Men’s Oklahoma golf opened the spring portion of its 2021-22 schedule this week with a record performance in winning the Puerto Rico Classic.
The Sooners finished the 54-hole tournament with a winning score of 59-under-par 805 over the par-72, 7,152-yard Grand Reserve Golf Club. The 59-under winning score set an Oklahoma program record and tied the lowest-ever tournament score for this tournament.
The 59-under score didn’t just break the previous school record, it shattered the record. The Sooners’ previous best was 48-under par.
Oklahoma’s winning 805 score was powered by 80 birdies over the three-day event and tied for the lowest team score in program history for a 54-hole tournament. The win was the Sooners’ third of the season and the 32nd in head coach Ryan Hybl’s 13 seasons at OU.
The Sooners trailed Georgia by three strokes after the opening 18 holes but ended up six shots better than the second-place Bulldogs in the final tally. Tennessee was third, 12 shots back of OU, and Purdue was fourth, 13 shots behind.
Super senior Chris Gotterup, a transfer from Rutgers, paced Oklahoma and was the individual medalist in the tournament with a three-round total of 66-64-66 (196). It was the second consecutive win for the No. 1 player in college golf this season. His 20-under-par winning score is the second lowest in OU men’s golf history. Current PGA Tour player Abraham Ancer holds the Sooner record at 21-under.
Gotterup also was the individual winner in the East Lake Cup, won by the Sooners, in October.
OU senior Patrick Welch also got in on the record-setting in Puerto Rico with an opening-round score of 10-under 62.
Three Sooners finished in the top 10 leaderboard: Welch tied for sixth at 14-under and freshman Drew Goodman tied for ninth at 13 under.
The Puerto Rico Classic was the sixth golf event for the Sooners this season, which began in the fall. So far, Oklahoma has claimed three firsts, two seconds and a third. The third-place finish was in the Big 12 Match Play Championship in early October, which underscores how competitive the Big 12 schools are in men’s golf.