Men’s Golf Looks To Stay Hot At SMU’s Trinity Forest Invite

DALLAS – Coming off its 2nd-best score to par in a tournament in program history, the UT Arlington men's golf team looks to keep the momentum going Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 4-5, at SMU's Trinity Forest Invitational.

UTA LINEUP
1) Paul Gonzalez – Hole 7
2) Caleb Hicks – Hole 8B
3) Daniel Steinarsson – Hole 8A
4) Zak Jones – Hole 9
5) Daniel Cronje – Hole 10B
Ind.) Kyle Cox – Hole 18

Gonzalez, Hicks and Steinarsson will each be competing for the fourth time this season in as many qualifying opportunities; meanwhile, Jones will be making his season debut. More information about each competitor is later in this release.

UTA is coming off a -19 performance at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational last week, which ranked as the aforementioned 2nd best in program lore. The Mavericks' 845 three-round total was the 6th best in program history.

TOURNAMENT INFO
Live Scoring
Golfstat

Monday
1st & 2nd Rounds
8 AM: Shotgun Start | Continuous Play

Tuesday
Final Round

Participating Teams
Abilene Christian, FAU, Kansas City, Little Rock, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, Sam Houston, SMU, UNLV, UT Arlington, UTRGV, UTSA

Course
Trinity Forest Golf Club
Par 71 | 7,330 Yards

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This will be the fifth edition of the event, which was founded upon the completion of Trinity Forest GC in Southeast Dallas in the fall of 2016. The course hosted the PGA TOUR's AT&T Byron Nelson from 2018-20.

UTA competed for the first time in the Trinity Forest Invite this past March when the tournament was held in the spring as opposed to its customary fall date due to COVID-19, posting an 898 total. Cox, competing as an individual this week, led the Mavericks in a tie for 26th at +7 thanks to a final-round 71 – UTA's only even-par round of the week on the challenging layout where all but one team (SMU) was double-figure shots over par despite five top-40 nationally-ranked teams in the field.

INSIDE THE LINEUP

Gonzalez is coming off an 11-under 205 in Colorado, with the -11 matching the 3rd best in program history and the total equaling the 4th best. The Waxahachie native is off to a blistering start this year with a scoring average below par at 71.33 through nine rounds – seven of which have been at, or below, par, including three rounds in the 60s.
Hicks – who made a hole-in-one in the 2nd round last week – matched his career-best 54-hole total with a 209 (-7) from Colorado National Golf Club. He carries a 73.44 scoring average into this week to rank 2nd on the team. Hicks has four par-or-better rounds with a low of 68 in three events this fall.
Steinarsson also performed well last week, establishing a career low with a 217 (+1) – two shots better than his previous best. The Icelander possesses a 74.44 scoring average in nine rounds this year, with a pair of par-or-better rounds.
Jones cracks the team lineup for the first time this year. Last season, he averaged 76.44 over six tournaments and 18 rounds. Jones carded six rounds at, or below, par last year to tie for the 3rd most on the team.
Cronje, meanwhile, returns to the team lineup after a one-week hiatus. The South African competed in each of UTA's first two events of the year, posting an even-par 72 in the first round of the season. He holds a 76.33 scoring average through those two tournaments.
Cox will be competing for the second time this year as an individual after cracking the team lineup last week. In Colorado, he posted rounds of 71-85-69 with a +13 round sandwiched between two under-par performances. He has an even 74 scoring average through six rounds this season.

NEXT UP
The Trinity Forest Invitational will be the last of a four-tournament-in-four-week stretch for UTA to open the 2021-22 season. After one week away from competition, the Mavs conclude the fall portion of their season Oct. 18-19 at the Little Rock Invitational.

FOLLOW THE MAVS SOCIALLY
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ABOUT TEXAS RANGERS GOLF CLUB
Opened in February of 2019, the state-of-the-art Texas Rangers Golf Club is the new home of UTA'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.

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 – which opened in March of 2021 – features 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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kyle Cox

Daniel Cronje

Paul Gonzalez

Caleb Hicks

Zak Jones

Daniel Steinarsson

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