PEARLAND, Texas – The UT Arlington men's golf team posted yet another under-par round to conclude its regular season on Tuesday as the Mavericks orchestrated a 2-under final-round 286 total to tie for 3rd place overall at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic from Golfcrest Country Club.
Led by sub-par rounds from
Kyle Cox (3-under 69) and
Paul Gonzalez (1-under 71), UTA moved three spots up the leaderboard from its overnight position to finish tied for 3rd in the field of 14 with an 870 54-hole total (+6). The Mavs closed just two shots behind 2nd-place UTSA (868) and just eight back of tournament champion Sam Houston State (862).
Freshman Cox finished tied for 19th in the field of 82, matching
Camilo Avila for the team's best performance of the event with a 218 (+2) total. Senior Avila closed with a 74 (+2) in the final round.
Tanner Gore signed for his second even-par 72 of the classic in the final round and tied for 22nd, just two shots back of Cox and Avila with a 220 (+4) total. Gonzalez's lone under-par round of the event helped him jump 20 spots and into a tie for 37th (223, +7).
Following a pair of even-par rounds on Monday,
Caleb Hicks unfortunately fell back on Tuesday with a final-round 81 to finish tied for 43rd (225, +9).
UTA rolled in 16 birdies in the final round, led by five from Gore. Cox converted four of his own while also adding an eagle on the par-5 10th. At the time, that moved his scorecard to 3-under, and he played the final eight holes even after a pair of birdies and bogeys, finishing one shot shy of matching his career low of 68.
Cox played the par-4 holes impressively in the final round at 1-under – tied for the 3rd-best in the field – while Gore finished tied for 4th in the field in par-5 scoring at 3-under as he birdied three of the four holes on the course.
Avila commenced his final round with back-to-back birdies, made a par on the par-5 3rd and then made four-straight bogeys. However, beginning with the par-3 8th, he penciled in 11-straight pars to wrap up his tournament.
The 2-under team performance represents UTA's sixth sub-par round in its last 10 opportunities. Over those last 10 rounds, UTA is a combined 14-under par. Through its first 17 rounds this year, UTA was a combined 252-over par.
With plenty of momentum, the Mavs now head to the Sun Belt Conference Championship at Raven Golf Club in Miramar Beach, Fla., for three rounds of stroke play before a final day of match play next Sunday-Wednesday, Apr. 21-24, looking to bring a title back to Arlington.
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