Playing in section eight of the pairs with father Grant Stumbles at St Clair, Cooper stunned the players and crowd alike with maturity and bowls ability beyond his years.
First up, the father and son combination came up against three-time Commonwealth Games representative Richard Girvan and composite partner Mick Beesley, the winner of numerous New South Wales tournaments.
Beesley had his work cut as Cooper matched him bowl for bowl in the lead role, setting the scene perfectly for his father to go toe-to-toe with Girvan at skip, and hold a 10-9 lead after nine of the 18 ends in the qualifying match.
Although Girvan and Beesley pulled away in the second half of the match the father and son combination was far from embarrassed in the 27-14 loss.
But as a mark of respect Girvan presented a Commonwealth Games cap he was wearing to Cooper, which proved to be a lucky charm when he wore it in his next game which ended in a 17-12 win over the composite pair of David Morris and Steve Roberts.
This was followed up with a 20-18 win over another composite pair in Matt Tautari and Craig Tinker. However, their winning streak was halted on Sunday when they went down fighting 17-10 to Stephen Hughes and Darron Wolland, 21-11 to Blackjack and Commonwealth Games representative Jamie Hill and Barry O'Brien and 19-9 to Mike Evans and Bradley Amer.
In just his first season of bowls, Cooper has played in two interclub tournaments for two wins.
In the days leading up to the national tournament Cooper was a member of a Forbury Park team that won a triples tournament at Green Island, with senior bowlers Dwayne Wyatt and Howie Legg.
''I thought it would be quite good experience to play against a professional. And just to learn a bit,'' Cooper said of playing Richard Girvan in the first round.
''We went all right. Just had some fun,'' he added.
But it was indoor bowls over the winter months that provided a pathway to lawn bowls and the national tournament.
''He found he was quite successful,'' his father Grant said of his indoor bowls last winter.
''So he wanted to try outdoor.''
Cooper added that he won two indoor bowls tournaments and made a bit of money playing in pairs competition with Dan French.
After yesterday's match with Girvan, Cooper was asked if he would like to go to the Commonwealth Games one day and represent New Zealand.
''I hope so. It's my goal.''
And as for being the proud recipient of Richard Girvan's cap Cooper thought it ''pretty cool'.
As for his focused stance before delivering the bowl, Cooper said there was no secret but ''just to get as close as I can [to the jack]''
Girvan was amazed with what he saw in Cooper.
''It was good to see someone like Cooper out on the green,'' he said.
''Mick and I were a little bit wary, of course. You never know what to expect with someone so young. He went very well, particularly in the first third of the game. He came out firing and put a little bit of pressure on Mick.
''We had to play some good bowls early to get ourselves out of trouble. We certainly had to pull out some big ones and get our noses in front.''
As for the myth associated with bowls and age, Beesley, a winner of numerous New South Wales titles, added that the Australian national bowls team has a lower average age (26) than that of the national cricket team (28).
