SAN ANTONIO – The UT Arlington men's golf team opened its 2019-20 season with an emphatic statement as the Mavericks were co-champions of the UTSA Lone Star Invitational following Tuesday's final round from the challenging TPC San Antonio AT&T Oaks Course.
 
UTA, Houston and South Alabama all completed the 54-hole tournament with identical 873 (+9) scores, prompting a playoff to determine who would receive the winner's trophy.
 
In the playoff, the No. 1 player (UTA: Paul Gonzalez) in each team's lineup played the par-5 18th, Nos. 2 & 3 (Caleb Hicks and Kyle Cox) played the short par-4 17th and Nos. 4 & 5 (Daniel Cronje and Zakary Jones) played lengthy par-4 10th.
 
The top-4 scores out of those five players were used in each team's playoff total. South Alabama went -2, Houston went -1 and UTA was Even, giving the Jaguars the victory trophy; however, all three teams were officially declared as co-champions.
 
This is UTA's first team championship since March of 2018 when it claimed Appalachian State's Cape Fear National Intercollegiate. However, that field featured several non-Division I teams and many low-ranked D-I teams. The Lone Star Invitational – which UTA also won in 2010 – featured four other Sun Belt Conference members and five of the 11 teams finished last year ranked in the Golfstat Top 100, with UTA just outside of that at #115.
 
Scoring was extremely challenging on Tuesday with the average score residing nearly four shots over par (75.97), but every Maverick was under that average in the final round as all five guys shot between 73 and 75. UTA posted a final-round 296 total – tied for the 2nd-lowest in the field – after holding a share of the overnight lead with 16-time National Champion Houston.
 
"It was a really tough day for everyone – the course is hard to begin with, and then factor in the blowing wind it's extremely impressive that all our guys shot 75 or better," commented head coach Casey Devoll. "I'm really proud of them and it's a great start to the year for us. We settled in well, but we started out a little nervous and that's a situation (playing with the lead) we have to get used to because we plan on being in that spot a lot this season."
 
Every player in UTA's lineup finished in the top 30, led by a career-best solo 3rd from Gonzalez – bettering a T-4th from last year. After shooting rounds of 5-under 67 and 3-under 69 in the opening rounds Monday, the junior signed for a 2-over 74 in the final round to finish with a 210 (-6) total. He was one of only five players in the field of 66 to finish the tournament under par (two of those were -1), and he closed three shots back of medalist Nolan Ray (-9) from Lipscomb.
 
Sophomore Hicks tied for 13th as he capped a week in which he shot 72-74-74: 220 (+4). Cox posted the low round of the day for the Mavs with a 1-over 73, finishing one shot back of Hicks with a three-round 221 (76-72-73; +5). Jones and Cronje – competing in his first collegiate tournament – both carded final-round 75s and finished with 224 (+8) and 225 (+9) totals, respectively, to tie for 22nd and 26th.
 
Competing as an individual, Zach Cole shot a final-round 81 to wrap up his event with a 235 total after rounds of 79 and 75 on Monday.
 
UTA dominated the field in par-5 scoring with an average of 4.82 (-11) – 10 shots better than any other team. The Mavs also tied for the best par-3 scoring average (3.03, +2), converted the 3rd-most birdies (47) and made the 4th-most pars (163).
 
Gonzalez and Jones led UTA by rolling in 11 birdies over the 54 holes, while Cox was right behind them with 10 of his own. Gonzalez also ranked 2nd in par-3 scoring (2.83, -2) and par-5 scoring (4.58, -5) and 3rd in total pars (38).
 
At 7,435 yards, the par-72 AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio has typically played over par for the world's best players since it began hosting the PGA TOUR's Valero Texas Open shortly after its opening in 2010.
 
UTA will now have a three-week break from competitive action before returning to the course Oct. 7-8 at Colorado's Mark Simpson Invitational – the first of three-straight weeks of events to conclude the fall portion of the docket.
 
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