The last year didn’t go as defending Myrtle Beach Classic champion Chris Gotterup envisioned when he pulled out of the Dunes Club parking lot 12 months ago, but the New Jersey native was happy to return to the site of his first PGA Tour victory.

“It’s nice to come back as a defending champion,” Gotterup said. “I think what’s cool about this week is people really do care about golf down here. When I got to the airport, the guys working at the airport were like, welcome back. So that stuff’s cool.”

Rediscovering the form that propelled Gotterup to victory in last year’s event would be even cooler as he enters the midway point of his second full year on the PGA Tour. He shot a 22-under, 262 to win last year’s tournament by six strokes.

Unfortunately, Gotterup was unable to sustain the momentum he enjoyed in Myrtle Beach. Battling fatigue, he missed the cut at the following week’s PGA Championship and fought his driver the rest of the year, recording just one top 40 finish – a 22nd place effort at the Wyndham Championship – the remainder of the season.

After concluding his 2024 campaign at the ZoZo Championship in Japan, Gotterup took a couple months off for a reset.

“I thought, ‘I won, I’m going to stay on it and hopefully win another one or just play well,’ and I really didn’t,” Gotterup said of his post-Myrtle Beach season in 2024. “I definitely kind of re-motivated myself last fall and winter.”

One of the longest hitters on Tour, Gotterup tamed his driver in the offseason and must be among the favorites entering this week, despite battling a bulky putter much of the year. He has recorded top 20 finishes in his last three starts, highlighted by a 12th-place finish at Zurich and a 15th at The CJ Cup.

With his game trending up, Gotterup is returning to a layout where he thrives.

“I have really good memories of being here,” Gotterup said. “It’s a great course, and it also provides a unique challenge where there’s certain spots where you need to hit the fairway and be in a certain section of the fairway to have a good look at the greens. You have to step up and hit some quality shots here; it’s not just bomb and gouge, which I like too.”

Costner, Russell Attract Pro-Am Crowds
The stars were out on a sun-drenched Wednesday afternoon at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic Pro-Am. Headlining the pro-am field were Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell, Bill Murray and Vanna White, among many others.

With the exception of White, a North Myrtle Beach native, the celebrities were ambassadors for ONEflight, a private aviation company.

The day’s largest galleries followed Costner, a three-time Academy Award winner, who has enjoyed small screen acclaim in recent years as a star on the Western drama Yellowstone.

Setup Tweaks Will Enhance Challenge Players Face
Expect the Dunes Club to provide an even sterner test in the second playing of the Myrtle Beach Classic. The rough was cut to 2 ½ inches Monday, a ½-inch higher than a year ago, meaning it will be more difficult to hold the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design’s already daunting greens complexes if players aren’t approaching from the fairway.

With rain in the forecast, the rough could be gnarly by Sunday afternoon. Greens will be stimping between 11.5 and 12.

Here is a quick glance at the course setup players will be facing.

​​Tournament Set-up
Par (front 9-back 9=total: front 35, back 36 =71
Yardage: 7,347
Stimpmeter: 11.5-12
Average Green Size (sq. ft.): 6,000
Total Property Acres: 234
Acres of Fairway: 30
Acres of Rough: 80

Click Here For a Gallery of Wednesday Pro-Am Photos

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