Reigning Open Champion, Player of the Year Chris Gotterup named All-American

Chris Gotterup of Rumson, the defending NJSGA Open Champion and NJSGA Robert Housen Men's Player of the Year, has been was named to the 2020 NCAA Division I PING All-America Team, presented by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). He earned third-team All-America recognition, and was one of 63 so honored.

An exuberant Gotterup reflected on his journey to becoming an All-American. “Looking back, I've come so far from being ranked in the 600's my freshman year to now an All-American. It's a testament to how much work I have put in with the help of my parents, coaches, trainers and everyone else around me. It's just an unbelievable feeling."

Gotterup’s coach at Rutgers, Rob Shutte, was similarly elated. "I'm incredibly happy and proud of Chris to earn this recognition for the season he had," he said."Chris is just getting started, though. He has improved every year since he arrived so if he can stay humble and hungry, it's going to be fun to watch him here going into next season."

Last week, Gotterup, a Little Silver resident and graduate of Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft,  also was selected to PING Division 1 Northeast Region team for the third consecutive season. He concluded his junior campaign as the top-ranked golfer in the Big Ten Conference, and was ranked No. 23 nationally with his 70.39 adjusted scoring average. Also, he was ranked No. 10 in the final Arnold Palmer Cup rankings.

“Once I got to college, I knew I wanted to do more. I was always pretty good in junior golf and high school golf, but once got to college I felt I was way behind,” said Gotterup who in the past year-and-a-half has devoted many hours to physical conditioning and practicing. His hard work paid off, when last July at age 19, Gotterup became the youngest to ever win the NJSGA Open. His victory propelled him to new heights.

“Winning the State Open was a momentum builder for me. It was my first big win. It gave me confidence to do what I did the rest of year, winning the Met Amateur and having success at Rutgers last fall and this spring. Without that victory, I don’t think I would have won as many events as I did – or by as many strokes – and against so many good players.”

In winning the 2019 NJSGA Open at Trump National’s New Course, Gotterup sank a 60-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole to take the lead for good in a come-from-behind victory. Two weeks later, he won the Met Amateur to punctuate a memorable summer.

As a 2019-20 Preseason All-Big Ten selection, Gotterup recorded three consecutive top five finishes to close out the 2019 fall campaign, including his an eight-shot win at the Fighting Irish Classic when he fired a 14-under par score of 199. Gotterup also tied for fifth place at the Quail Valley Collegiate with a 54-hole score of 11-under-par 205 during his impressive fall season.

Recent recognitions include Gotterup being named the co-winner of the Ben Hogan Award last October, as top collegiate golfer of the month. He also was the 2019 Metropolitan Golf Association (MGA) Jerry Courville Sr. Player of the Year.

Gotterup’s All-American honor comes on the heels of recent surgery which will sideline him until early June. In mid-April, he underwent an operation for a torn ligament and cyst in his right hand. Gotterup’s goal is to tee it up for the Sunnehanna Amateur (June 17-20) and the Northeast Amateur Invitational (June 22-27) at Wannemoisett Country Club in Rhode Island.

“My first goal is to get healthy, then to get back to where I was, and just keep improving,” Gotterup said. “I want to keep putting myself in contention and playing in bigger and better tournaments and showing people what I got.”