No, Chris Gotterup is not just lazy. He actually keeps his golf glove unstrapped for a reason.
Maybe you noticed this last week when he was contending at the John Deere Classic — he finished T4 for his best-ever Tour finish — but it was also brought up on GOLF’s Subpar podcast, in which Gotterup was this week’s guest. He might actually be, the hosts guessed, the only player on Tour who doesn’t strap a golf glove. So, what gives?
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“I don’t like doing it because if I flip it over, if I strap it on, my hand feels tight in the glove,” Gotterup said. “So I feel like I’m kind of restricted movement-wise, so I kind of just let it go, and I feel like I have more movement. I don’t know why I started doing that.”
Does this check out? We asked our instruction editor, Luke Kerr-Dineen, for his thoughts.
“It definitely checks out! Unstrapping your glove will give you less restriction, and therefore less grip than if it was fully strapped up,” he says. “But if it makes you feel more comfortable, then it’s probably worth the tradeoff. And besides, you’ll still have more grip than if you were to swing without a glove. Basically, think of it as a middle ground. More grip than swinging barehanded, less than using a fully strapped up glove — but potentially more comfort.”
It appears to work well for Gotterup. The 22 year old, who is playing on the PGA Tour Canada this year, has taken advantage of three straight PGA Tour appearances — tying for 43rd at the U.S. Open, tying for 35th at the Travelers and his T4 at the John Deere. This week he has a spot in the Barbasol Championship.
You can listen to Gotterup’s full Subpar interview below.