Sept. 11, 2007

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -

Saint Mary's Invitational, Final Results
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UT Arlington freshman Zack Fischer had never been west of Abilene, Texas, prior to this week's Saint Mary's Invitational. The Texarkana, Texas, native made the most of his first collegiate golf tournament with a final round of one-under-par 71 to finish in a tie for eighth place and lead the Mavericks to a third-place tie in the opening tournament of the season.

UT Arlington finished the 54-hole tournament with an 883 after a final round of four-over-par 292, five strokes behind champion Baylor (878) and one behind runner-up Alabama-Birmingham (882). The 292 score was the second lowest score behind host Saint Mary, Eastern Michigan and Nevada who all posted 290s on the final day along the par-72, 6,857-yard Poppy Hills Golf Course.

"We had our chances (today). We didn't play the par 5s well and we had too many penalty shots and three putts," said UT Arlington Head Golf Coach Jay Rees. "Nevertheless, I thought we competed well and it think we showed ourselves we can compete with anyone we will face this year. If we improve on a few little things, we'll have a chance to win.

"I was proud of the way Zack played in his first college tournament. He showed me a lot with the way he handled himself this week. We'll try to build on this experience."

Fischer tied for eighth with a 54-hole total of 218. Baylor's Wesley Williams won the event with a 214 after a final round 73.

UT Arlington sophomores Bryce Easton and Bobby Massa finished in the top 30 with matching totals of 223. Easton had a final day 734 while Massa, who posted rounds of 78 and 74 on Monday, finished with a 71 despite a double bogey on the par-5 18th hole to end the day.

Michael van de Venter (225) carded a 77 on Tuesday and senior Zack Reeves struggled with an 81 to fall to a total of 228.

UT Arlington will travel to Austin, Sept. 17-18, to compete in the first Texas Cup Tournament at the University of Texas Golf Club.

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