Oklahoma senior is first Sooner to bag top honor
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – When Chris Gotterup transferred from Rutgers to Oklahoma at the end of last season, he wasn’t guaranteed a spot in the lineup for the Sooners, who had just finished runner-up to Pepperdine at the national championship.
So the Little Silver, New Jersey, native did what he does best and got to work. And he kept working and improving all season long. His coaches noticed, his teammates noticed, and his peers noticed, too. Despite finishing just one shot out of a playoff for the individual title at this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship on Monday evening, Gotterup had done enough to impress the voters and earned the 2022 Haskins Award, given annually to the player of the year in men’s college golf.
“It’s a weird day, but it’s fun. I had a good chance to win coming down the stretch, I gave myself the chances, I hit the shots when it mattered, just didn’t make the putts, but that’s golf and that’s how it goes,” said Gotterup on learning he was the Haskins Award winner shortly after his costly bogey at the end of regulation. “And then to lead up to this, to be named player of the year, it’s a weird feeling, you know? It’s pretty cool.”
“I think the evolution of his understanding of who he is, you go back to the fall, he knew how good he was, but I don’t know if he quite understood he could be the best player in the country,” said Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl. “It took the fall for him to be able to go, ‘I’m the man; I can beat all these guys.’ So it’s been fun because this whole spring, he’s been a different guy. As far as mentally he’s just known that he’s gonna be the best guy in the country. He’s worked his ass off for it, too.”
In 12 starts this season, Gotterup has two wins at the East Lake Cup and Puerto Rico Classic and finished in the top five in six events, including a secondplace showing at the Big 12 Championship and the tie for fifth place at the NCAA Championship this week.
“I definitely knew I had a good chance. I’ve had a good year, I’m not going to deny that, but if I go out and win (the national championship), I would assume it’s a for sure thing, but then to not win, you never know,” the senior said of his unique situation. “It’s up to the people to vote and it’s an awesome position to be in.”
Gotterup is the first Sooner to win the Haskins Award, which dates back to 1971 and has been given to the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, David Duval and Ben Crenshaw, to name a few. This year’s award set a record for voting and featured an impressive pool of future professional talent.
“It’s obviously super important for our program to have things like this happen,” explained Hybl. “It’s no different than guys getting on the PGA Tour, it’s just a very proud moment.”
Gotterup has professional aspirations, and after finishing in the top 15 of the final PGA Tour University standings, he’ll have status on PGA Tour Canada as soon as his week in the desert with the Sooners ends.
“I don’t like to think too far ahead,” said Gotterup on what the award could do for his career. “I’m sure it will do something, this is a big deal, but I’m just gonna keep playing good golf and it’ll take care of itself.”
“His leadership and his confidence in himself I think totally bleeds into the rest of the guys, there’s no doubt about it,” said Hybl, who praised Gotterup’s preparation and work ethic.
“He doesn’t come to the office every day to just slap it around. He knows he has a lot of room for growth in his game and hasn’t evened sniff how good he can really be.
“It’s gonna be fun to watch him over the next 10 years, I think you’re gonna see some big things.”