SAN ANTONIO – Tanner Gore recorded the first sub-par round of the year by a UT Arlington men's golfer as the senior signed for a final-round 2-under 70 on Tuesday, part of a 10-stroke improvement by the Mavericks from their season-opening round Monday at UTSA's Lone Star Invitational from the TPC San Antonio AT&T Oaks Course.
UTA finished in 11th place overall, despite the final-round 298. The Mavs' 606 two-round total was only nine shots out of 6th place as host UTSA brought home the tournament crown with a 578 total, two strokes clear of Arkansas State (580) at the challenging and lengthy 7,435-yard layout which plays host to the PGA Tour's Valero Texas Open.
Gore posted a top-10 finish individually as he tied for 10th with a two-round 146 (+2), bouncing back from a 76 on Monday – a day in which rain shortened the event from 54 to 36 holes. For the second day in a row, Gore did not record anything higher than a 5 on his scorecard, rolling in four birdies against only two bogeys in his final round. A pair of those birdies came on statistically two of the top-four hardest holes in the final round – the par-4 12th (4.37 scoring average) and the par-4 6th (4.31).
Paul Gonzalez – who sat in a tie for 5th place after an opening-round 72 – signed for a 75 on Tuesday to complete his invitational in a tie for 16th place overall (147 / +3). The sophomore, like his teammates, started on the back 9 and made three bogeys before bouncing back with a couple of birdies and an unfortunate double on the front.
Rounding out his collegiate debut,
Kyle Cox signed for his second-consecutive round of 78. Fellow freshman
Caleb Hicks made one of the biggest improvements in the field of 84 with a seven-shot difference from his opening-round 82 to respond with a 75 in his closing 18.
Camilo Avila shot an 80 to conclude the Mavs' five-man lineup scoring.
Seven of the 15 teams in the field finished last year ranked in the top 100 of the official Golfstat Rankings, and four more – including UTA – were right behind, ranked between 100 and 120, setting up for a challenging season-opening tournament for UTA and several in-state and Sun Belt foes.
The Mavericks will look to continue making improvements when they resume their fall slate Sept. 28-29 at New Mexico's William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque.
