ESTERO, Fla. – The UT Arlington men's golf team got its final fall tournament of the year off to a blistering start on Sunday as the Mavericks sit in 2nd place following the opening two rounds of the Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic at Old Corkscrew Golf Club.
 
Leading the charge for the Mavs are three players in the top-10 overall, paced by Paul Gonzalez in a tie for 3rd following rounds of 74-72. Additionally, Caleb Hicks and Tanner Gore are both tied for 8th overall after flip-flopping rounds – freshman Hicks shot a 79 in the 1st round before firing a career-best 71 in the 2nd round, while senior Gore fired a 71 in the 1st round and a 79 in the 2nd.
 
UTA carded rounds of 300 and 295 in the first two rounds, respectively, and with their 595 total sit just four strokes behind tournament leader Campbell (591). Additionally, with their solid performance on a tough, tight Jack Nicklaus design in Southwest Florida, the Mavericks opened up an incredible 14-shot cushion on 3rd-place Eastern Kentucky in the nine-team field.
 
All five of the Mavs' lineup members reside in the top 20 in the field, with Zach Cole – making his season debut – tied for 13th after rounds of 77-75 and Kyle Cox tied for 20th after rounds of 78-77. Competing as an individual, Zakary Jones is tied for 37th after signing for rounds of 78-83.
 
Gonzalez is in prime position to not only help lead the Mavericks to a team championship on Monday, but also is in the medalist hunt as his 146 total is only one stroke behind the pair of tournament leaders. Gonzalez made a furious comeback in the 2nd round to position himself for that push on Monday; with his round at +3, the sophomore birdied three of his final five holes to get in the clubhouse at even par.
 
For Hicks, his 2nd-round 71 is three strokes better than his previous season- and career-best performance of 74. Gore, meanwhile, put together his second sub-par round in his last three in the 1st round.
 
Live scoring for the final round will be available all tournament via Golf Genius by clicking here or by visiting the link accompanying this release. When logging on to Golf Genius, users will be prompted to 'Sign In' by clicking that tab on the right side of the page in the red navigation bar, and then will be asked to 'Enter Your Golf GGID' on the left side of the page. In that space, enter: JQEXRH.
 
Additionally, updates will be posted on the official Twitter account of the program @UTAMavsGolf.