While the top three players on the women’s golf team were preparing for a tournament at Augusta National, the rest of the team traveled to the not-as-renowned Lantana Golf Club in Argyle, Texas, for the Bruzzy Challenge. The tournament went just as one would expect with the Longhorns at less than full strength.
Texas finished in a tie for seventh, a departure from the success of recent weeks featuring multiple top-three finishes and victories. However, freshman Hailee Cooper added to her already stellar season with a victory over the rest of the field by tying for first place in an impressive fashion.
To end her round, Cooper needed to finish at three-under par, which would have required an eagle and a birdie over the final two holes. She did just that, sinking a 30-foot putt on the final hole to tie for the lead.
“Obviously, it was a great week for Hailee, particularly her eagle-birdie finish,” Texas head coach Ryan Murphy said. “She did a lot of things well the past couple of days and is very close to having it all put together where she wants it. There will be more to come from Hailee this season.”
While Hailee was taking care of business in Argyle, the trio of Kaitlyn Papp, Emilee Hoffman and Agathe Laisne practiced in Georgia for the upcoming Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which features a field with some of the top amateur golfers in the game.
“This is probably the top women’s amateur golf tournament in the world right now,” Hoffman said. “It’s such a great feeling to have all of my work pay off. To be invited to this event is such an honor.”
Papp, Hoffman and Laisne will make history on Wednesday and Thursday, as this is the first tournament of competitive golf ever played among women at the historic venue.
“I think we’re all just super grateful to be the first women to compete at Augusta,” Papp said. “It’s something I never dreamt of as a kid that I’d be able to do it. To be able to say that I’m competing in a tournament at Augusta is an unbelievable feeling.”
The golf team will reunite in time for the Big 12 Championship, which will begin on April 14.
