LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Paul Gonzalez led the UT Arlington men's golf team in the opening day of the Little Rock Classic on Monday by firing rounds of 71 and 72 and resides in a tie for 9th place overall at 1-under par.
 
While Gonzalez is one of just 14 players in the field of 87 under par following the first two rounds, UTA uncharacteristically struggled on the 7,326-yard layout at Chenal Country Club with a pair of season-worst rounds of 303 and 309 – the first time this year (12 rounds entering play on Monday) the Mavericks have recorded a team score higher than 296.
 
As a result, the Mavs find themselves in 14th place with a 612 total. Eastern Michigan leads the 15-team field with a 577 total, one stroke ahead of Oral Roberts and host Little Rock, and two clear of 4th-place Campbell and Middle Tennessee. The top-7 teams in the field are separated by a mere four strokes entering the final round on Tuesday.
 
Gonzalez posted a relatively uneventful 1st round with a pair of birdies and a bogey, and backed it up with a quartet of birdies on his second 18 of the day which were unfortunately offset by two bogeys and a double bogey on the par-4 18th – his 15th hole of the day. The junior opened with three birdies in his first seven holes and had his scorecard at -3 before settling for his eighth par-or-better round of the season in 11 opportunities.
 
Unfortunately for the Mavs, none of UTA's other four lineup members shot better than +10: Zakary Jones (75-79: 154), Caleb Hicks (78-80: 158), Daniel Cronje (80-78: 158) and Kyle Cox (79-81: 160).
 
It's the first time all year UTA – ranked #90 in the official Golfstat Rankings – hasn't had at least three members each shoot 75 or lower in the same round, and it's only the second time (opening round of the year) that all four counting scores haven't been 75 or lower. In that opening round of the year at the UTSA/Lone Star Invitational, the Mavs counted a 76 – their only counting score higher than 75 all season prior to Monday when they had to count five rounds higher than 75.
 
Final-round action gets underway on Tuesday with an 8:15 a.m. shotgun start. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat by following the link attached to this release or by clicking here.
 
This will be the final tournament for UTA until the spring as the Mavs will next return to competitive action in mid-February at Houston's All-American Intercollegiate.
 
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THE NEW HOME OF UTA GOLF: Texas Rangers Golf Club
The recently-opened state-of-the-art Texas Rangers Golf Club is the new home of the UT Arlington's men's and women's golf programs. The world's only Major League Baseball-branded golf course, TRGC is the result of a $24 million renovation and updated routing of the former Chester W. Ditto Golf Course at Brown Boulevard and Collins Street, just a few miles north of UTA's campus. The Home of UTA Golf was designed by UTA alumni John Colligan and Trey Kemp of Arlington-based Colligan Golf Design. It features an expansive 23-acre practice area, and a new 33,871-square-foot clubhouse – set to open in early 2020 – will feature a full-service restaurant and bar, covered patio overlooking the golf course, pro shop, locker rooms and numerous rental and event spaces. For more information about TRGC, click here.