When Hayden was a child, he would be playing golf with plastic clubs. He started to actively play golf as he got older. After graduating high school, Hayden didn’t have many recruiters interested in him. Yet, he would be signed with the University of Missouri with the coach Mark Leroux having him in the team not even having seen him play. This was because Buckley had left a great impression on Chris Harder who had coached him in high school.
Since coach Leroux knew how driven Harder was and that he was recommending Buckley, he instantly had him join their team. This decision by the coach would go on to be the right one since Buckley turned out to have a high level of hunger in him to succeed.
He would even go on to win four tournaments during his time with the University. Furthermore, he also ended up being the Missouri Male Athlete of the Year for the 2017–18 season. Buckley graduated with a health science major as well.
