PALM DESERT, Calif. – Behind a career-low round of 68 from Kyle Cox, the UT Arlington men's golf team fired a season-best 2-under 286 during the final round of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate at the Classic Club Course on Sunday.
 
The Mavericks' 286 was five strokes better than their previous low round this year, which was a 291 in the final round of their last fall tournament. The performance was tied for the 3rd-best in the field of 21 on Sunday as UTA finished in a tie for 5th place overall with top-50 ranked Colorado State following an 877 three-round total – nine strokes better than its previous best 54-hole score this season.
 
Three of UTA's four counting scores on Sunday were at, or below, par, with a 74 being the only score put toward the total was over par. The 286 final round was tied with tournament champion Texas Tech for the aforementioned 3rd-best of the day; runner-up Boise State posted a 285 and Kansas had the best day with a 278.
 
The Red Raiders edged the Broncos by one stroke to win the event with an 858 (-6) total. Tech and Boise State (859, -5) were the lone teams to shoot under par for the tournament; Kansas (866, +2) and TCU (867, +3) finished 3rd and 4th, respectively.
 
Freshman Cox recorded the first sub-par round of his UTA tenure on Saturday with a 71, but went even lower on Sunday with the 4-under showing. Those two rounds – combined with an opening-round 73 – gave Cox a tie for 5th finish in the field of 120 with a 212 total, the best 54-hole performance of the year by a Maverick.
 
Cox, who played his last five holes on Saturday in 5-under, got hot in the middle part of his round Sunday. With his scorecard at +1 standing on the 8th tee, Cox played the next seven holes in 4-under to get to -3 coming off the 14th green before making a birdie for the second-straight day on the par-3 17th to play the back 9 in 33 and post the 68 total.
 
Tanner Gore posted his second-consecutive par-or-better performance as well as the senior signed for a 72 in the final round to back up a 68 of his own in the second round. Gore finished tied for 20th with a 220 total, rebounding nicely from a disappointing opening-round 80.
 
Gore took a page from Cox's second round as he played the final six holes in 4-under to get in with his even-par round, countering a pair of double bogeys on the front with a back-9 32.
 
Camilo Avila matched his career-low round with a 72 – something the senior had done twice previously in what's now 36 career rounds. Avila bookended his round with birdies on the 1st and 18th, finishing with five birdies for the day. He concluded with a 225 total after opening rounds of 76 and 77.
 
That 225 total was equaled by Paul Gonzalez, who recorded a final-round 76. The sophomore couldn't get much going on Sunday as he converted just two birdies, and was saddled with a pair of big numbers. Caleb Hicks rounded out the UTA lineup scoring for the week with a 228 total following a final-round 74. The freshman improved his score by two strokes every round this weekend, beginning with a 78 in the first round and a 76 in the second round.
 
UTA will now take the month of March off from competitive action before gearing up for a busy month of April which will feature three regular-season tournaments before culminating with the Sun Belt Conference Championship Apr. 21-24.
 
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