The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Five questions with Hailee Cooper
10.15.2018 | Women's Golf
Learn more about the freshman golfer from Montgomery, Texas.
One of the nation's top golf prospects, Hailee Cooper is in her freshman season with the Texas women's golf team. Cooper is off to a strong start with a pair of top-20 finishes in her first two tournaments, including a top-five showing at the Schooner Fall Classic, and all six of her rounds as a collegiate golfer have come at par or better.
Learn more about Hailee in these five questions.
Q: How did you get started in golf?
Hailee Cooper: "When I was a couple days old, my grandpa [Mac Hairston] was a big golfer. I was like two or three days old, I was brought home and there was a little golf grip and I still have it. He put it in my hand and I grabbed the grip. He said, 'She's going to be a golfer.' My dad [Ronnie] was really big into getting me into golf young. When I was four or five, I would just hit some little whiffle balls in the front yard. My dad said that whenever I could hit it out of the yard, then we would go to the actual golf course. I started hitting it out of the yard so he took me to the course when I was like six-and-a-half and I started playing tournaments when I was seven."
Q: You played both soccer and golf - what made you choose golf as the sport you would focus on?
Hailee Cooper: "I had just played in a tournament when I was 10 and I played really well - it was the world championships and I got second. My friend actually had broken her arm playing soccer at our last tournament that year. My dad was saying that if I got hurt in soccer then I wouldn't get to play golf for however many months. I was like 'I don't know if I could do that.' I could go without soccer for months and months, but I don't think I could go without golf, so that was when I found out that I really loved it and I wanted to continue that."
Q: Why did you choose to attend and play golf at the University of Texas?
Hailee Cooper: "Texas just has such great coaches and such a great facility. It's a mix of everything that I wanted. I wanted a good college experience and to be at a big school, but I also wanted to be at one of the top golf programs in the country and at one of the greatest academic schools in the country."
Q: How has the transition from high school to the University of Texas gone - academically, athletically and socially?
Hailee Cooper: "It's been difficult. As I come in, school is harder, of course. I get to practice golf every day and I love it. Socially, I don't have as much time. Luckily, I have the girls on the team and some other athletes that I've made friends with and some friends from my high school. I'm really enjoying it. I'm really busy and I like being busy."
Q: What is something that people might not know about you?
Hailee Cooper: "I used to sing a lot and I was pretty good. I can still sing a little but only in the shower - no one else hears it. I used to sing a lot of Christian contemporary music. I was never in a church choir, but I loved singing that for our choir concerts at school and I loved anything pop."
Players Mentioned
