ESTERO, Fla. – Led by top-5 performances from Tanner Gore and Paul Gonzalez, the UT Arlington men's golf team wrapped up its fall slate Monday with a 2nd-place finish at the Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic at Old Corkscrew Golf Club.
 
Gore posted a career-best 3rd-place finish with a 219 (+3) total, while Gonzalez tied for 4th overall – just one stroke behind the Mavericks' lone senior with a 220 (+4) total. Gore fired a season-low 3-under 69 in the final round on Monday – tied for the best in the field of 54.
 
UTA improved its team score each round, from a 300 1st-round to a 295 2nd-round and culminating with a season-best 291 final-round for an 886 total – 10 strokes better than any other three-round performance this fall. The Mavs fell just four shots shy of tournament winner Campbell (882), but easily cruised to their best finish of the fall and out-paced 3rd-place Eastern Kentucky (909) by 23 strokes.
 
Freshman Caleb Hicks registered by far the best event of his young career, tying for 9th overall following a final-round 76 as part of a 226 total. Just one shot behind Hicks was Kyle Cox in a tie for 13th (227 total) after an even-par 72 final round – two strokes better than his previous career- and season-low.
 
Rounding out the UTA lineup scoring was sophomore Zach Cole, who was making his season debut, with a tie for 21st after a final-round 79 as part of a 231 total. Additionally, competing as an individual, freshman Zakary Hones shot a final-round 84 (245 total).
 
For Gore, the finish bests a 4th-place showing last year as a junior as the best in the talented senior's career. He took advantage of the tough par-3s by shooting 1-under over the three rounds – the 2nd-best score on those holes in the field, and also played the par-5s at -4 for the week – also the 2nd-best score on those holes in the field.
 
Gonzalez, meanwhile, led the field with 12 birdies over the three rounds, while Gore was right behind him tied for the 2nd-most with 11. Cox followed with 10 birdies – tied for the 5th-most in the field – and Hicks rolled in nine to tie for the 7th-most.
 
UTA took advantage as best it could of what typically is an extremely challenging, tight Jack Nicklaus layout. All four counting scores in each round were below the field average for that round: 79.52 (1st), 78.26 (2nd) and 77.44 (final).
 
The Mavs will now take a three-and-a-half month break from competitive action before returning to the course in mid-February at Houston's All-American Intercollegiate.