Cole Hammer

Hammer started playing golf at age 3 when his parents Gregg and Allison introduced him to the game. Hammer has one sister, Haley. He also enjoys hunting and fishing. His faith in Christ is very important to him. Hammer won 12 junior tournaments, including the 2012 U.S. Kids World Championship at Pinehurst, and owns 25 top-five finishes overall. He has captured seven Texas Legends Junior Tour events, a PGA Junior Series event in Dallas, and an AJGA event. He also qualified for the Junior PGA Championship. In his senior year at Texas, he burst onto the golf scene when he qualified for the 2015 U.S. Open and became the third-youngest competitor in U.S. Open history at 15 years, 9 months, and 21 days. He shot rounds of 77-84 to miss the cut at Chambers Bay.
Hammer has enjoyed a decorated junior/amateur career. Cole and partner Garrett Barber won the 2018 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Jupiter Hills Club. Prior to enrolling at the University of Texas, he represented the USA on the 2017 Junior Presidents Cup Team. In 2018, he won the Azalea Amateur and Western Amateur and advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach Golf Links losing to Viktor Hovland 3 and 2. He also made it to the semi-finals at the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club, losing to Akshay Bhatia 4 and 2. He also helped the USA to a second-place finish in the World Amateur Team Championship in the Republic of Ireland. In 2019, he helped the USA retain the Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England, and had a 1-2 record. His 6&5 singles victory over Irishman Conor Purcell was the biggest win of the match. He also represented the USA in the Palmer Cup. Texas also helped the Longhorns finish as the runner-up in the 2019 NCAA Championship. Hammer won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading men's player in the 2019 World Amateur Golf Ranking. As the McCormack Medal recipient, he earned exemptions into the 2020 U.S. Open Championship and 2020 Open Championship. Hammer was a finalist for the Haskins Award and Ben Hogan Award
Playing in his first PGA Tour event, he was T-61st in the 2020 Houston Open. Also played in the 2020 U.S. Amateur but didn't make it out of stroke play. Has played in four events on the PGA Tour in 2021 and not made a cut. At the Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, Hammer holed the clinching putt and earned three and a half points for the Americans after playing all four sessions.
In addition to earning him a place at Royal St George's, the McCormack Medal gave Hammer an exemption into the 2020 U.S. Open. After the Open Championship Hammer is planning on playing in the Western Amateur, Northeast Amateur, U.S. Amateur and remaining an amateur to play for Texas in his senior year. He wants to earn his degree and help Texas win an NCAA Championship.