Chris Gotterup will be playing in The Masters for the first time in his career next month.
Gotterup visited Augusta National for the first time last week and played a round with his father and a member.
The 26-year-old has been a real breath of fresh air on the PGA Tour over the past year and he’s now one of the biggest names in the game, after winning three times since July.
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Gotterup promised himself he would never visit Augusta National until he qualified for The Masters.
Now that time has come for the long-hitting Garden State native.
Ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week, Gotterup opened up on his pre-Masters scouting mission.
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The American will be pinching himself right now.
He has come so far over the past year or so and now he will not only be heading to Augusta with the hope of competing, but he’ll be expecting to win.
Gotterup was asked what stood out to him when he played Augusta National for the first time last week.
“I think like the one that really — well the chute on 18 is much tighter than TV gives it credit for,“ the four-time PGA Tour winner said.
“I would say, like 2 with no people there, 2 green is so wild looking because it looks so massive on TV and obviously the framing of all the people behind you.
“It’s just like the green is just thrown in like perfect grass obviously. So it looked much smaller and different.
“Then I would say 1 green was much more severe than TV gives it credit for. So like you have obviously a tough tee ball and then you have to hit a good second shot to be able to get it in the right section.“
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Gotterup was asked by reporters if he planned a strategy while playing his round at Augusta last week.
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“Yeah, I think you do that anywhere you go, Gotterup said.
“But there’s definitely, I mean, I think that’s the one tournament or course where not having played I know every hole there.
“It’s just something that everyone watches the Masters and knows Augusta National, so there’s definitely holes where I was surprised like I said with certain balls and stuff that I probably need to prioritize in the weeks leading up to that.
“A couple, like hole 2 wouldn’t be a hole that suits my eye, preferably hitting a cut. So that’s something that I’ll touch on when I’m playing practice rounds or something fun beforehand.“
Experience and in-depth knowledge of the golf course always counts for a lot at Augusta National.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how Chris Gotterup copes at The Masters next month, considering his limited knowledge of the intricacies of the golf course.
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