The Epson Tour stars were shining bright on Thursday in Erin, Wis., with Hailee Cooper and Amari Avery making their way around Erin Hills Golf Course in the first round of the 80th U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally.

The duo are a pair who fans will want to keep an eye on in the near future, as both carded the lowest rounds of the 15 current Epson Tour members who are teeing it up in the year’s second major championship, signing for an opening 1-under, 71s. And if you’ve been paying attention to the leaderboards on the Road to the LPGA as of late, it’s no surprise that these two athletes are performing well on the biggest stage in women’s golf.

So far in 2025, Cooper has made the cut in all seven of her Epson Tour appearances and has yet to finish outside of the top 25. The Montgomery, Texas native is currently eighth in the season-long Race for the Card point standings and made her way to her second U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally after carding back-to-back top-five results on the Official Qualifying Tour of the LPGA, earning T4 and solo fourth-place finishes at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic and Copper Rock Championship, respectively.

“I thought it was going to be great,” said Cooper about the momentum she has from those strong finishes. “I was really nervous coming into this week. This morning, I was really nervous. First tee jitters. I was really nervous.

“But I think overall, once I got through that first hole, I was able to lean into that and be like, ‘You've been playing well. You've been hitting a lot of fairways, hitting a lot of greens, so just tap into that. And at least I know where the ball's going, so that's nice.”

The Texas A&M University alum is feeling more like she belongs so far this week than she did in her last appearance in this event. When the tournament was played at Shoal Creek in 2018, Cooper was afraid of shanking it on the driving range and joked on Thursday in Wisconsin that the only reason it wasn’t a fear in 2025 is because she found a spot with no one to the right of her.

Enjoying every moment is Cooper’s first priority this week, although she also acknowledged that making money would be nice as well. And thanks to the Epson Tour, the 25-year-old feels more confident in her ability to perform against the best in the world, which was evident in the opening 18 holes at Erin Hills.

“The competition on the Epson Tour is awesome,” said Cooper. “Obviously, Ingrid (Lindblad) has won out here, and we got to play together last year. A lot of players have come down from the LPGA, losing their card, stuff like that, so we get a lot of experienced players. Week-to-week it's a grind. You have to play your A-golf out there to win.”

Avery, on the other hand, has been in the spotlight from a very young age and is now shining in the professional ranks. After turning pro and beginning her Epson Tour career at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in June 2024, she has earned four top-10 results and a career-best finish of T4 at the 2025 Atlantic Beach Classic presented by Access Golf and Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic.

This season on the Road to the LPGA has seen the California native climb up the Race for the Card rankings toward an LPGA Tour card, as she currently sitting in 15th. With six cuts made in seven starts, Avery came to Wisconsin with good momentum and big dreams of walking away a major champion.

That dream is shaping up to have a good chance of becoming a reality, as she carded five birdies and four bogeys to put herself three shots behind the leaders after 18 holes at Erin Hills.

“It’s been really good,” Avery said during a walk and talk during the round. “Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect. I felt like I had a really good idea of the course, and I’ve been figuring it out. Honestly, 2-under through three was not what I was thinking about, but it’s nice and I had a couple of bogeys along the way but still playing pretty good.”

This is Avery’s third U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally. The 21-year-old has earned her spot in the field every other year since 2021, teeing it up and missing the cut at The Olympic Club in 2021 and finishing in a tie for 48th at Pebble Beach Golf Links in 2023.

“Thinking back to my first one, I was 17 or 18, just before college, and I was kind of there for fun,” Avery said. “It was playing at Olympic (Club), so I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can play here.’ And then playing at Pebble (Beach), an iconic golf course, and I was playing really well in college at the time, so I felt like I got better there, and now I’m here at my first major as a pro.”

Cooper and Avery couldn’t have more opposite tee times for Friday’s second round, with Cooper off of Erin Hills’ first hole at 6:45 a.m. local time and Avery going off 10 at 2:31 p.m. Only time will tell if the duo can hold onto their under-par tournament total to make the cut and have a chance at hoisting the prestigious trophy on Sunday, two goals the pair are going to work hard to accomplish over the next 54 holes.

Epson Tour Sophomores Cooper, Avery Making Names Known on Day One of U.S. Women’s Open

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