Oklahoma looks the part of No. 1, rolling to team title behind Gotterup as records fall in Puerto Rico Classic

    Oklahoma got as close to a national crown as you can last spring, falling to Pepperdine in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   Ranked No. 1 by Golfstat, the Sooners began the spring portion of their wraparound 2021-2022 schedule with a spectacular program-record 59-under-par 805 total to claim a six-shot victory over Georgia in the Puerto Rico Classic, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

   Oklahoma capped the fall portion of its schedule by edging Big 12 rival Oklahoma State, 3-2, in the final of the East Lake Cup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

   The Sooners were led by Chris Gotterup, a redshirt senior from Little Silver, N.J. and No. 80 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who sandwiched an 8-under 64 over the 7,152-yard, par-72 Grand Reserve layout with a pair of 4-under 66s to claim the individual crown by four shots with a 20-under 196 total.

   Gotterup, who started his college career at Rutgers, also earned co-medalist honors in the one-round qualifying for match play at East Lake. The individual title also earned Gotterup a start in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open, which will be held at Grand Reserve next month.

   Obviously, the Grand Reserve layout was set up easy for some of college golf’s best players and they took full advantage.

   Oklahoma opened with a 20-under 268 that left them three shots behind Southeastern Conference power Georgia, which opened with a scintillating 23-under 265. Sparked by Gotterup’s 64, the Sooners added a 19-under 269, but the Bulldogs added a 20-under 268 to their opening-round 265 and still led Oklahoma by four going into Tuesday’s final round.

   But with Logan McAllister, a senior from Oklahoma City, Okla. and No. 10 in the WAGR leading the way with a final round of 7-under 65 and Gotterup firing his second 66 of the week, Oklahoma posted another 20-under 268, 10 shots better than Georgia’s final round of 10-under 278, to overtake the Bulldogs.

   By finishing 59-under, Oklahoma shattered the program record in relation to par. The Sooners’ 805 total matched the program record for a 54-hole event.

   Georgia advanced to the NCAA Championship last spring by finishing second as the two seed in the Tallahassee Regional, but never really fired at Grayhawk. The Bulldogs’ final-round 278 at Grand Reserve left them six shots behind Oklahoma in second place with a 53-under 811 total.

   Kind of hard for Georgia to be too disappointed when it crushed the program record in relation to par with its 53-under total and posted the two lowest single rounds in program history with its opening-round 265 and its second-round 268. The Bulldogs had started the week at No. 12 in the Golfstat rankings, but moved up to No. 8 with its performance at Grand Reserve.

   Tennessee, one of Georgia’s SEC rivals, was another six shots behind the Bulldogs in third place with a 47-under 817 total. The Volunteers added a sparkling 20-under 268 in Monday’s second round to their opening round of 12-under 276 before closing with a solid 15-under 273. Somehow, Tennessee dropped from No. 8 to No. 10 in the Golfstat rankings.

   Purdue, a Big Ten power, showed a strong finishing kick with the second-best team round in Tuesday’s final round, a sizzling 19-under 269, as the Boilermakers finished a shot behind Tennessee with a 46-under 818 total. The Boilers, who moved up a spot in the Golfstat rankings to No. 20, had opened with a 16-under 272 before adding an 11-under 277 in Monday’s second round.

   Purdue’s Big Ten rival, Michigan State, was five shots behind the Boilers with a 41-under 823 total. The Spartans started slowly with a 7-under 281, but got it going with a 19-under 269 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 15-under 273.

   Michigan State, which gained six spots in the Golfstat rankings up to No. 30, established a pair of program records with the 269 in the second round and the 41-under 823 total for 54 holes.

   Another SEC entry, Mississippi, finished five shots behind Michigan State with a 36-under 828 total. Ole Miss, which somehow dropped nine spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 10 to No. 19, kept getting better as the week wore on, adding a 12-under 276 to its opening-round 278 and closing with a 14-under 274.

   South Carolina made it four SEC teams in the top seven as the Gamecocks, who moved up to No. 40, finished in a tie for seventh place in the loaded 13-team field with the College of Charleston, the reigning Colonial Athletic Association champion.

   South Carolina carded back-to-back 12-under 276s in the first two rounds before closing with an 11-under 277. The College of Charleston moved up six spots from No. 69 to No. 63 in the Golfstat rankings as the Cougars sandwiched a 15-under 273 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 10-under 278s.

   Backing up Gotterup for Oklahoma was Patrick Welch, a senior from Aliso Viejo, Calif. who finished among a trio of players tied for sixth place with a 14-under 202 total. Welch set the tone for the week as he went off in the opening round with an Oklahoma program record 10-under 62. Welch had eight birdies and an eagle on the par-5 18^th hole, the next-to-last hole of his round.

   Welch cooled off with a pair of 2-under 70s in the final two rounds to finish at 14-under.

   Drew Goodman, a freshman home boy from Norman, Okla., gave the Sooners a third finisher inside the top 10 as he was part of a six-way logjam tied for ninth place at 13-under 203. Goodman matched par in the opening round with a 72, the only round among the Oklahoma starting five that was not under par, but he got it going in Monday’s second round with an 8-under 64, matching Gotterup for low Sooner for the day, and then closed with a 5-under 67.

   McAllister’s final-round 65 left him among the group tied for 16^th place with an 11-under 205 total. After opening with a 3-under 68, McAllister added a 71 in Monday’s second round.

   Stephen Campbell Jr., a redshirt freshman from Richmond, Texas, rounded out the Oklahoma starting lineup as he registered three straight 1-under 71s to finish among the group tied for 52^nd place with a 3-under 213 total.

   Georgia’s Maxwell Ford, a freshman from Peachtree Corners, Ga., and Tennessee’s Bryce Lewis, a redshirt sophomore from Hendersonville, Tenn. and No. 79 in the WAGR, shared second place in the individual standings, each landing on 16-under 200, four shots behind Gotterup’s scorching pace.

   Maxwell Ford is a triplet along with sister Abigail and brother David, who is a standout freshman for North Carolina. After posting back-to-back 67s in the first two rounds, Maxwell Ford was even better in the final round, closing with a 6-under 66. After opening with a 69, Lewis ripped off a sparkling 8-under 64 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a solid 5-under 67.

   Georgia’s Trent Phillips, a senior from Inman, S.C. and No. 14 in the WAGR, shared fourth place with Ole Miss’ Brett Schell, a sophomore from St. Augustine, Fla., both ending up with a 15-under 201 total.

   Phillips was only a shot behind Gotterup entering the final round after he added a 66 to his opening round of 7-under 65, but backed off a little in the final round with a 70. After opening with a 70, Schell heated up with a 66 in Monday’s final round and a final round of 7-under 65.

   Joining Oklahoma’s Welch in the trio tied for sixth place at 14-under 202 were Tennessee’s Spencer Cross, a senior from Sevierville, Tenn. and No. 67 in the WAGR, and Purdue’s Herman Sekne, a sophomore from Norway. Cross added a 7-under 65 to his opening-round 68 before closing with a 69. Sekne opened with a sparkling 8-under 64 and added a 71 before finishing up with a 5-under 67.

   A couple of reigning individual conference champions, Marquette’s Hunter Eichhorn, a graduate student from Carney, Mich. and a two-time Big East champion, and Iowa’s Mac McClear, a junior from Hinsdale, Ill. and the Big Ten champion, were among the five players who joined Oklahoma’s Goodwin in the bulky group tied for ninth place at 13-under 203.

   There were a lot of great rounds at Grand Reserve this week, but none was better than the scintillating 11-under 61 turned in by Eichhorn, the co-medalist in last spring’s Big East Championship at the Streamsong Resort’s Blue Course in Bowling Green, Fla., in Tuesday’s final round. Eichhorn lowered the Marquette program record by two shots as his scorecard featured 11 birdies and nary a bogey. He had opened with a 4-under 68 before struggling to a 74 in Monday’s second round.

   McClear, who won the Big Ten crown at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. last spring, also finished with a flourish as he closed with an 8-under 64. McClear had added a 70 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 3-under 69.

   Another of the Big Ten’s top players, Purdue’s Cole Bradley, a senior home boy from West Lafayette, Ind., was also in the group at 13-under. Bradley, the individual winner in the NCAA’s Noblesville Regional last spring, posted back-to-back 68s in the first two rounds before closing with a 5-under 67.

   Rounding out the group tied for ninth place were College of Charleston’s Nevill Ruiter, a freshman from the Netherlands, and Michigan State’s August Meekhof, a sophomore from Coopersville, Mich.

   Ruiter added a 69 to his opening-round 68 before finishing up with his best round of the week, a 6-under 66. After opening with a 70, Meekhof carded a 7-under 65 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 68.

   South Carolina’s Jack Wall, a junior from Brielle, N.J. who reached the quarterfinals of the 2019 BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Stonewall’s Old Course, finished in a tie for 37^th place for the Gamecocks with a 6-under 210 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Wall registered a solid 4-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 70.

   Maryland, another Big Ten entry, finished last of the 13 teams in the field, although the Terrapins still ended up under par with a 6-under 858 total.

   Graduate student Chris Tanabe, the PIAA Class AA champion in 2016 as a senior at Quaker Valley, finished in 64^th place for Maryland as he sandwiched a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 73s for a 7-over 217 total. Tanabe was a four-year standout at Bucknell and is taking the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of the coronavirus pandemic at Maryland.